D:OS2 First Impressions

Guys, let's share our first impressions in this thread.

1. What character did you pick? What do you think of the character creation?
2. What do you think of your first few hours in the game?
3. What did you like/dislike?
4. How do you think it fares compared to the first D:OS?

1. Ifan, Rogue.
2. Great but daunting. I like to make informed decisions but it feels like I'm going in blind. Are there any guides to mechanics in the game somewhere? (Is guerrilla worth it, sneaking in combat possible?, does dual wield scale better than in the former game etc.?)
3. Only have about an hour in, went tactician. Getting my ass handed to me (I've died about 4-5 times in only 3 battles...) and liking it. The power curve is much more fun to me if I feel really weak at level 1 (hopefully not at level 10 or so). No dislikes so far.
4. Too soon to tell.

Ifan - as a Wayfarer - I'm having fun.

Still downloading. *sigh*

There was like 1 hour left last night, but it was late and I decided to go to bed...this morning the download restarted from the start (first time that happens to me with Steam). I took the day off to play this and I'm going to lose 6 hours. *shake fist*

Well my first impressions after playing about 3 hours last night and then had to go to bed.

1. What character did you pick? What do you think of the character creation?

>> Since the only background I was really interested in was Ifans (and his wolf companion) BUT also really wanted Ifan in my party ... I went with a custom build. I was afraid if I chose Ifan as my background that either Ifan would not be in the game or he would but it wouldn't make sense since would both have the exact same background. I don't know how they set that up and haven't seen an answer yet.

In addition I don't mind a generic background given to me but a highly specific one, like the ones in this game, mean I don't get to make my own character and have to play someone else's. So even though I really wanted the wolf (maybe will get it with a mod later) I decided to go custom.

I was fine with the character creation. I wasn't expecting something as detailed as Beth games or an MMO. Character creation in most SRPG's of this style tends to be limited. I had enough options to find something I like.

I put points into Wit, Intelligence, and Finesse initially and I am playing a Mystic-Soldier for tags based on my character Wolf from other games who is a soldier with ties to Fenrir from Norse Mythology. So I also picked water magic because of the ice and snow aspects. He will use a mix of magic and a 2H sword. I am also playing on explorer mode so I don't have to worry as much about gimping my character with RP choices versus going with a power-gamer min/mac approach.

2. What do you think of your first few hours in the game?

>> Well I was in EA so had seen some of it. Still it was better full released and really got into it. I also paid a lot more attention to everything since in EA I was mainly just curious about the mechanics and general game play. Now I am trying to get immersed into the story. So far its good minus one quibble on the combat.

3. What did you like/dislike?

>> I like the variety of character options, the companions, the back ground tags and flavor they add, the graphics, the story (so far) and the game in general.

I do find the combat rather slow but then I haven't been a fan of turn based games in decades. I prefer BG style with pausing. Combat is just so slow at times. Especially on board the ship waiting for everyone to take their turn. This was another reason I put it on explorer mode so I don't have to spend hours twiddling my thumbs waiting for everyone to take their turn in combat. Just personal taste though. I like livelier combat.

4. How do you think it fares compared to the first D:OS?

>> I was never able to finish the first one. I got to this point in the game where I became totally stuck on what to do. I could not find any place to progress the game. I was stuck in one area with no way to get out or further the quest along. After getting very frustrated with it I uninstalled it and never went back. I am hoping this game will be better.

1. What character did you pick? What do you think of the character creation?
Undead default. But if you don't want to use any premade hero, character creation for a customized one is great.

2. What do you think of your first few hours in the game?
Instead of midnight I went to sleep at 4AM. And now I need to go for a coffee with a freind, yet am thinking on making an excuse to continue the game. No, coffee first.

3. What did you like/dislike?
Dislike: default motion blur enabled in options.
Like: so far, everything else!

4. How do you think it fares compared to the first D:OS?
Richer.

I picked the slave woman character. I like that picking a character is really just picking a backstory as you can customize them, and then you get to pick a class for your companions when you find them.
The first few hours have gone ok. I get a bug starting the game, something like 'Game couldn't connect to Larian servers', I think it has to do with me agreeing to send info to them. I couldn't find where to disable it, but it's ok, after you click OK the game starts normally. I did get a crash that made me lose like 20 minute progress and another crash that was soon after a save, so two crashes in a few hours playing, not good.
I selected 'Tactician' difficulty, and it's been difficult indeed, looks like every enemy has an item/ability that is an AoE fire something so guess I need to unchain everybody and position them far apart from each other every time I see a potential fight. Another thing I don't like is that the 'Alt' button only highlights pickable items, i.e. not containers.
Other than the mentioned, I'm liking the game, but I'll wait a day or two for a patch.

Yes I'm getting that text box every time and it's also asking me to put the CD in

Can skip them both but I see bugs so rarely these days

1. What character did you pick? What do you think of the character creation?
I can't decide between Lohse or Sebille. I might like character creation a wee bit too much.

