Anyone Played Seal of Evil?

[magerette]

Had my eye on this one for a long time, and the price has finally come down to my personal comfort level ($20), but I'm a little hesitant to pick it up seeing as how no one ever talks about playing it--I've read a few reviews that aren't terribly enthusiastic, but the setting of ancient China sounds interesting and also the magic system.
Anyone played it and have a recommendation?

[txa1265]

I played it and would put it at the same level as Restricted Area, MetalHeart, or something like that ... not so great, but not *too* terrible.

Oh - and it is now on GameTap as well.

[magerette]

If it's as bad as Restricted Area, it's going to have to get a lot cheaper--I like action rpgs, but after two hours that game was like being caught in an infinite loop of identical mutant-filled corridors in an endless Groundhog Day of post apocalyptic mediocrity. :)

Ah, well, I figured it was so underknown for a reason.

[Corwin]

I wrote a very detailed review of SoE for the Dot before the game was released. ( I was given an advance copy ). Check it out there.

[magerette]

Thanks, Corwin. Much as I hate to go over there any more, I'll try to check it out.

[Lucky Day]

I played it nearly to the end. What would you like to know?

I loved it (mostly).

I feel I could write up a review myself.

The game is a prequel to their previous release Qin (pronounced Cheen, as in The Emperor Qin united all of China). I didn't play Qin.

In summary - a linear console jrpg feeling gaming that plays like Diablo. The voice acting is mostly atrocious as your main actress is doing a "voice" through the whole thing instead of talking naturally. They should have had the other actress do the main characrer. She was excellent.

You are forced to play a female character but can pick up 4 more companions, only two of which are playable at any one time.

The translations are tolerable. Things they miss are like "fake doctor" for "quack" which is certainly understandable.

There seems to be some love put into this game. Its very much story driven which I don't think Qin has. There are dozens of quests for you to carry out. In that sense its more like Divine Divinity. It also has a surprising flashback scene which I don't want to spoil.

But for all these features the one thing that stands out more than anything is the crafting! There are thousands of combinations you can make of different types of items all based on the Chinese system of 5 elements.

Along with Space Rangers 2 this is one of the two sleeper games that got to NA only thanks to word of mouth. Both games garnered enough interest to work their ways across Europe and into the UK and did well enough to get picked up in my continent.

Oh, and this is a Chinese made game, natch. I have it on my shelf next to my Little Red Book.

[skavenhorde]

The game is a prequel to their previous release Qin (pronounced Cheen, as in The Emperor Qin united all of China). I didn't play Qin.

In summary - a linear console jrpg feeling gaming that plays like Diablo. The voice acting is mostly atrocious as your main actress is doing a "voice" through the whole thing instead of talking naturally. They should have had the other actress do the main characrer. She was excellent.


But for all these features the one thing that stands out more than anything is the crafting! There are thousands of combinations you can make of different types of items all based on the Chinese system of 5 elements.


The name of the previous release was Prince of Qin (I think the pronounciation is closer to Chin but hey, what do I know ;)) The translation from Chinese to English on this game was horrible and funny :) Seal is better. I agree that the main character's voice acting wasn't that good.

The gameplay imo is nowhere near JRPG. There are no big eyed girls and emo male main characters. It's closer to Baldur's Gate meets Diablo. It's definatly not a click fest though. You have to carefully plan out some of your attacks depending on what type of creature your facing.

I totally agree that the crafting and the five elements system is one of the best part of the game. No more fire, air, earth and water. Now you have metal, wood, water, earth and fire. One element will support a different element and also restrict another one. Example: Earth restricts water but metal promotes water. That means that if your attacking a water creature you should either use earth based spells or weapons. You'll do more damage. But, if you use metal based spells or weapons on a water creature you won't hurt it as much. There are other ways the game uses this system like with weapons and armor but to me it was a nice change of pace from the usual fire vs water and air vs earth.

All in all a nice game and different from the usual RPG games. Different beasts and being based very loosly in China's myths and legends is a very nice change of pace. Seal of Evil is also on my shelf but it's definatly not next to a red book ;)

[Kelvorn]

I haven't played Seal of Evil. But I think it's a sequel to Prince of Qin, I think, which I have played. I don't remember much of the game though except that I had fun with its crafting system.

