RPGWatch Forums - Sacred 2 - Preview @ GameSpy

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Sacred 2 - Preview @ GameSpy

GameSpy has a short introductory preview of Sacred 2 from GDC:

Quote:

Diablo-style action-RPGs seem to thrive on their simplicity. The fact that they largely take place within the strict boundaries of linear play-spaces sharpens their focus on the immediate payoff of clicking enemies to death and snatching up the resulting loot. But don't tell that to Sacred 2, which appears to have more expansive aspirations.

This is most evident in the sheer size of its world: 22 streaming square miles of terrain, ranging from plains and forests to swamps and badlands, with a network of underworld areas built into the caves and cities that populate the landscape. According to our host, every square inch of the environment was hand-built, as opposed to procedurally generated, with the aim of creating a world as organic-seeming as it is ample. All the bells and whistles you'd expect from this kind of "offline-persistent" world are present, including day and night cycles and NPCs with set schedules.

More information.

This looks better and better.
I wish they would have allowed modding for Sacred 1. This game could be much more fun with some fan made mods.

I have to admit I'm really looking forward to this one—about the only big action rpg on the horizon I can think of atm except for Rise of the Argonauts.

I'm excited about Sacred too. Maybe we can do some MP!

They better have a good stand-in for my Wood Elf

I am also looking forward to this - much more than the Silverfall follow-up ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSamhainx (Post 69524)

I'm excited about Sacred too. Maybe we can do some MP!

They better have a good stand-in for my Wood Elf

You'll have to play the seraphim if you want to ride the tiger. :)

Not sure about the High Elf's ride, but she looks like the mage, not ranger build.

Great. Once again it's possible to build up a virtual character by spending countless of hours smacking polygons chasing points etc. and for all that effort with no story you are rewarded with… less lifetime left.

Hey, nobody says you gotta play it!

As I've spent most of my lifetime holding down a job and supporting a family, not just playing games 24/7, I don't think a few hours here and there playing arpgs is that much of a waste.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magerette (Post 69532)

You'll have to play the seraphim if you want to ride the tiger. :)

Not sure about the High Elf's ride, but she looks like the mage, not ranger build.

I seem to remember reading that the dryad character will be the archer-type with some nature related abilities bolted on.

I too am looking forward to this. The "T-energy" storyline didn't exactly fill me with confidence at first (I mean come on - T-energy!? Sounds like some old x-men cartoon plot from the 70's), but mostly everything else is pushing the right buttons. I just need to overlook the rather naff story concepts and I should be good.

The T-Energy is little too modern-sounding! They need to just humor us archaic geeks and call it "essencia" or something. Then again, that sounds like a hair conditioner.

I´m quite optimistic. Ascaron´s 2nd game is almost always (even) better than the first because one of their key strengths is the analysis of feedback and user behaviour.
Furthermore Sacred 2 will be great because it has to. Unconfirmed of course, but I´m pretty sure Ascaron is going all in with the Sacred 2 project. It either becomes a huge hit or they can sell to Ubisoft. ;)
They have worked on their professionalism on all fronts:
- They´ve hired their own marketing manager and a community management team.
- Ascaron UK has been founded, the distribution / publishing network improved. Both leads to a better margin and/or more revenue.
- They have appointed another managing director for business stuff. The old one officially controls development.
- They have a 2nd team 200 km away work on the XBox360 conversion. (The Port Royal & Dark Star One team.)
- They have founded a daughter company for QA.
- The dialog with the community is now more filtered than before, which means less influence by the community but more stability for the project.
- Studio 2 hired a project manager from Scandinavia and Bob Bates for story or quests or so.
- They have decided to throw the Sacred 1 code base away.
- The new quest infrastructure is DB driven, to allow easy modifications in a controlled environment. Theoretically speaking the long search process through script files to find a random quest bug is history.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xSamhainx (Post 69554)

The T-Energy is little too modern-sounding!

With seras running around in power armor (that still shows cleavage and camel), the high-tech stuff may be hard to avoid. It might even explain the seraphim origin hints found in books from the first game, though I too would prefer the game stayed firmly in fantasy. I can suspend my disbelief for fantasy, and I can suspend it for futuristic SF, but when fantasy and SF get intermixed, suspension of disbelief becomes so much harder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JemyM (Post 69535)

:rolleyes: Dude. Surely you're a mature enough gamer to not bash aRGP's out of hand. To each his own. Hackneyed, high fantasy, adolescent, tear-jerky stories don't float all our boats. Oopsie! Did I just say that out loud? :p

Count me in as interested as well. If it lives up to their PR and the MP is as easy to jump in as they claim it to be, I'd love to get some of that good stuff with you guys! :biggrin: