Two Worlds II - Preview Roundup

Dhruin

Dhruin

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Here are three new Two Worlds II previews - all on the X360. First, OXM Online:
“Laughable.” “Frustrating.” “Hokey.” The creators of action-RPG Two Worlds have heard it all, and then some.
“We realize we made mistakes with the first game,” admits Bert Jennings, producer at TopWare Interactive. And we’d agree: While it earned a cult following, Two Worlds had plenty of issues, ranging from an unbearable framerate to dreadful dialogue, from maddeningly difficult gameplay to an overall density that turned away casual gamers.
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Apparently, the production oversight is from Topware in NA this time. From Nowgamer:
Crucially, whereas the first game was developed in Poland and produced in Germany, Seaman has kept production in North America, keeping a tight control over the quality of the coding work carried out over in Eastern Europe. As well as overseeing the company, Seaman is taking no chances, taking on the executive producer role as well as being a lead writer. The other writing lead is Devin Smith, who possesses writing credits on Dead Space.
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Finally, VideoGamer:
The second thing that jumps out at us is that most essential, but often overlooked, component of the RPG: words. One of the worst things about Two Worlds - and there were many - was the dialogue. "Verily", "forsooth" - words consigned to the vocabulary dustbin hundreds of years ago resurrected for use in a video game. It didn't work. It was embarrassing.
"We realised what happened in the first game and where we needed to go," James admits. "We were happy with the graphics being done on the Grace engine, but could never go down that road again where people in Poland were trying to write a worldwide game in English." Thankfully, what that means for players is, Two Worlds II makes sense.
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Thanks to Inside Two Worlds for all three of these.
More information.
 
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What is this phenomenon called? America-centricism? Superficial criticism? Console kiddy journalism?

The "horrible framerate" was nowhere to be seen on the PC, it was a console only problem.

And the dialogue? It was written fine in German and the voice overs were stellar.

Does that mean that TW was a good game in Europe and a bad one in the US?

I think gaming journalists should try too look for information beyond the length of their noses. I hope they will - one day...
 
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Words

Whilst I've yet to play Two Worlds and are quite curious to do so, this idea that somehow words can be abandoned or consigned to some illusory domain of suckage is ridiculous and short-sighted. Perhaps reading more quality literature would help?

Ultima VII in particular has shown that quasi-Shakespearean language and formality can work extremely well within a game world context. Obviously this was built upon several foundations of lore from the previous games and is a subjective matter of taste, but I sincerely think it can work and shouldn't be so readily dismissed.

Thus…Yea, verily, Videogamer, I call thee philistine and dispute thy foul besmirchery upon language! ;)
 
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Sir_Brennus said:
What is this phenomenon called? America-centricism? Superficial criticism? Console kiddy journalism?

The "horrible framerate" was nowhere to be seen on the PC, it was a console only problem.

And the dialogue? It was written fine in German and the voice overs were stellar.
...
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I think they're just writing for their audience. If it's an English-speaking console audience, then it's perfectly legitimate to talk about framerate problems and bad dialog. It's true, but largely irrelevant to their readers, that PC players or people who speak German got a better version.

Pessimeister said:
Whilst I've yet to play Two Worlds and are quite curious to do so, this idea that somehow words can be abandoned or consigned to some illusory domain of suckage is ridiculous and short-sighted. Perhaps reading more quality literature would help?

Ultima VII in particular has shown that quasi-Shakespearean language and formality can work extremely well within a game world context.
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Well, I don't think he really meant that "forsooth" could never again be used in a sentence. I think he's saying that the attempt in this case came off badly. Having Polish-speaking writers creating English dialog just does not turn out well...
 
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Anderson said:
Well, I don't think he really meant that "forsooth" could never again be used in a sentence. I think he's saying that the attempt in this case came off badly. Having Polish-speaking writers creating English dialog just does not turn out well…
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Exactly! I suggest that Pessimeister try Two Worlds, particularly in English, to understand the criticism in context. In English the dialogue was abysmal ... and the scattered (mis) use of middle English terms didn't help. Ultima VII this isn't ... ;)
 
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Sometimes it was rather funny, but it took some time before I was able to ignore the worst of it.
 
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Sir_Brennus said:
What is this phenomenon called? America-centricism? Superficial criticism? Console kiddy journalism?

The "horrible framerate" was nowhere to be seen on the PC, it was a console only problem.

And the dialogue? It was written fine in German and the voice overs were stellar.

Does that mean that TW was a good game in Europe and a bad one in the US?

