Two Worlds II

[Oracle]

So I picked this up today after talking to the guy in my local EB. He played through the first one, and while buggy, found it entertaining. He's heard great things about the new one, and looking around online, the consensus seems to be fairly positive.

I'm hoping this game lives up to my expectations. I've been needing a game I can really put myself into. The Suikoden Experience I have going on is fun and all, but I've played them all before. I need something new.

[Oracle]

So far my impressions:

Two Worlds 2 > Oblivion

Really enjoying the game. Magic system is fun as hell. World is MASSIVE. I'm on chapter two now. Chapter one took place on a really big island. Well, I thought it was really big. I zoomed out on the map and noticed there are at least two more land masses. The one I'm on now for chapter two is about 1/4 the size of the first island. The other 'island' I noticed.... it's FREAKING HUGE. I have no idea how much content is on that island... but it's size on the map is intimidating.

Game has a good teleporting system. You can even create your own personal teleport destinations by use of a personal teleport stone you can place on the ground. Really handy for those often-visited locations that are a little far away from the game's pre-established teleport destinations.

First island is like a desert. Not the sand dunes type, but think western movie. The island I just got to is home of the world's famous university, set in an oriental cultural landscape. VERY vivid color use here compared to the first island.

Anyway, great game, don't let Two Worlds One scare you aware. This is worth the money (provided you like the open-world exploration fantasy RPG genre).

[Shrinweck]

Well when the first one came out it wouldn't even run on my system, but I'll nab it given the recommendation and the current damned drought of major releases.

[Oracle]

Two words for Two Worlds 2:

Too Short.

Talk about a bait and switch. You know that massive island I mentioned and not knowing how much content was there? Well, without ruining anything, don't get your hopes up.

I was reading online of a 20-25 hour story line with around 20-25 hours of side quests.

Well, I finished the game in under 23 hours, and I did every damn quest I could find. You get a scroll in the game that tells you what your reputation is with the various guilds (thieves, brotherhood, magicians), and the lowest I scored was 77/100 rep (well, I had 20/100 for horse riding, but fuck horse riding). Everything else was 85-100.

Not to say the game wasn't GOOD. I still really liked it. But I'm just disappointed that I finished it and now when I run around looking for more quests to do, there really isn't anything.

I may have to get a Xbox live gold membership to try out the multiplayer. I hear there is a 'village' mode that lets you run your own village, upgrade infrastructure, and build an economy for income. Why the hell this is locked away in ONLY multiplayer baffles me, and pisses me off at the same time. But it sounds like this is the mode where you get the high-end gear and can actually expect to level past lvl 41 (which is what I was when I beat the game).

I went pretty much 50/50 with fighter and mage. It turned out to be VERY effective. Start fights off with the mage gear, summon some baddies (like 10) to help you out first, then run into a fight with a spread-bolt spell that also causes a prolonged area of effect damage spell that appears where each of the bolts impact something. Then switch to the fighter gear and run in to enjoy the mayhem, that is if your minions and the fire storms didnt kill everything already.

I'm going to re-play the game with an archer build and see how that goes. I'll also try to see if there were any quests I missed, because I get the feeling that once you advance past a chapter that certain quests are no longer available.

Feels like I played the game for WAY more than 23 hours. I did unplug the xbox to move it to another room, I wonder if the clock settings got messed up....

[Shrinweck]

I tried it out but yet again I find myself fucking hating third person combat in RPGs like that. I hate, hate, hate it so much and all that horse riding in the beginning made an already boring gaming experience into a damned chore.

[Oracle]

Yes, get past the horse shit. I also found that tedious, but it went fairly quick.

Most non-intuitive horse controls EVER.

[Shrinweck]

No, I'm past it, I just hated the combat and the story didn't particularly grab me. I'm not going to get into it.

[SineSwiper]

Yes, because with a rating of 2.0 out of 10, Two Worlds was just begging for a sequel. Seriously, do they just create sequels for everything?

Boss: "This game was total shit. Let's make a sequel out of it."
Exec: "Good idea! People won't remember how shitty the first game was. They'll buy anything!"

[Zeus]

Here it was barely 200k, huge bomb. Too lazy to look it up, Sine, but I believe the title actually sold decently in Europe. Hence the sequel.

[SineSwiper]

So, a game that bombed in the US and only sold "decently" in Europe deserves another risky million dollar investment? I don't quite understand this model of development.

[Shrinweck]

European developer probably gets a lot of support overseas for making a game that isn't concentrated on North American technicalities. There's a lot of bitching on forums about even slight differences in business practices.

[bovine]

Government subsidies.