[Dhruin]

Played a preview version for a while. Quite enjoyed it once I got going but I'd only rank it as fair-middling. Corwin's review is on the money, for me.

[Dark Savant]

I have GMX release of both Prince of Qin and Seal of Evil. There is supposed to be a version with original chinese voice acting, far superior to awful english voices, but I can`t find this version anywhere in Europe.

Seal of Evil review by RPGDot
http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=1070
Seal of Evil review by RPG Codex
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=116

[magerette]

Thanks for the input, all. The crafting and magic system was my main interest, coupled with the setting, and it sounds like there's some additional meat to the game as well, so worth trying for me I think.

Thanks for the review links, Dark Savant--Corwin's was quite good and had a link to the demo which always helps, and it was quite nostalgic to see a review by Exitium. :)

Edit: The demo link in Corwin's review has expired of old age. Here's a good one (http://www.gamershell.com/download_7129.shtml) from GamersHell if anyone else is thinking of checking it out.

[Dark Savant]

Some more useful links. :)

Official Seal of Evil site:
http://eng.objectgames.com/soe/
Official GMX Seal of Evil site:
http://www.gmxmedia.net/soe/
Official GMX Prince of Qin site:
http://www.gmxmedia.net/poq/
Official Seal of Evil forum
http://www.gmxmedia.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=42&sid=53f7d3462ff06a4695078678e85e71cc

Latest v1.30 patch for Prince of Qin
GMX edition http://dlh.net/cgi-bin/dlp.cgi?lang=eng&sys=pc&file=poq130gmx.zip&ref=ps
other editions http://dlh.net/cgi-bin/dlp.cgi?lang=eng&sys=pc&file=poq130e.zip&ref=ps

[Lucky Day]

right it was Prince of Qin, not Qin. My bad. I was just trying to be silly when I said its pronounced Cheen. (China is named for the Emperor Qin)

The Chinese have these folk stories about their mythical past. These warriors are so good with their swords they can often control them without actually touching them. These were what the martial arts movies were based on until weaponless King Fu films became more popular. Movies in the style of Crouching Tiger have revised this style.

And of course, this is what Seal of Evil is based on.

Most of the voices are actually good, its just the lead character. Its like she's holding her nose and pretending to be 12 the whole game.

[Gallifrey]

I have a copy of Seal Of Evil, I think I won it in a contest way back when from the 'Dot. Never played it much, I installed it and the voice acting made me cry with embarrasment and I uninstalled.

But whenever I see the name Seal Of Evil I think of something like this (http://creativestudios.com/csdevblogpictures/uploaded_images/evilseal-740588.jpg).

[magerette]

I think I just inhaled an overdose of coffee. :rotfl:

[Dhruin]

I remember that contest. :)

[Corwin]

That's a great link Gallifrey, thanks!! :)

[Barghest]

Is there anyway to get the Chinese language & subtitles working on the GMX Media version of Seal of Evil? The English voice acting is utterly terrible.

[Smorri]

Is there anyway to get the Chinese language & subtitles working on the GMX Media version of Seal of Evil? The English voice acting is utterly terrible.

I can't say for sure, but I am about 99% sure that is a feature of the Strategy First version. I have both versions. I haven't installed the GMX version, but I've been using their manual (as its printed) and the pages about the main menu don't even show/mention the original language subtitled button. I also remember during the time between the two releases, posting on the Strategy First forum and asking if they were going top add a subtitled option, to which they responded "Yes". So I am pretty sure it is the SF version only.

I don't know what files you would need, and someone would have to post them, supposing you could just plug them in. On the other hand, the SF version is only $9.99

[Barghest]

I don't know what files you would need, and someone would have to post them, supposing you could just plug them in. On the other hand, the SF version is only $9.99I think the SF release has 3 disks while the GMX has only 2. I think I may be out of luck.

Could you point me toward a website which will ship the SF version to the UK? Ebay/Amazon don't show many options.

[Smorri]

I think the SF release has 3 disks while the GMX has only 2. I think I may be out of luck.

Could you point me toward a website which will ship the SF version to the UK? Ebay/Amazon don't show many options.

The Strategy First store carries it http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/games/SealOfEvil/

The shipping to the UK is more than the game :( But they do offer a DownLoad option.

[Barghest]

Thanks. I ordered the boxed copy (& Gods: Lands of Infinity SE as well)