Game of Thrones - Available in NA

Game of Thrones has been released in NA - the rest of us have to wait two weeks or so, which is a good way to dilute your launch marketing. From the press release:

ATLUS, a brand of Index Digital Media, Inc., today announced that "Game of Thrones™," the RPG based on the internationally bestselling book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin and the critically acclaimed HBO® television series, Game of Thrones®, is now available in stores across North America for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and PC via download.
Replete with the authentic political intrigue and complex narrative the acclaimed fantasy series is known for, this captivating interactive adventure gives fans a new and exciting way to lose themselves in the world of Westeros. With an original story written under the watchful eye of George R. R. Martin, who recently stated, "I've sampled the work Cyanide has done, and I'm largely happy with it. I think many of my fans will share that feeling," the "Game of Thrones" RPG is filled with characters and locations straight from the pages of the beloved fantasy novels. Moreover, the game includes the likenesses of fan favorite characters from the television adaptation. "Game of Thrones" promises to deliver the ultimate interactive roleplaying experience for fans of the series and its gritty, sophisticated medieval drama.

More information.

Good! Now I can check initial fascinations or hatred before I decide if I'll buy it.

There is a console review out.

Or you can wait for me to play it (on pc) and we can compare with the review…

Note that I don't expect a AAA games…

Originally Posted by azarhal
There is a console review out.

Or you can wait for me to play it (on pc) and we can compare with the review…

Note that I don't expect a AAA games…

Ouch that review basically calls the game garbage. Not good. I'll start playing it soon when I find time.

Glad to know that someone will take a bullet for the rest of us. A true hero.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Glad to know that someone will take a bullet for the rest of us. A true hero.

+1

But seriously, if the game is an utter fail as previous one, why are they spamming more titles in different genres trying to milk "the best book saga" (and to me is the worst) even more? It's more of spilling the milk, really…

Originally Posted by azarhal
There is a console review out.

Ouch.. a 4/10? I wasn't expecting much from this game but that's still very disappointing.

It's IGN though.. so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

So a superb story with truly impressive moments with regards to how choices play out towards the end marred by:

Awful delivery/voice acting
Awful graphics
Awful production values in general
sloppy/lazy game-play design (unable to load during combat)
repetitive game-play (only ever actually use 3 abilities in repeated sequence)

I had high hopes for the combat in this game. Looked interesting to me. I'm not bothered by most of the stuff this reviewer apparently just couldn't get past. The graphics are plenty good enough for me. I can live with bad voice acting, if the rest of the game is good. I'll wait for more of a consensus. Looking forward to hearing what folks around here think of it.

I'll be picking this up this weekend. I'm a little confused by the review.

He says the story's great with some really surprising twists and turns and the combat is robust. (only needing to use 3 abilities could be said for most games.)

That right there would seem to warrant more than a 4. Graphics and good voice acting aren't that important to me if the story and combat are good.

Didn't IGN praise KOA's combat. You could beat that game by just using your standard attack no abilities at all needed.

Anyways as I do with all games I will find out for myself. I've never changed my mind to purchase a game I want based on reviews. For better or worse.

Unless the game become a buggy mess toward the end, this game is worth a lot more than a 4 (or it's just that bad on the xbox. I played on the PC).

I played for about 2 hours. Not enough to get out of the "tutorials", but enough to level up once, get some combats, visit 2 areas and lots of cutscenes. I got to control the 2 protagonists (Mors and Alester) as well. Take the rest with a grain of salt, it is after only 2 hours. Might be different after 10.

Textures and models looks fine to me. It's similar to all the other games on xbox360 that are also on PC. I haven't encountered any major bugs so far, just some lack of polish (mostly lipsync not working properly). UI could be better. It fully support the mouse, but it could be much better in term of navigation.

As for the English VO, I don't think it's bad. It typically "European". Some NPCs sound like Witcher 1 NPCs and Alester is doing is best impersonation of Risen protagonist for some lines. I'm think it's the same voice actor too.

