Venetica - Review Flood

The first couple of reviews for Venetica have been published. The consensus is that the game is excellent but still plagued by a few technical issues. It's quite probable the reviewers didn't have the release patch though.

• GamingXP - 88%
• Looki and several other places - 86%
• Krawall - 84% "We'll hardly get to see a more charming and more emotional RPG this year."
• ComputerBildSpiele - 3.25 (comparable to a "C"), downgraded from 1.63 ("A-") due to technical problems. "Without the downgrading due to technical issues Venetica would be a wonderful game."
• GameStar published a very detailed review based on their print article - 83% (Although the text sounds like more; it's very positive.)
  "The first half [is] phenomenal …" "Venetica is fun from the very beginning. This is due to the terrific start, the fascinating story, the great quests and this wonderfully charming heroine." He continues to stress that Venetica is not as complex as other RPGs.

A small reminder: German review scores are usually slightly lower than those in the US. 80+% is good, 85+% very good and 90+% a masterpiece.
More information.

Wow, that sounds impressive. I tend to have a higher opinion of German reviewers than Anglo ones in general, so this is doubly interesting. If the biggest problems it has are a few technical issues possibly already sorted out, this could really be a sleeper hit. Looking forward to the English version — my German isn't quite strong enough to really risk going for it in the original, not without subtitles anyway…

This could out to be under-the-radar hit I was hoping it to be…
Hm…..rejoice!
Looking forward to seeing post-patch reviews and an English release!

Very very nice to hear, I had a good feeling about this

And also let me formally extend my thanks to our German friends for assuring we get
a bug free and polished game

Although to be honest If I knew any German I'd buy now ! I would have just enough
time to finish it before Risen comes out and a couple of bugs never scared me off…

I bought the game yesterday a played about 20 minutes and I really liked what I saw. Nice graphics, good voice over interesting start of the story and good combat.

Thanks.
Defo getting this.
Since I may not be getting RISEN.
Does anybody know If the X360 Version will have EFIG?

I will get this one too.

What did that reviewer mean it's not as complex as other CRPGs? That doesn't really sound too good to me.

Simple doesn't necessarily mean bad. I very much doubt this is going to be Baldur's Gate; however, it could be another Jade Empire — a simple, relatively linear action RPG with beautiful art direction, a better-than-average story, and fun gameplay. (As I've said, JE is probably the BioWare game I've enjoyed most, all in all.)

Well from what I can deduce from their FAQ the character customization system is
basically more barebones than Gothic (and that was as easy on the numbers as they
get).

Essentially you make practically one type of character with just slight variations
(as per the Witcher) ?

Anyway I think of it more as an Action Adventure/RPG from what I can understand
(people categorize the Gothics thus also, if I am not mistaken). But why speculate
needlessly when forum members already playing it can enlighten us

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Simple doesn't necessarily mean bad. I very much doubt this is going to be Baldur's Gate; however, it could be another Jade Empire — a simple, relatively linear action RPG with beautiful art direction, a better-than-average story, and fun gameplay. (As I've said, JE is probably the BioWare game I've enjoyed most, all in all.)

From my perspective, JE is the worst Bioware game - and was a huge disappointment in every way

That said, simple is indeed not necessarily bad - which is why I asked what they might have meant.

Tastes differ. Mine are clearly less discriminating than yours — as in, I've enjoyed a much wider variety of games than you have. Luckily there's a pretty broad range of games of various types coming out, so all of us should be able to find something we like — and us poor souls who like lots of things will be like the proverbial donkey starving between two bales of hay.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Tastes differ. Mine are clearly less discriminating than yours — as in, I've enjoyed a much wider variety of games than you have. Luckily there's a pretty broad range of games of various types coming out, so all of us should be able to find something we like — and us poor souls who like lots of things will be like the proverbial donkey starving between two bales of hay.

I doubt it's that clear cut - as in narrow vs. wide, discriminating vs. tolerant - but if that's how you view it, it's ok with me

Definitely, I've grown quite selective over the years, but it just might be that I enjoy a DIFFERENT kind of game. You say you enjoyed JE the most, and I enjoyed other Bioware games more. If I had to pick an overall favorite, it'd be Knights of the Old Republic - but BG/BG2 have their place as well.

In many ways, KotOR is relatively simple as well - more so than BG/BG2 certainly. But it had enough complexity and mechanics were sufficiently interesting to keep me enthralled in what I consider one of the better stories of any CRPG.

Also, I'm a pretty big fan of the old-school Star Wars stuff - so there's that as well

Well, I enjoyed all of them, so in that sense, my tastes are clearly broader than yours.

If I had to put the BW games I've played in order of preference, they'd be:

Jade Empire
KOTOR
Baldur's Gate 2
.
.
.
NWN: Hordes of the Underdark
.
Mass Effect
.
NWN: OC
NWN: Shadows of Undrentide

Well, I'm avoiding the BW discussion this time … but am glad to hear the good reviews for this game!

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Well, I enjoyed all of them, so in that sense, my tastes are clearly broader than yours.

I wasn't talking about my tastes within the tiny realm of Bioware games

That would be a silly place from which to make any kind of general statement.

Neither was I; that was just an illustration. I made my comment based also on what you've said here previously about your likes and dislikes. It's not of much importance in any case.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Neither was I; that was just an illustration. I made my comment based also on what you've said here previously about your likes and dislikes. It's not of much importance in any case.

Fair enough

If you want to get a good idea of how the game plays (spoilers apply) then you might want to check out Gamestar's video review. Naturally it helps a lot if you know a little German but even if you don't you might be able to get a fairly good grasp of the game's mechanics just by watching the damn thing.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
What did that reviewer mean it's not as complex as other CRPGs? That doesn't really sound too good to me.

It's more action-oriented, I heard. Simple as that.