Author Topic: Heroes Of Ruin Demo impressions.  (Read 3954 times)

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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Heroes Of Ruin Demo impressions.
« on: June 07, 2012, 11:24:38 AM »

 
The demo for N-Space's Diablo-style action RPG was released in Europe this morning. As has become common practice with 3DS demos this trial provides a relatively small glimpse into the game and has a bizarre play limit (in the case of Heroes of Ruin 6 shakes is considered appropriate, 7 shakes and you're just playing with yourself).
 
The demo immediately drops you into the character select screen, with two characters on offer. One a forgotten member of the Thundercats (Vindicator), the second a roguish nomad (Gunslinger), each of which have their own stats; Might, Vigor (speed?) and Soul (Health?). As the Thundercats suck and because Clint Eastwood is the man I of course chose Gunslinger.
 
The quest included within the Demo tasks you with defeating a forest spirit who plans to use her undead legions to unleash war on the World of Veil. Short as it was, I believe the demo did a good job of giving an overview of the game. There are at least two optional objectives, for instance, that you can complete prior to making your way to the boss; the first being to collect materials for a special weapon, the second being to destroy a spiritual tree which is an additional source of power for the boss.
 
During the demo, I believe that I levelled up twice and this led to stat boosts and also allowed me to equip better equipment. As with Diablo and games of that ilk there are lots of equipment drops (much of which might not be usable by your class or at your current level). For those items you don't want or can't use, however, you can simply stand over an item and press down on the D-pad to sell it there and then, which is a cool little feature. Comparing equipment also seems to be relatively easy as selecting the equipment menu will bring up several options for different types of armors (i.e. head, shoulders, torso etc). In these sub-menus you will find all the relevant equipment for that body part and numbers will show in red, white or green to indicate stat differences (Red of course being a drop, green showing an increase).
 
There are also assignable skills in the game. As the Gunslinger I started off with a move called 'Explosive Retreat' which throws a grenade forwards as the character rolls backwards, which was quite handy, and another called 'Blaze Wave' in which the character dumps bullets from both handguns in a horizontally arching movement to cover as much area as possible. For this second move I was able to upgrade it such that enemies could potential catch on fire. I also opened up a third slot and purchased another skill which allowed me to lasso enemies, which usually slowed them down but could on occasion stop them in their tracks.
 
Overall, based on the Demo I thought Heroes of Ruin was promising. The one big dissappointment for me was that the game...well...it looks terrible. The character models are acceptable (not great), but the textures in the game generally are akin to those you might expect to see in an N64 game.
 
In my experience games which aren't the best technically can often look worse when in natural environments and outdoor areas. Perhaps because natural environments are supposed to be quite detailed, with grass, leaves etc. a game's visual issues can often be exaggerated when such areas are shown. I mention this because while in one of the few indoor temple-like structures found in the demo the game didn't look as bad. In other words, I hope that this demo is not representative of the game's visual capability generally.
 
I'll be interested to hear more about this game ahead of it's release next week.
 
Did anyone else play this? What did you think?
 
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Offline ejamer

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Re: Heroes Of Ruin Demo impressions.
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2012, 11:53:06 AM »
Thanks for the impressions!  This is the first 3DS game I've been at all excited about before release since Resident Evil, and the first one I've really considered buying since Kid Icarus. 


North America still has a while to wait before the demo or retail release... hopefully there will be plenty of reviews and comments posted in the meantime.
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Offline Pixelated Pixies

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Re: Heroes Of Ruin Demo impressions.
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2012, 01:56:15 PM »
@ejamer - Me too. I decided to skip Rhythm Thief, as based on the reviews I just couldn't justify paying full retail price. Depending on reviews HOR might be my first retail 3DS purchase since Uprising. I really hope the online lives up to it's potential. I also hope the online isn't region locked, as I'd like to play with people on my friends list (many of whom don't have European 3DSs).
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Offline oohhboy

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Re: Heroes Of Ruin Demo impressions.
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2012, 10:11:55 PM »
Gave it a play with both characters, I can't say I am particularly impressed. The graphics are as muddy as Pixelated Pixies has stated. What he didn't mention or hadn't noticed was that the frame rate isn't very high, like sub 30 since it made my eyes burn a little. It's visually a very disappointing game that even the Ghost Recon game out does it. The animation is stiff and there isn't an indicator as to who you have targeted. The default zoom is far too close although changeable in the options. Saw some texture pop in. Now that the bad parts are out of the way, I can move on to the good.

The loot system is quick and effective. The game doesn't drop too much loot like some other games which can flood you with junk. It auto pickups cash and potions in a radius, so it's a non issue unlike some other games. The quick comparison system is effective meaning it takes no more than a few seconds to decide to equip or sell. However quest rewards go straight to your inventory which has some problems. The inventory system in the menu is more fiddly than this and has bad flow, so it a lot harder to figure out what you what to do with your stored loot.

The gameplay is pretty good, but because the animation and the graphics aren't quite there, it can lead to some mistakes like blocking when you want to roll because the character is still locked in the previous action. There is a block breaking charge attack, but it is hard to see whether it is fully charged or not wasting time when you can be attacking. The combat is effective despite this with some pretty neat powers like the explosive retreat and the satisfying "Blaze wave" which is reminiscent of Equilibrium. The Warrior AKA "Thundercat" while somewhat more powerful, easier, is boring as bricks.

There are only 3 primary stats, Might(Attack power), Vigor(Health), Soul(Mana). All other stats are equipment driven so you will be using the quick loot system to do most of your tweaking. Level determines what powers you can unlock and equipment level.

There wasn't any online play in the demo or there weren't any people, but I suspect it plays a lot better with other people.

If you don't have access to better games like Torchlight or Diablo and you must have something of this kind to play on a handheld, I suppose it is a good buy even in the face of it's many graphical disadvantages, it's far better than it's iOS and other portable equivalents where gameplay is concerned. Otherwise, it's a bit expensive at $30. At a sub $20~$15 price I might bite even if I had those bigger games to play. It's the sort of game the e-shop is built for. If it was offered at launch on the shop at that low price, I would be sold.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2012, 10:21:57 PM by oohhboy »
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