Traitress of Swords? yes -
for your swordplay depresses;
a footnote speaks truth
Additional Comments:
I only just recently acquired this game, though I owned the sequel for a number of years now. In fact, the sequel was the first Dungeons & Dragons' franchised game I bought, though I must admit a bit reluctantly. I don't know, there was something about the idea of D&D being translated into a video game format that just didn't sit well with me. It gave off this stink of pomp and failing miserably, but I just had to give in and finally try something that bore TSR's logo - oh wait, Wizards of the Coast had already owned the name by this point. Hmm... well, fuck them! Still, it was D&D. I went into the game with a bad attitude, but at least tried to secure a sliver of hope that I didn't just throw $30 or $40 down the toilet (or however much it was at the time). Holy cow!! I was incredibly surprised. I didn't really know what to expect, and having long been a fan of the Gauntlet series, I was pleased to see an honest to goodness hack n' slash before my eyes. But despite my joy and long hours of play, I always felt like I was missing out on something. Whether it was the obvious amiss within the plot, or just the fact that I started with the sequel, I had always wanted to go back and play the original title. It only took me about ten years.
Like so many other titles that I haphazardly stumbled into mid-series, Dark Alliance gave me that sour tinge of regret that I didn't begin with the original. It's hard to take that step backwards, albeit only a baby step in this circumstance, but still. the Dark Alliance games could sort of be compared to the Mega Man series in that the sequel(s), while improving very minor game mechanics, accepted that the original formula worked and decided to adhere to it uncompromisingly. So for that, my guilt of precluding the first with the second wasn't near as bad as it was with say the Alex Kidd series, or how I suspect I'll feel should I finally ever get around to playing Paper Mario or Super Smash Bros.
First and foremost, what I really love about the Dark Alliance games is seeing the Monstrous Manual come to life before my eyes, especially here in the first game where we are met with a [spoiler] beholder [/spoiler] and lair of displacer beasts. Ok, the maneuverability of the displacer beast isn't exactly how I always envisioned it as per the description given in the Manual, but it's still great to see that creature in its new-found interactive goodness. And since we're on the topic of D&D compatibility, despite my having only the loosest knowledge of 3rd edition rules, I can fully appreciate and get a sense of the game's interpretation of said rules. Basically, it feels like while taking apparent liberties with the ruleset, it's still D&D at its core, and I applaud that. Of course games like Baldur's Gate for the PC or Dungeons & Dragons Online may hold an even firmer foot within the traditionalist rules of the game, but I think that the console Baldur's Gate games accomplished an equally favorable rendition. At least we're not dealing with the horrible, twisted abomination that Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse puked out - 2nd edition rules my ass.
Aside from all the charming and wonderful D&D-ness of it all, the game just looks beautiful. The environments are stunning to behold. Maybe they don't hold a candle to the environments of something like Final Fantasy X, but there's still something enchanting about them. It could just be the idea that Toril's taking shape, morphing from a 2D drawing in a book to an interactive 3D dungeon crawl, even if it's limited to three unique locales. But beyond that, each stage is well designed, fitting, and never distracts. Certain stages could probably have gone back under the knife for further refinement, namely Adderspine Road East and The Rotting Bog. I don't know if it was the open, field-like design or the apparent stranglehold of enemy types, but both of these areas felt like end-of-project acquisitions quickly shoved in to help bolster overall game time. That's not to say they're bad, but in comparison to the rest of the game, I found them tedious, especially after four consecutive playthroughs.
As far as the AI, well it's a hack n' slash so admittedly I don't expect much. It does what it does, which is pretty much exactly what I expect. However there is one major gripe that I just cannot overlook. Everyone's inability to make precise turns with the exception of the umber hulk, the one creature you would suspect can't make a sharp radius turn, or that giant muck dwelling armadillo thing (I'm referring to the giant bulette of course) - I can take all that in stride. Or how about how every hurling enemy can predict your position with impressive accuracy no matter how erratic your movement - hey, I'm cool with that too, though a bit annoyed, but whatever. But come on! Are you fucking kidding me!? Eldrith is a pathetic joke! For the most part, the bosses are a bit of a pushover in this game, if you've got the patience, but Eldrith is comparable to a sewer rat. On my first playthrough, which was on Easy, I reached Eldrith with weary trepidation, mostly because the Halls of Remembrance spooked the hell out of me the first time I traversed them. There's just something about throwing a complete vacuum at a player without notice that can really trip them up. Anyway, I reach Eldrith and POW, killed by her incredibly deadly Inescapable Sword of Fury Over 9000. Talk about zero reaction time - sheesh. Changed my course of attack and...what? I killed Eldrith within 10 seconds. I can't even begin to explain how stunned I was. My jaw hung in awe throughout the end cutscene and staff roll, desperately hoping that there may actually be something else to it all. What's worse is that this scenario rang true on both Normal and Hard as well - 10-20 seconds into the final battle and Eldrith was kneeling on the ground pleading her case and asking forgiveness. What the hell, man? But then I faced off with Eldrith in Extreme mode. Holy shit! Snowblind does not have a grasp on difficulty scaling at all. It took me a good 20 to 30 deaths and upwards of 25 minutes to take her down; most of that time spent dancing around the proverbial maypole. Wander away from that maypole, even by just mere inches, and forget it. There's nothing stopping a 1000+ hp attack.
