A few weeks ago I received an email mentioning interview slots for several developers at Gamescom. In addition to these slots, the PR people also offered preview copies and while I can’t make it to Gamescom this year (though I vow to make it there in 2017), I quickly replied I would love some of those preview codes.
I had my issues with Demons Age’s preview build at the start, with the game crashing on me right after the opening cutscene. I also wasn’t a fan of the world presented in that intro, finding it a bit generic, yet another world with Elves, Dwarves and Halflings. As I mentioned in the past, the fantasy genre desperately needs to move away from these tired tropes into strange new lands with different creatures and civilisations.
Having said so, I was of course willing to give the game the benefit of the doubt. If the story was good enough, the setting didn’t really matter.
When I made a first playthrough of the preview build, I discovered something that changed my earlier opinion completely, which you’ll hear in my voice in the below video. I was looking at the stats window when I noticed the names for the attributes and derived values. It’s not unusual (to be loved by anyone…sorry, couldn’t resist) to see strength and dexterity as attribute names in RPGs, but there is a very select few who call the ‘stamina’ value Constitution, and only one out there that has the Wisdom stats and Armor Class.
This is D&D, Dungeons & Dragons. As a giant geek and eternal lover of this tabletop RPG system, Demons Age didn’t have to do anything else. I was hooked. I love D&D and the game already presented a streamlined adaptation of the system. Sadly I couldn’t reach the hopeful Wizard companion to see if finally a D&D adaptation moved away from prepared spell slots into a mana resource and cooldowns. Don’t get me wrong, I dig spell preparation and slots, just not in a PC game. Some things that work on pen and paper just don’t in a video game.
I’m going to continue to play Demons Age in the coming weeks, and as I delve into its secrets (and don’t get my but handed to me by goblins) I’ll come back with more reports. I haven’t played a good D&D campaign in such a long time, I’m happy to sink my teeth into this one.
I’ll probably stream this as well. I don’t have people to play a real D&D campaign with, but we can at least enjoy this game together!