I think gaming journalists should try too look for information beyond the length of their noses. I hope they will - one day…
Click to expand...

Hmmm, the english version was a nightmare in regardes to dialogue...it may have been great in German, but english? Some of it didn't even make sense.

They got it right though, you really don't want Seaman free reign all over the place.
 
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txa1265 said:
Exactly! I suggest that Pessimeister try Two Worlds, particularly in English, to understand the criticism in context. In English the dialogue was abysmal ... and the scattered (mis) use of middle English terms didn't help. Ultima VII this isn't ... ;)
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Its not true. my friends who worked in this Polish studio (reality pump) say that the dialogues was created by german and american people (old medieval english). they create game but not the dialogues. so this prick (Seaman) talk bullshit. the first game was bad because of lack of time and money. topware screw up everything. Reality pump have game to do and they do it. sorry for my english
 
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I played the English PC version of Two Worlds and thought that overall, it was a very good game. The only exception was the dreadful dialogue. It may have worked in a short story or satire, but not in a game setting. How anyone could call the game 'maddeningly difficult' is beyond me. Any game has a learning curve. So? Deal with it and play. Learn the controls, the combat system, the magic system, etc. and get on with it. If you want something as easy as Tiddly Winks, look elsewhere.
The graphics weren't stellar, but I found them acceptable. It ran fine on my 7-year-old P4 machine. Poison Cloud rules!
 
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I hope they don't forget what the good parts of 2W were, and there were enough to make it an enjoyable game to me. I suspect the sequel will be so dramatic a change that fans of the first will be disappointed. We'll see.
 
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I enjoyed the original and while the dialogue was terrible, I enjoyed it in a perverse way simply because it was so bad; something like an old B- movie!! :)
 
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Corwin said:
I enjoyed the original and while the dialogue was terrible, I enjoyed it in a perverse way simply because it was so bad; something like an old B- movie!! :)
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Same here. I love a good laugh, including in games. That's part of what I liked about Two Worlds. I never got through a gaming session without at least one good belly laugh. The dialog, the character models, some of the animations -- it was so bad it was good.
 
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Corwin said:
I enjoyed the original and while the dialogue was terrible, I enjoyed it in a perverse way simply because it was so bad; something like an old B- movie!! :)
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Anderson said:
Same here. I love a good laugh, including in games. That's part of what I liked about Two Worlds. I never got through a gaming session without at least one good belly laugh. The dialog, the character models, some of the animations — it was so bad it was good.
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You guys ever play any of the older Resident Evil games? :)
 
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txa1265 said:
Exactly! I suggest that Pessimeister try Two Worlds, particularly in English, to understand the criticism in context. In English the dialogue was abysmal … and the scattered (mis) use of middle English terms didn't help. Ultima VII this isn't … ;)
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Thanks Mike, I shall definitely take your suggestion up at some point. (Looks towards ebay...) The game doesn't really sound like something where I'd be taking the dialogue too seriously anyway, as it does sound more like a fast exploratory romp than a PS:T or Ultima writing/story heavy game.

However, I tend to disagree about how to interpret what the Videogamer post is actually saying. It literally says "words consigned to the vocabulary dustbin hundreds of years ago resurrected for use in a video game".

This sentence shouldn't be included at all if it was only meant in the context of Two Worlds itself. As writers, we need to be clear about what we truly mean. /anal mode off/

@JDR13
I still have my RE Directors cut on PsOne. The game is fun and memorable but you're right, the voice acting and dialogue was hilarious in the 'oh so bad it's good' kind of way.
 
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ToddMcF2002 said:
"maddeningly difficult gameplay"???? Two Worlds???
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Yes, yes it was.

But it was only one part - the part with the hell dogs and that boss creature. I can't recall any gamer getting through that fight without a few attempts and it was an early game boss fight. Way to difficult for that point in the story. Actually, that monster battle would have been a great end game boss - better than the one they had.

As far as the middle English, it was only slightly annoying but it was no where close to a deal breaker. My only problem with the game was that I wished there was more stuff to do in the backwoods. Most of my treks up the mountains usually only lead to a scenic view. It would have been nice to find a little treasure, or a skeleton, or a some kind of ruin instead of just trees.

Still, I loved 2 Worlds and its the type of RPG (Gothic) I like to play and I would rate it my favorite RPG since Gothic 2 over Witcher(93), Risen(88), Dragon Age(87), Drakensang(82). Curiously, the game in North American hands does not sit well with me.
 
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