Finished Dark Alliance on PS2....impressions.

[CerebroDragon]

Hey All,

My younger brother and I spent approximately three nights and half a day playing his Ps2, on which we hired out BG: Dark Alliance, a game that I'd been wanting to experience for quite some time. He played the dwarven fighter, so I decided to go for the elven sorceress who paradoxically and quite ridiculously ended up being a tank in her own right...walking flame thrower and all.
Being a massive fan of the original two games on PC, I was obviously bitterly disappointed with how linear and diablo-derived the gameplay was, its shortness, the inferior quality of the quests and dialogue - everything about it was lacking and 'dumbed down' compared to the original games. To put it bluntly, I really don't think they should have been marketed with the Baldur's Gate name at all - since by word/game association alone, it is misleading.
However, it might not have sold as well, nor spawned a sequel...

Nasty bitterness aside and repressed, as a two player experience the game yielded some genuine good multiplayer fun despite its fatal flaws. The battle with the white dragon and indeed most of the 'boss fights' were enjoyable in seeking the most effective strategy against them. Also, the reward for completing the game, a nice little dungeon bash curiously entitled 'the gauntlet', featuring non-other than Mr Drizzt Do'Urden, certainly drew a wry grin to my face.

But generally, the negatives the game has don't sit too well with my love of Baldur's Gate and AD&D. I mean, being able to defeat a full blown beholder at level 4-5 even with two players was simply inappropriate and is just plain silly game design as most AD&D veterans could attest to...I mean it wasn't even a Gauth or lower-eye stalk lensman! The final battle didn't last too long either it wasn't half as epic as I'd imagined it would be.

We are intending to hire and try the sequel in the next few weeks, so I'm keen to hear some opinions on them both and particularly Dark Alliance II, as to whether it has changed or upgraded in any way for the better.

Some questions for instance:
1) Can you import your characters from 1-2? Or even create your own character?
2) Are there more quests? Is it bigger than the original?
3) Are there more puzzles? Or is it generally more of the same hackity fest? (The thieves guild dungeon probably had the closest thing to them in DA 1.)
4)Is the plot more significant and are the roleplaying facets improved?

That'll do for now!
Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

[Ziroc]

Yeah, I really enjoyed BGDA! It was one of my faves. While my Mom was sick, my sisters came down to help, and my sister and I played it and beat it, and we really had a ball. It's Hack and Slash, but it was FUN.

You need to get Champions of Norrath! It uses the same game engine, and the feel is the same, with loads of new stuff--and you can play it online with a headset too!

[Ivelliis]

Originally posted by CerebroDragon: 1) Can you import your characters from 1-2? Or even create your own character? 2) Are there more quests? Is it bigger than the original? 3) Are there more puzzles? Or is it generally more of the same hackity fest? (The thieves guild dungeon probably had the closest thing to them in DA 1.) 4)Is the plot more significant and are the roleplaying facets improved?

1) No and no. You get four characters to chose from IIRC, a monk, a necromancer, a barbarian and someone else.
2) I didn't play through it all, I only rented it for 2 days so I never finished it, but it did look bigger from what I saw.
3) In what I played there was a few puzzles, but mostly Hack 'n' Slash.
4) It is mostly just talk, get quest, go kill, get xp, but a few quest join together etc.
One thing you can do is make your own weapons, like add gems to grant different powers etc. which I thought is cool.
There is an easter egg if you complete the game, but I won't mention any more

[slicer15]

The characters available in BGA II are:

An Elven Necromancer (male)
A Dwarven Rogue (male)
A Human Cleric (female)
A Human Barbarian (male)
A Drow monk (female)

There are also two easter eggs...not just the one.

I'm not really sure what to say about the sequel... it does include unique features with each character, perhaps in an effort to flesh them out more, but it doesn't really do the job. The Dark Alliance games are specifically created for Hack 'n' Slash really, so I didn't have that high expectations...and it is a lot of fun to play. Maybe not worthy of the Baldur's Gate name, but it is a decent game in it's own right.

However, what I will say is, if you were disappointed with DA I, you aren't likely to find any improvements with DA II. Renting is a good idea...

[Ivelliis]

Originally posted by slicer15: There are also two easter eggs...not just the one.

Heh, you know what I meant [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Sythe]

I beaten DA by myself and I must say it felt more of a chore than being really fun. And the only reason why I finished it because I just *had* to know the ending. I have a tendacy of abandoning a game for several months. Coming back to it and beat it just to find the ending even though it was what I predicted.

[CerebroDragon]

First up, thanks for the reccomendation Ziroc - I'll remember Champions of Norrath and shall ask around about it for future gaming sessions with my bro!

Second, cheers to Ivellis for answering all my questions about Dark Alliance II.
Ironically, as it turns out, my brother couldn't wait another week so we rented it just this weekend gone....and finished it in two days! I couldn't believe it to be honest, but perhaps after playing the first, we were more intuitively prepared and handled the game mechanics much easier. Admittedly, it was only on normal however, I was hoping it would be a little bigger.

My brother played the Barbarian (he's 13 and more of a console gamer, though I have been introducing him slowly to some classic RPGs) and I played the Necromancer. I was going to play the rogue or the cleric but wanted to have the difficulty of all the spells to cycle through and of course to contrast my brother's melee skills. DA II featured some insane powergaming - I remember levelling up after killing only two or three goblins! Still no real puzzles to speak of either, so that was a bit disappointing.

Comparitively, I think basically they are same game with some minor advancements in the sequel in the quest weaving area. I felt that despite the Gem/Rune weapon upgrades being a welcome addition, they were akwardly implemented and gave me nasty flashbacks to Diablo II. For example, what description is more imbued with power you think, Superior or Imperial? Whilst logically, one might guess superior (by its meaning alone) this isn't true for the game.
So a more detailed identification process within the game itself would have been beneficial.

Thankfully once again though the boss fights were always quite enjoyable as a tactical multiplayer experience. The chimera and manticore for instance gave some classic AD&D creatures a decent presence in the game. The greatest section overall for me personally, was probably the thematic RPG Elemental Plane roaming quests for Jherek which linked up quite well. Some lovely landscapes to explore and the AIR plane in particular, was very surreal and fun to wander, jump and float around in . [img]smile.gif[/img]

But generally, my adult RPG loving brain has been disappointed with these games due to the legacy of meaning and depth that the BG PC games have.
I doubt I could really play Dark Alliance I or II as a single player game just as I can't play diablo anymore for that same 'hollow' feeling kind of reasoning.

Cheers,
Cerebrodragon

P.S
If anyone has any multiplayer game reccomendations for my brother and I, feel free!

[Kakero]

I've played both DA and DA2. I also played CoN. To me both is a ripped of using the BG and Everquest name to merely sell their game. I didn't enjoy the games at all. It's all hack and slash and the storyline aren't that good. oh, If you've played DA you might find DA2 a bit similar too ( not pointing too much spoiler ) .