What's weird though is that Eldrith's battle was really the only time I felt like I could see a visible difference in difficulty. Ok, that's not entirely true. The Sunset Mountains, namely Wind's Walk, proved an ever increasing test every time I upped the difficulty level, but by the time I got to the Marsh of Chelimber and the Onyx Tower, it might as well have all been set on Easy. In fact, going through the Onyx Tower on Extreme was easier than when I went through it on Easy. Huh? On Extreme, I plowed through all five floors as if I was facing off with a bunch of sun-baked wicker men. And I can't even blame it on the store's charitable bounty since I only ever bought Recall potions
Yea, something that has annoyed me time and time again with newer generation RPG's and the like is the unreasonable blessings of charity. Handing out incredibly powerful weapons like Halloween candy can sap all the fun out of a game in an instant. Add stores that have the ability to sell weaponry that can outbid free weaponry in power right from the get go for prices that are easily attainable within a short period of time and neglect to properly scale enemy creatures as one levels and it becomes laughable. This is all a bit extreme to say the least, but it's still clearly visible here. Yes, the enemies are scaled in difficulty, but in my opinion, not enough. At least not enough to force me to buy upgraded weaponry. If my dinky little Keen Short Sword +3 can still easily take stuff out within three hits, what's the point? Like many games, I neglected to shop at the store for upgrades (a sort of self-imposed limiter that I set myself on my last attempt at Morrowind, hoping it would help pique my interest by at least slowing the rate of power accumulation - um, nope) to help instill a sense of difficulty that I felt was lacking. In the end, I'm still frantically racing around, as if I was on a cocaine high, with a hefty Flaming Burst Adamantine Long Sword of Wounding +5 laying waste to a mighty swathe of evildoers. Why is this, or others like it, so easy to obtain? Makes me wonder why any sort of monetary device is used. The above sword and over one million in gold amassed, I could probably conquer the better part of the Western Heartlands. Fuck the Harpers, I'm striking out on my own accord.
Despite any and all grievances - grievances such as a cliché D&D-esque plot (come on, it's D&D - if it's not cliché then there's a problem), here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush battle tactics, or the Harpers' Clearing House Sweepstakes Winner effect, it's still an absolute blast to play. And even with the problems, I still think it's fundamentally a good game at its core. Really, the biggest downer is Eldrith, and that one's tough to overlook. But everything else - pfft.... Forget about it. Even after four consecutive playthoughs, it held its own, and I was even tempted to perform a fifth just so I could give Drizzt a go, but alas, there was no real merit in doing so which brings me to...
Nano-Rant:
...games that decide to leave all the unlockables until the very end. Why? Why do games do this? This is a cheap, asinine way to extend a game's shelf life. If a game is inherently fun with obvious replay value, people are going to replay it - quite possibly endlessly. For me, SMB3 is a perfect example. I don't know how many times I've played that game through to the end, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the hundreds. Companies should not trick players into a game's possible replay value by offering unlockables at the very end of the game. Now I can understand having to complete the game to unlock Gauntlet mode and then having to complete Gauntlet Mode to unlock whatever that unlocks - Extreme mode if I remember correctly? But why can't I use Drizzt? Why dangle him in front of us like a carrot with Gauntlet mode if we can't acquire him until we've beaten Extreme? It's fucking retarded!! And given how Extreme mode works, I'm not going to jump right into it until I see which character might best suit the arduous journey ahead. By the time all is said and done, I've played the game four times. I've covered all my bases, and frankly the light's burnt out. And now Drizzt is nothing more than a waste of programming. Eh, wasn't that big of a loss anyway since you can't swap out his weaponry. Lame.
Nano-Nano-Rant (Er, Pico-Rant?), but it's not all fist shaking:
Damn you Slithery Swamp! Because of you I had Kip's Wedding Song stuck in my head for a month:
"...yes, I love technology,Eh, the Elf Song Remix is pretty sweet, though.
but not as much as you, you see.
But I still love technology.
Always and forever."
Rating: 4 Pole-Dancin' Drow Queens out of 5
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