slop101

A "%" score is different than a 5-start scale. A 5/5 isn't necessarily perfect, but a 100% should be.

foxdvd

I gave my ex wife a 100% while we were still married...now all I see is a ****....

love has a way of making you overlook flaws....

covenant

not to me, but anywho....

Metacritic translates a 5/5 to 100%. I read joystiq's review on Metacritic, hence my comment.

Day9v is doing a live play through right now:

http://sv.twitch.tv/day9tv

dude is doing some awesome combat though and rolling and dodging like a boss.

slop101

Seems like he added an extra zero to those hours. According to this (level-headed) Gametrailer review, if you make a B-line for just the main quest, it's around 20 hours.

Fandango

The 200 hours is if you do everything there is to do in the game.

fumanstan

Yeah, that quote sounds weird the way its phrased but the 200 hours was a speed run doing all of the quests available while skipping all the superfluous stuff.

wlj

not according to the developer -- he said 200+ if you were doing everything as quick as possible. so basically 1 billion hours if you take your time and do everything!

Noonan

The 200 hours did mean doing all quests; main and side. Just a speed run of doing everything.

I've put in about 3-4 hours so far. I really like the mechanics but I'm having trouble getting lost in the world. The lack of jumping and invisible walls is really hurting the experience for me. That being said, it has great loot, I'm a fan of the art style, and the voice acting is some of the best I've heard in a game. Fun game so far but I wouldn't yet put it in the same class as an elder scroll game.

covenant

Watching the streaming play-through it really reminds me of a closer-perspective Dungeon Siege, which is a good thing in my mind.

wlj

If I was playing the game, I would be looking for messages on the ground from other players like in Dark Souls. Those little tips are so helpful, most of them anyway.

chuckd21

Yep, industry conspiracy. Money hats.

covenant

Ok.

I took the plunge and have been playing for three hours.
and it is:

Awesome!

The art style is all Wow but the textures are way more detailed. Not Skyrim detailed but you know what I mean. Combat is the star of the show. Playing a dual-dagger rogue has never felt so satisfying. The combo attacks are so fast and fluid. Love the loot, feels just like Diablo/Dungeon Siege. I thought not being able to jump would be a big deal, but I don't notice it anymore. Texture popping is there but it's no worse than any other game I've played. To get a feel for the size of the map I ran from the starting area to the big river to the east which is about 3/4 of the map. It took me about 20 minutes, sprinting the whole time (I had to, to survive). But that skips over whole zones to the north and south. Too small a game world won't be an issue.

I was really skeptical but I'm impressed.

Decker

Is there a way to stash loot? 70 items is way too limiting, especially with all the different weapon styles to try out.

Noonan

You get a house pretty early on which has a chest that can store 155 I think. And you can buy backpacks which up your inventory level.

wlj

I got around to playing the demo last night. I came away impressed. I wasn't very wowed by what I had seen on the internet, but the game is fun to play. It is definitely like Fable and an Elder Scrolls game had a head on collision and this game came from the wreckage. It is a perfect hybrid. I have Skyrim, but I wouldn't mind trading it for this game sometime soon. I enjoyed the combat quite a bit. The whole "shield from thin air" is lame though. I will pick this game up sometime in the future.

Decker

I think the demo made several mistakes, but one was starting in the very beginning. It takes quite a while to get out of the caves, and the combat in them isn't all that exciting. It wasn't much fun to have to spend another hour doing that stuff all again once I got the actual game.

Good to know about the house -- I'll go back to a story mission next time I play. Surprised the trunk in your house has a size limit. Why couldn't they import an infinite trunk from Skyrim?

Noonan

Maybe they did it to cut down on save file size, which could help with the game bugging out. You can only store stuff in that chest. If you noticed, you don't have an option to drop items in other lootable furniture, even in your own house.

slymer

Can't you buy extra back packs to store more stuff as well?

I bought and started playing this game yesterday. It's no Skyrim, but it's fun. I give it an 8/10 so far.

Noonan

You can but they're expensive and limited. I think I read that there's one backpack for sale in each major town.

slymer

Oh I didn't realize they were rare. I did notice that it was like 7000 gold. Definitely pricey and well out of my price range at the moment.

I also came across a trainer that charged 15,000 gold for his services. Sheesh!

Decker

I wonder if you could train, then kill him and get your gold back? At that price, I'd consider it.

Noonan

Money seems real easy to come by with the amount of loot you find. I usually walk around with 10K and I'm only maybe 5 hours in. And make sure to level up Detect Hidden early on; that'll increase the amount of money you find and show you on the map where treasures are.

MoviePage

I think many demos make this same mistake. Nothing like a 15-minute cutscene to make me want your game!

Glad to hear everyone is enjoying this one.

wlj

all of the cutscenes in the demo were irritating, I skipped through all of them. just let me play the damn game

MoviePage

$44.99 at Amazon now. Smart of them to wait a few days since it was their #1 seller at $59.95 on release day anyway.

I'm tempted, but I'm waiting for $30 or so.