2. What do you think of your first few hours in the game?
Overwhelming, where's my manual with all the spells, talents, skills and mechanics explanations!!! I keep restarting the game to test stuff on the boat right now.

3. What did you like/dislike?
I dislike that I don't know what character/build to play. Also, motion blur/depth of field (I think joxer does the same thing as me when starting a game for the first time: hope into the graphic options and disable motion blur).
I do like all the rest though.

4. How do you think it fares compared to the first D:OS?
I spent 9 hours into the game and I haven't made it inside of Fort Joy because I keep restarting. I can't comment on how it compare to the first game yet.

Oh I didn't like the default not being for edge scrolling ON, I mean isn't that like standard? Anyway, with a multi-monitor setup you have to enable it, and also enable the option to 'keep mouse in game screen' FYI.

For people with server issues, it's should be resolved "soon".

I picked Fanne as my protagonist, I have the lizard/prince and the rogue with me as well. I did a few quests, then ran into a huge fight with some crocodiles, one of which was carrying a glove that I needed for a quest. So I turned in the quest, but the guy ran off or something afterwards, so I used the glove to teleport down to some beach area, entered a cave and then logged and haven't been back to play yet. My guys are level three, and I still have some darn collar on me that I'm hoping I get taken off at some point.

I like it a lot so far, I've played maybe a total of three hours. I'm in love with all the tactical possibilities, and I'm sure this is only the start of what's to come. Overall, I'd say this one is pulling me in even moreso than the first, and I likely won't get a chance to play again till Monday.

azarhal said:

2. What do you think of your first few hours in the game?
Overwhelming, where's my manual with all the spells, talents, skills and mechanics explanations!!! I keep restarting the game to test stuff on the boat right now.

Click to expand...

This is a bummer. I was going to play this weekend, but there's still no proper manual to read. If it's a proper RPG, I really like to read the manual before starting. Kind of ridiculous to not have it ready for launch.

Got a lot more hours in now although still on the island. Getting used to the mechanics (not easy since I am so used to FO4 and Skyrim) so its getting smoother to play.

Did have to some wasted points but I prefer to live with my mistakes on my first play through. Was going to be a warrior with water magic and Sebille as my rogue but then ... well I ended up not liking how we met so ... she is no longer an option.

Ifan is my tank so I am moving Wolf into more of a rogue with water magic for healing. So some points spent not really ideal for him but luckily I found out at level 3 so wasn't much wasted.

Like the talk with animals talent a lot though - rather fun and actually useful from time to time.

wolfgrimdark said:

Did have to some wasted points but I prefer to live with my mistakes on my first play through. Was going to be a warrior with water magic and Sebille as my rogue but then … well I ended up not liking how we met so … she is no longer an option.

Click to expand...

There is a full party respec option when you reach Act 2.

As for Sebille, I was laughing all through her intro news thread where people were saying she was a lock for their party. I knew. She might be better as a main character (still debating between her and Lohse).

Also, Pet Pal dialogues can be different depending of the origin character doing the talking.

My very first impression is that this is the worst character models I've seen in ages. Especially the elves. I didn't know elves were a mix of human and giraffe. God, they're ugly. Lizards are ugly, dwarves are ugly, undead are almost okay in comparison. I'm playing a little bit but I may wait several months for modders to fix all the ugliness before I really play.

You sure everyone's ugly?
My undead main is pretty.

azarhal said:

There is a full party respec option when you reach Act 2.

As for Sebille, I was laughing all through her intro news thread where people were saying she was a lock for their party. I knew. She might be better as a main character (still debating between her and Lohse).

Also, Pet Pal dialogues can be different depending of the origin character doing the talking.

Click to expand...

I will say I tried her out for a little while before reloading before I met her. I did like her character personality from a general view point. Rather funny in a dark way actually and she has some great lines (well the ones I heard). But she is not someone I would trust … and can't say more without spoilers. Regardless she is very much not an option any more … I made sure of that

Maybe another play through though.

1) Did a tailored one for my main and ended in a group with the most crazy guys I could found. So it is Sebille, Lohse and Beast.
2) Was planning to just have a try during the week end. You know, 1 or 2 hours. Looks like I got already 18 hours in there, in fact.
3) I like than the leveling is not only for the char but also for the player. New skill, new power mean you have to really learn and understand them how to make them interact together better. And you need that, the fights are hard in a positive way.
4) On steroids at every level.

Playing tactician is the way to go, game has few battles so I like that I have to play tactically on each battle.
My main is Sebille, a conjurer (summoner). I made the lizard my rogue (having him jump to backstab and then spread everyone with a breath fire is so tempting, but then he dies quickly if I do that), the undead is a wizard, and the human male (forgot his name, Ib Azil Alaf or whatever) he's my archer, but I'll ditch him once I find the dwarf (who I'll obviously make my tank).