Ok, so I've heard a bit about a game called Guild Wars 2 for a long while now and it usually sounds something like "OMG gonna be best game evar!!1!!!" or "This game is awesomesause!" and treat it like the second coming of Christ. So, naturally, I decided to take a look to see what all the fuss is about. I made a quick youtube search and came across this video.
And honestly, I'm underwhelmed. I mean it looks GOOD, but not amazing.
First they show us the Biography part of the game's character customization. Doesn't seem to do anything except making the character keep describing herself as cunning over and over in the opening cinematic, but that's to be expected considering it's such a short demo.
Speaking of the opening cinematic, it looks cool, but it doesn't explain a lot. For example, even though I would be playing as one if I played this demo, I have no idea what a norn is. From what I could gather they are humans, or some sort of human-esque race, who was chased away by some ice dragon and who appreciate the sport of hunting. That's pretty much it. I also don't know anything about the world or the place I start in. A little context would be nice.
The demo then jumps right into the game and I have to admit that it looks beautiful. Love the artstyle and the graphics are great for a MMO. Then again Age of Conan also looked great back in its day...
Not long afterwards, the player runs towards an NPC with a speechbubble(which is the only thing that looks bad in the game and stands out like an infected sore) and then a conversation with the NPC begins. I have heard GW2 been compared to SWTOR when it comes to conversations. Oh how surprised was I when I saw it in action. The voice acting is okay-ish at best, but the whole setup of it is awkward. Compare to SWTOR, the other MMO with voice-acting, the characters move around, interact with objects and each other while at the same time offering a dialogue tree to give a sense of control and to influence the outcome. Here the characters stand on the opposite side of the screen from one another, doing weird facial expressions while the other one is talking and if a third or fourth party wants to join in another character has to be swept aside. It reminds me of an upphotted version of the oldschool ways they used to handle dialogue in old JRPGs back in the day. But they didn't do it because it was the best way to tell a narrative, but because of the limitations of the tech they had. Well, technology marches on and we know we don't have to present dialogue in that way anymore. It's not bad because it's bad (it thrumps the wall of text any day in the week) but it's bad because I think they can do better.
They then go on to show us some of the combat of the game. The combat looks solid, but there is one thing that stands out to me. While the player, together with a bunch of other players and NPCs, fight a miniboss up on a snowy mountain, while the developer stress how much they want to make a game where you don't stand still pressing the same button every time... that seems to be exactly what they're doing (everyone except the player that is) and it works. In fact the boss is taken down in a heartbeat and the devloper says this is the fastest take down of this boss he's seen. The strategy of standing still and spamming attacks saves the day once again.
The last thing they show us of the demo is a dynamic event which seems to be, well events you can take part of if you wish, where you cooperate with other players to accomplish an objective and hopefully gain some currency to buy phatt loot later on. Seems kinda cool, but nothing to jump out of your throusers for.
So that's pretty much my impression and my question is how does that relate to your impression. Am i wrong? Is it something I'm missing about all of this? What are your thoughts?
And honestly, I'm underwhelmed. I mean it looks GOOD, but not amazing.
First they show us the Biography part of the game's character customization. Doesn't seem to do anything except making the character keep describing herself as cunning over and over in the opening cinematic, but that's to be expected considering it's such a short demo.
Speaking of the opening cinematic, it looks cool, but it doesn't explain a lot. For example, even though I would be playing as one if I played this demo, I have no idea what a norn is. From what I could gather they are humans, or some sort of human-esque race, who was chased away by some ice dragon and who appreciate the sport of hunting. That's pretty much it. I also don't know anything about the world or the place I start in. A little context would be nice.
The demo then jumps right into the game and I have to admit that it looks beautiful. Love the artstyle and the graphics are great for a MMO. Then again Age of Conan also looked great back in its day...
Not long afterwards, the player runs towards an NPC with a speechbubble(which is the only thing that looks bad in the game and stands out like an infected sore) and then a conversation with the NPC begins. I have heard GW2 been compared to SWTOR when it comes to conversations. Oh how surprised was I when I saw it in action. The voice acting is okay-ish at best, but the whole setup of it is awkward. Compare to SWTOR, the other MMO with voice-acting, the characters move around, interact with objects and each other while at the same time offering a dialogue tree to give a sense of control and to influence the outcome. Here the characters stand on the opposite side of the screen from one another, doing weird facial expressions while the other one is talking and if a third or fourth party wants to join in another character has to be swept aside. It reminds me of an upphotted version of the oldschool ways they used to handle dialogue in old JRPGs back in the day. But they didn't do it because it was the best way to tell a narrative, but because of the limitations of the tech they had. Well, technology marches on and we know we don't have to present dialogue in that way anymore. It's not bad because it's bad (it thrumps the wall of text any day in the week) but it's bad because I think they can do better.
They then go on to show us some of the combat of the game. The combat looks solid, but there is one thing that stands out to me. While the player, together with a bunch of other players and NPCs, fight a miniboss up on a snowy mountain, while the developer stress how much they want to make a game where you don't stand still pressing the same button every time... that seems to be exactly what they're doing (everyone except the player that is) and it works. In fact the boss is taken down in a heartbeat and the devloper says this is the fastest take down of this boss he's seen. The strategy of standing still and spamming attacks saves the day once again.
The last thing they show us of the demo is a dynamic event which seems to be, well events you can take part of if you wish, where you cooperate with other players to accomplish an objective and hopefully gain some currency to buy phatt loot later on. Seems kinda cool, but nothing to jump out of your throusers for.
So that's pretty much my impression and my question is how does that relate to your impression. Am i wrong? Is it something I'm missing about all of this? What are your thoughts?
the more you know!
