First Impressions from a long time RPG Gamer.

Ok, so I've played Pillars for a few hours now and am about 4th level. I have also paid for the game but haven't received my registration data yet. I'm patient. Overall, good marks, Seems stable, loads fine. A fun game.

I have some problems with the general tone / dialogue of the game. It seems very amateurish or written for kids. Almost like I'm playing an anime type game (Zelda for my son's gameboy comes to mind.) Maybe the target audience here is ages 15 & below but I could write better interstitial text in my sleep. The in game characters don't seem real, they seem like video game sprites.

If I could add one thing only to the game is the ability to choose from a limited set of character classes. I've gotten spoiled by playing games like Baldur's Gate where you can customize your character to a very detailed level. In Pillars, I can hack and slash only - in that order.

No spells or magic??? At all? I'd love to be wrong here. Do I only have one type of attack?? No matter what weapon I equip, I only see the sword animation. Would be nice if the graphic would change.

So, I know it sounds like I'm ragging but I like the game, enjoyable. Its just that Baldur's Gate II for mac just shipped so Pillars has some tough competition.

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Originally posted by stevebanks:
**I have some problems with the general tone / dialogue of the game. It seems very amateurish or written for kids. Almost like I'm playing an anime type game (Zelda for my son's gameboy comes to mind.) Maybe the target audience here is ages 15 & below but I could write better interstitial text in my sleep. The in game characters don't seem real, they seem like video game sprites.
**

It wasn't written for kids -- it is written for casual gamers. I wouldn't expect that hard-core RPG folks such as yourself would necessarily go for Pillars of Garendall.

It's a much more approachable game -- the majority of game players are not hard core gamers. They want a game they can dive right into and start enjoying -- Pillars of Garendall is just for them. 🙂

It's similar to some console-based roled playing games.

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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Quote

Originally posted by stevebanks:
**If I could add one thing only to the game is the ability to choose from a limited set of character classes. I've gotten spoiled by playing games like Baldur's Gate where you can customize your character to a very detailed level. In Pillars, I can hack and slash only - in that order.
No spells or magic??? At all? I'd love to be wrong here. Do I only have one type of attack?? No matter what weapon I equip, I only see the sword animation. Would be nice if the graphic would change.
**

You can equip a Bow and get another hero animation. And as you progress your hero gets gets better armor animations and grows older gracefully. Its only slightly graying hair thankfully. I'd go crazy if he went bald.
But, he still holds a shield when you equip a double-handed weapon, like the Claymore. A double-handed sword blocking animation would be cool. Also, I wonder what type of animation you get when you equip a double-handed stave.

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"Treat animals just like they're people"
"But, we don't even treat people right."

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Originally posted by andrew:
**It wasn't written for kids -- it is written for casual gamers. I wouldn't expect that hard-core RPG folks such as yourself would necessarily go for Pillars of Garendall.

It's a much more approachable game -- the majority of game players are not hard core gamers. They want a game they can dive right into and start enjoying -- Pillars of Garendall is just for them. 🙂

It's similar to some console-based roled playing games.

**

Still, its enjoyable and I applaud the effort. I'm going to use it to ween my son off his gameboy and onto a better game platform. (Although it occurs to me that this may be trading one evil for another. (grin)) So, I'm having fun and can't wait for some decent plug ins to show up.

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Originally posted by stevebanks:
**
Still, its enjoyable and I applaud the effort. I'm going to use it to ween my son off his gameboy and onto a better game platform. (Although it occurs to me that this may be trading one evil for another. (grin)) So, I'm having fun and can't wait for some decent plug ins to show up.
**

Glad you're enjoying it! I like to think of it as one of Grimm's faery tales put into a game -- lighthearted and fun fantasy play.

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Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

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Originally posted by andrew:
Glad you're enjoying it! I like to think of it as one of Grimm's faery tales put into a game -- lighthearted and fun fantasy play.

I agree completely Andrew... it's fun, imminently playable, and really very nice to look at. While I enjoy those "hard-core" RPG's, I've believe they're gotten overly gory to a certain extent. Additionally, many of the RPG's in the past had a surfit of character classes and party members. It's nice to a have clean, simple game with easy to understand rules, and one which I can play during the day, and even let my impressionable 5-year-old watch. The lack of gore is refreshing.

However, it would be nice to have had a choice of male or female main character! Oh well, next time!

Thanks for a great game...I registered less then 12-hours after downloading the demo 🙂

Oh, and posting it on a mirror site...great idea 🙂

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<<lighthearted and fun fantasy play>>

You've got me there. Since I'm a kid, I can say it's wonderful. I want really hard to register, but I've been using my bank money too often, I should wait a week. The problem is that a week is a awfully long time! I wonder if I'll hit level 20 by then. I believe I've hit 8, 9 or 10. Amazing game. Why can't you transport CDs when people register your games? 🙂 The mail is so sllloooooow. :frown:
Sorry. I'm starting to ramble. Great game, Ambrosia Diablo without the blood and hordes of enimies and better graphics. You've made me want to try other RPGs. Any like PoG I could try?

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macmaxbh
"I don't need romance." Zak Kebron told her confidently. "I have goldfish."

Quote

Originally posted by andrew:
**I like to think of it as one of Grimm's faery tales put into a game -- lighthearted and fun fantasy play.

**

Beg to differ, ol' chap! 😉
If this game was anything like the brother Grimms' stories it would be dark and depressing and full of people dying because they had been killed in the most gruesome ways!

It's a great game anyaway. 😄

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