Two Worlds II - Review @ Worthplaying

Two Worlds II (X360) has been reviewed at Worthplaying with a score of 7/10:

The world is huge. You start on a small island but as the game progresses, you move on to larger land masses, each filled with a number of side-quests that often ask you to kill or deliver something. Most of those are standard RPG fare. There are no "big decisions" to make, other than a few that might alter the outcome of what happens within their own quests, such as mistaking a band of robbers of someone else. TW2 is about as straightforward an RPG as they come where the story and quests are concerned. If you're hoping for the kind of consequential storytelling found in games such as Bioware's Dragon Age or Obsidian's New Vegas, it's not here.

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Obviously they didn't play it to the end. The size of the world is rather below average, compared to similar titles.
The starting savannah island (the first real one, not the small tutorial-isle) is the biggest landmass in the game. Later you unlock a smaller one with ancient Japan-town setting plus surroundings. The third part is even smaller - a small stretch of swamp with a very small settlement.
Ninety percent of the big landmass in the north (if you've seen the map) is closed off and, apart from the mentioned swamp, not explorable, although some parts are used for multiplayer.
I had fun playing it, but it isn't nearly as epic as I expected…

I've actually counted and it's around 60% of Elkronas that is unavailable. All of the shoreline is open + several forays into the land are explorable, contain abandoned villages and enemy camps plus some hidden chests. That + Tir Geal roughly comprises 30% of the territory. Further 10% are used in MP. According to devs, this is terrain for future DLCs, which means that TW2 comes best prepared for expandable content among competitors.

Originally Posted by Propheet
I've actually counted and it's around 60% of Elkronas that is unavailable. All of the shoreline is open + several forays into the land are explorable, contain abandoned villages and enemy camps plus some hidden chests. That + Tir Geal roughly comprises 30% of the territory.

There´s nothing on the shorelines, or those little islands for that matter.
Few small groups of enemies and few chests with generic loot which you can find in spades in other areas isn´t really content and especially not the kind of content worth the time it takes to reach.

Originally Posted by Propheet
According to devs, this is terrain for future DLCs, which means that TW2 comes best prepared for expandable content among competitors.

Ugh. If your statement is true, that is the wrong direction for the DLC concept.

I really don't want to see games like this have significant map areas that are unreachable in the original game. I'd prefer landmass be added as part of a DLC instead.

This direction is ripe for abuse.

I don't want DLC at all.

THis just makes me wait for a "ull" game - with everything included.

But this perhaps won't even happen. EA didn't publish Mass Effect 1 combined with all DLCs still on the German mrket here …

Or even Morrowid complete with all DLCs - translated, of course ! - on the German market …

Originally Posted by Corelli
..I had fun playing it, but it isn't nearly as epic as I expected…

Mmm I haven't played it but from the part of the post I haven't quoted I think you didn't mean epic but big.

Yeah, you're right. I'm from Germany, and most of my English I learned by watching US/UK TV shows and reading Uncle Scrooge comics, so it's far from perfect…
What I wanted to say: I'm wandering around in the savannah (first island), doing some sidequests, looking for NPCs and adventure etc.
Some hours into the game I look at my automap and think: 'OMG! I've merely mapped out the first half of this island, but there is still another one and then there's the HUGE continent waiting in the north. How many villages, ruins, and quests must be there to discover?' But then - only a small swamp and some coastline sans game-content.
I am sometimes kinda like a tourist-gamer with this kind of open RPG, exploring is what I like most.
Don't get me wrong: It took me about 30h to complete the game with almost every sidequest, and I really did like it.