Dungeon Siege - The Rise and Fall of Dungeon Siege

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GVMERS looks at the rise of fall of the Dungeon Siege series.



In the realm of action-oriented video games, few are as zen as dungeon crawlers. Even at their most complex, demolishing and looting enemies in the likes of Diablo or Torchlight is as hypnotic as it is satisfying; their gameplay loops providing a perfect mixture of habitual repetition, and utter excitement. And to a small, yet passionate subset of PC gamers during the early 2000s, few games offered a better blend of these elements than Dungeon Siege.

Created by Gas Powered Games - a Redmond-based development studio led by the legendary Chris Taylor - Dungeon Siege received significant praise upon its release in 2002 for its unique, party-based gameplay and its seamless, loadingscreen-free world, resulting in a dedicated player base quickly rallying around its design.

Yet even amongst its most ardent fans, it also received significant criticism for its barebones story, as well as its tendency to play itself. As a result, its creators worked hard to ensure its sequel featured a more impressive narrative, and a deeper, more involving combat system upon its release in 2005. The end result of their efforts wouldn't upend its genre - but it would still prove a hit among fans, and continue to inch the series closer to role-playing stardom.
Unfortunately, after the release of a decent, albeit gimped spinoff on the PlayStation Portable the following year, the series would proceed to go dormant for half a decade, in addition to being adapted into one of the worst video game movies to ever reach theatres. When it would finally re-emerge, it would do so under the guidance of a different studio - and end up being utterly unlike what had come before it.

This is the rise and fall of Dungeon Siege.
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Seems like a pointless piece. Btw I really liked the third one even if most folks didn't like it. It had imho the most rpg'ish aspect of the three. Then again I guess most people playing the game prefer the simple mindless hack/slash of the first two. The second one wasn't that bad just kind of boring - the first imho was just awful.
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There was some game that was made using the first engine (total conversion); can't remember - but it was hard for me to get into it just because the engine mechanics were so yucky - even for the days it was implemented.
 
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Ultima V was remade in DS1 engine, called Lazarus. It was actually one of the rare successful endeavors of that kind.
 
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I've played and enjoyed the first two games, and have the third one but haven't tried it as of yet. I'll see about working that into my rotation maybe a bit later this year.
 
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I really liked the first Dungeon Siege game, the environments were so great, at the time.

That video is a little long-winded tho, I looked down - a half hour left? I can see me putting on in the background maybe while I'm working or something this week.
 
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I only played the second game. It was novel at first, but eventually it becomes same old, and didn't have a lot of replay value. I enjoyed Torchlight a little more, in part because of the pet mechanism for selling goods.
 
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Loved the first game - I still remember that main theme melody! Game felt like dangerous long adventure into very atmospheric and beautiful world (especially winter environment). Never get far into second one though.
 
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I remember a fun thing about the first game when it appeared. I got the game back then from a friend on 4 cds and when i installed it got some error on the last cd. Tried from 2 other friends, same error, in the end all of us had the 4th cd fucked; haha, those were good times without the internet. Anyway i replayed the first 2 years ago i think, started the 2nd as well but got on with something else and didnt finished it.
 
I love the first game! It this game that got me into RPGs away from strategy games. I saw friend playing it at work(!!!) and it seems pretty good. So I bought it and finished in a single weekend. Its was simple and yet very very additive. It was all about the loot and the constant upgrades. It also looked very pretty for the time. The world uses a single corridor approach so its very linear but it does have hidden stuff and you do get reward for exploring. Also the world was split in to region and they had pretty good variety and each region was nicely done.

All in all brilliant game and I wish someone will do hi res remake :)
 
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DS I and II were just too boring to play through completely. DS III was quite different, but I actually liked it better.
 
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Dungeon Siege I was a massively streamlined CRPG, that got boring real quick. It had a couple of cool games/mods that were based on its engine.

Dungeon Siege II added complexity in all aspects, and it was closer to what you'd expect from a "proper" RTwP party-based CRPG, but with aspects familiar to fans of action-RPGs (e.g. lots of loot, loot sets, etc). It added some cool features; for example, you could develop your pets by feeding them different sorts of loot.

Dungeon Siege III was like the Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance of Dungeon Siege. It could have developed/added to Dungeon Siege concepts even further, but we ended up with something simplified and consolized. A massive disappointment.
 
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Liked Dungeon Siege I and II; both games were different than other games released at the time. Couldn't stand the camera view mechanics in Dungeon Siege III.
 
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Kurr, kurr!
DS III is sort of guilty pleasure of mine, run it for quick play every few months or so, music is phenomenal. And story isn't half bad. Probably the most fun to play Obsidian game. Crazy well optimized too, boots up under second, weird.
DS I/II really did not age well, combat especially...kind of just mindless party clicking.
 
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