First impression of gameplay.
This is The Witcher 1 meet Dragon Age: Origins. Lot more Witcher than DA:O. Mix The Witcher 1 storytelling styles (but with 2 protagonists) and "buginess" with something that feel a bit like DA:O combat without the top-down view or far away camera (over the shoulder of the controlled character only) or true pause (it slowdown to a crawl in GoT). It is the closest combat I can compare it with, not quite the same, but it got pseudo-turn based with a party (of 2.5 so far for me), ability queue and slow attack speed. It also have lots of loading screens and cutscenes, but it might be because I'm still early in the game (lots of exposition). I might have a different impression later.

This is a story based RPG (so far) with fixed protagonists. I kind of like that dialog choices are the protagonist's thoughts too, much better than BioWare way of doing this. At least, now I can select what I'm thinking and I know that this is what the character is thinking.

Because this have fixed protagonists, we got a "class creation" system. Both protagonist start with 3 "classes" choices (each). The one you select define starting skill bonus and stance (an ability trees). You get to unlock another stance at level 7. Both get access to all weapons and armors. You just need to distributes points in attributes and weapons skills that make sense for what you want to play and the class you selected. There is also a list of advantages/desavantages to pick if you want. Mors also get an ability tree with his dog and Alester get a Red Priest related tree. Now sure how it "scale", but on paper it looks like a nice system.

I should have lots of time this weekend to play this. I will probably post more impression later.

Thanks for your impressions. I look forward to reading more later.

Originally Posted by azarhal
First impression of gameplay.
This is The Witcher 1 meet Dragon Age: Origins. Lot more Witcher than DA:O. Mix The Witcher 1 storytelling styles

Thanks A. this game was not on my radar. Just on those statments alone I will now probably get the game. Thanks

BTW, I liked Witcher 1 way more than Witcher 2

Originally Posted by Dajjer
Thanks A. this game was not on my radar. Just on those statments alone I will no probably get the game. Thanks

BTW, I liked Witcher 1 way more than Witcher 2

Just to be clear. When I says The Witcher 1 storytelling style, I mean chapters (although smaller here, but there is more of them), cutscenes advancing the story(ies) and that combat is mostly story related. The world also have a grim feel to it and there is both peasants and nobles characters.

It might just be because both games try to emulate their books source now that I think of it.

So far GoT have smaller area to explore though. Not sure if there will ever be bigger/more open. Now, I'm going back to play…

I just started playing the game. So far I'm having fun and can't understand the negative reviews. Yes the graphics might not be up to par with other games but it doesn't ruin the game.

As for the voice acting I've heard worse so that criticism files out the door. The combat is like dragon age with the timing attacks from the witcher.

The only problem I have is the loading times and the occasionally graphic glitch. Another minor problem might be the controls. You use the mouse to move the pov and the arrow keys to move. Those familiar with the gothic series will be familiar.

So shame on the larger review sites. I will give it a 7/10 and that coming from me is good as I'm very picky. This is Cyanide's first game I'm actually enjoying.

Finished chapter 4.

Chapter 4 had really good VO for some key characters by the way. I'm starting to see the backstabbing, manipulating GoT political stuff as well. Chapter 3 introduced Mors "dog" sequence too. I didn't find it as annoying as some review claims it is, but let see how it is used later. Also, I hate crossbowmen!

As for bugs, I encountered a few more, minor annoyance that can mostly be avoided. Unfortunately, I doubt the game is going to be a big enough success to get patched. Which is sad, because beside the lack of polish and failed consolization (from what I read Xbox and PS3 have way more bugs than the PC version), it's a really fun game (with was seems to be a great story that isn't save the world, but you feel just as badass).

Bearing in mind the console targetting, I'm wondering if this game supports xbox controller when played on PC, like some other ported games do - makes things much more comfy on the sofa!