Possible First to Play Event at Atari UK (London)

[tenebra]

As discussed in another thread, I'd like to organise a First to Play event in our London office, where players will have the chance to play the game several weeks before the release.

Friday 27th of July could be a good date for me, or alternatively Saturday 28th if that makes it easier for you guys. Please select the date that would be most suitable for you in the poll, I would need to know if there is enough interest to go ahead with the event :)

[tenebra]

Hi guys

I must admit I was hoping for a better response. We'd need at least 10 players to organise such an event. I'll be looking into promoting it on other media as well, hopefully we'll receive enough interest to allow me to go ahead at a later stage.

[Fogey]

I've been looking forward to this game for some time, but unfortunately the delays mean I'm now in New Zealand, as I've emmigrated. There is a lot of confusion here as to when the release date for NZ is gonna be. Since I can't make it to London, how about sending a firm date this way? :nuts:

[mdk_187]

Mole,

I would love to come to London for this, but as I live in Belgium and will leave on vacation for the next few weeks, I would really like a date somewhere in September, or late August.
That way, I can organize a trip to London.
Is it also possible to keep the game if we like it? (Have to ask, you never know if they say yes)

I am really looking forward for this game to release here in Europe.

If you want to speak to me quickly, please don't hesitate to contact me via MSN.

[dirtygit]

YES YES YES COUNT ME IN PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ! :nuts:

sorry for using caps but I wanted to say yes!

[dirtygit]

Mole what are you doing to me mate!

i only joined this forum to reply to your post and your PM box is full!!!!

I would love to take part in a trial of the game.
i live and work in london and LOVE RPG/ Strat games

I cannot wait for Final Fantasy Tactics.

I also run a DnD group in London with 20 players so I can get mor eplayers down too if you want?

pleeeez let us play :-D
i know it sounds desperate but i dont care. it is a great opportunity and I want you to know that we want to play!

[tenebra]

So sorry I missed your post until now, dirtygit. I'll get in touch with you soon, I can organise things in no time (almost) ;)

[dirtygit]

hey no problem mate
still here and bursting at seams to play.
send me a pm as soon as you can sort it.
btw, if you are in london I got birthday beers in soho this friday - mixture of office friends, dnd gamers, mates from football, girls and guys. let me know if you are free to pop over. :)

[tenebra]

Very flattering and tempting (I live in London), I'll talk to you by pm tomorrow ;)

[guinaur]

See... this is why I wish I lived in the UK... Stupid South Africa... :noooo:

[dirtygit]

dont worry about it guinar.
i have still not had any progress from Mole and I live in London and can supply as many testers as he needs tonguegre
so i still sit here waiting :noooo:

[tenebra]

Sorry Dirtygit, I'm swamped with work - which includes lots of D&D stuff ;)

[dirtygit]

OK been playing for about a week and I have to say i really like the game.

If you like DnD (chances are high if you are reading this) then you are going to like it a lot.
You are also going to appreciate the subtleties too - like how darkvision is displayed and other light levels.
The music is very good and atmospheric.
The game is turn-based and the inclusion of a surprise round is nice and an exploration phase before and after combat.
Creating your characters is a lot of fun and interesting... except you cannot save and view any PCs that you have created??? Yes, that is right, you could create 50 PCs but never be able to browse any of them before starting the campaign. So at this point I should explain that this game is really a double-headed axe wielded by a non-proficient commoner; as one blade kills the goblin, the other cuts off his own leg...

case 1) artwork is great, not in-game graphics. Unfortunately , the in-game graphics are quite dark and bland. You can personalise your PC models by changing heads only (1 of 8 types - which seem to be almost generic across all races and do not reflect your choice of portrait!). Also the bodies reflect their class and not so much their race.

case 2) great analogue camera, that glitches movement and cannot go low. There are two levels of zoom but neither are really ideal - the close up view is not close enough to feel the action and sometimes it is still confusing to see what is going on. The zoomed out mode is too close for you to take in the surrounding areas. The biggest annoyance is that movement uses the dpad and sometimes you cannot move diagonal or even in a straight line due to the camera angle. you need to go back to the analogue stick and pivot the camera, then test the dpad so 'UP' moves your PC in a northern direction (as opposed to north-eastern). This is a minor irritation at first but soon turns into some that really grinds on you, as times you will just want to move directly forward and the cursor has your path moving in zig-zags! Damn, this has reminded me of two other issues with movement.
a) you always have the 'Charge' move available when in range, even though your route will be blocked, so you will think you can charge only to be told 'path obstructed'.
b) there is no double move function. so you have to move. then select PC again, then select move, then move to position and confirm. grr.
oh and while here...
c) there is no way to collectively move a bunch of PCs. you will sometimes find your party get split (if you are a clever player lol). One end will be a dead end and you then need to get them across the other side of the tomb (or whatever) and this has to be done individually. Fair enough if combat is happening but even in Exploration Phase (which is like a free-play when not in initiative). This is when point B above really comes in to play. Imagine moving 3 PCs about 200 feet knowing that every 20-40 feet you have to repeat Point B above. Yes, I actually turned off my PSP at one point because I could not be bothered. Such a silly thing to leave out.

Sorry, I know I left my original point but that is both the brilliant and the irritating feature of this game. For everything you like about the game, you find something irritates you. It seems like even the game studio could not decide on what they liked, e.g. trading items between PCs uses the analogue to switch from left to right screens. It works great - so fast and intuitive. Try equipping your PC and the same system that would have worked so well is replaced with the need to press SQUARE, then an alert saying you are switching to EQUIP mode, then you have to press A to remove the alert, then you can equip the items. Oh and to unequip you have to repeat the process. Now imagine doing that for several items over 6 PCs... yes I gave up equipping PCs on the proper equip screen too and just resorted to equipping them in the final combat phases as it was MUCH quicker (which is ridiculous really).

But it really is a good game, the biggest disappointment is that it could have been a great game.
It feels incomplete. It feels like they did not look at some of the greatest turn based strategy games (check out Final Fantasy Tactics on PSX and the new version on PSP in about 2 months).
So many essential things (like To Hit %) have been watered down or removed, supposedly to make the game easier to get in to, but in an attempt to appease all it fails to please either - both the casual player and the hardcore DnD fan will find it is either to complicated or too simplified for them!


overall 7:

graphics 7 - good but nothing that pushes the PSP.
sound 8 - very atmospheric. great LOTR feel. but no voice acting? loads of other PSP games have this already.
gameplay 7 - enjoyable but glitches with movement, camera and navigation trouble play.

I hope that you find this quick review helpful.