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an inadequate port of a mediocre xbox game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 20 / 23
Date: March 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I picked up this game for two reasons. First because it's a licensed D&D product, and I'm sorta obsessive that way. Second, because R.A. Salvatore's name was attached to it. This is one of those purchases I'm going to live to regret.

For starters, it's an obvious XBOX port. The PC version of the game even makes references to "push the black button" in game. I don't own a joypad for my PC, that's why I have an XBOX. If you try to play this game with a keyboard and mouse you're not going to enjoy it. Trust me.

The graphics are pretty good, and take advantage of my DirectX 9 compatible card, but even still it could be better. There are a few times where there was some pretty bad clipping going on.

Gameplay is incredibly linear, and the "immersive storyline" is a joke. I've played standup arcade games with greater depth. The character levelup occurs at the end of each "episode" and all 3 characters go up at the same rate. Levelling is handled by spending experience points to acquire skills, and the game barely adheres to D&D 3.5e rules (despite it's claims). Also, characters earn an absurd amount of gold between each level although it's unclear where they are getting it. You spend pretty much all of it on powerups when you go up a level.

This game in no way resembles an RPG, despite it's origins in the D&D ruleset (which they obviously ignored). There's no character development at all. Not even in the beginning of the game.

Also, I love R.A. Salvatore's writing, but none of it is apparent in this game.

I'll keep it because it has the D&D logo on it, and like I said I'm kinda funny that way, but I don't recommend you pay anywhere near full price for this game.

Not the best game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Okay if you like hack and slash without much of a storyline. Not okay if what you want is a real role-playing game like Baldur's Gate. I like R.A. Salvatore's novels also. I was expecting a bit more of a role-playing game as opposed to a strictly linear hack n' slash game. This is much like the LoTR movie-based game that came out at about the same time as the 3rd movie, IIRC.

DaveRM

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Actually, I dislike ported games in general, so this game started out with a big negative bias; unfortunately, the actual gameplay did nothing to change my initial feelings. The game suffers from the same inadequacies as most ported games: the controls are awkward, the save system is virtually useless, and the game, by PC standards, is very short. In addition, this game does not live up to the D&D license to which it aspires, and which was the main reason why I purchased it. About the only positive point is the game's general appearance; it does look quite good, which is not enough for me to recommend it to anyone,

quick to dissapoint

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

great graphics, and that's about it.
Story line is too indepth for a hack and slash, though I am a big fan of Salvatore. Game play is repetative and too do this do that controlled.

Buy it for what it is

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a good game. Quick, fast and entertaining. The lush cinematic sequences during the game create an excellent atmosphere and the D&D mechanics are well adapted to an arcade format. The game survives on coolness alone, with the character moves and cinematic feel of the action, and it will definetly keep you entertained. Do not, however, let yourself be fooled with the allegedly "intense storyline"; it's lame, predictable, the characters are cardboard cutouts and will definetly leave you cold. Just turn off your brain, pick up your joypad (absolutely necessary, and still some control problems with the PC version, forcing you to use keyboard keys for the very important funcion of switching characters) and immerse yourself in the furious action of the very well executed fight scenes.

Does not translate well to the PC...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: April 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is a fun distraction. True D&D fans beware, you might find some elements of this game distrubing, as it is really more of an action game and some necessarcy changes were made to accomodate this fact. There is a decent backstory (and there should be considering the source, R.A. Salvatore), but this game doesn't really have any more than the basic elements of an RPG game. As I stated in the review, it doesn't play as well on the PC, and doesn't really seem to be designed that way. If you must have it for the PC, buy a Joypad or something. In addition, the voice acting was a real let down. A definite buy for a game station, and with enough aspects of D&D that a collecter might enjoy having it in his or her collection.

Good game, but is it D&D?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

A lot of the other reviews here seem to be comparing this game to the XBox version. Now, I've never played that version, but I can see how Demonstone would be better as a console based game instead of a PC game. That being said, this review is from the perspective of an old gamer playing the PC version and no other.

First, this game has a lot going for it and a lot against it, which is why I gave it a solid 3. I really enjoyed the game, as it is a very enjoyable play, but I did have a few problems with it that will be explained here.

I purchased the game as part of a two part set, Demonstone with Dragonshard, which turned out to be the two least D&Desque games I've ever played. This is way more "action/adventure" than RPG.

The Pros:

Demonstone features a strong storyline, written by Forgotten Realms genius R.A. Salvatore. It translates very well into gameplay, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about what was going on all through the game.

The characters of Demonstone, though a little stereotypical, are also interesting and fun. They reach beyond the simple "Intelligent sorcerer, dumb fighter, quick-witted-rogue-with-a-heart-of-cold" motif and actually shine as individuals during the game.

As an action adventure game, it is really fun. Running around and slaying monsters is a really great diversion for gamers like me, even if it seems a little heavy on the hack'n'slash.

The cons:

The game is very linear. There is NO running around and exploring what you want. Since its very plot driven it leads the player by the nose. A lot of "go here, do this, kill these" etc...

The game controls are a little weird. The other reviews imply this is due to the porting over from console, which I can see now. Moving the character around, grabbing stuff and the like was all really awkward and took some serious getting used too.

Lastly, the game doesn't really seem like D&D at all. Like I said, its much more like an action/adventure game. There's a lot of running around, killing monsters and jumping over things. If you're expecting an RPG of old, Demonstone can be a little misleading.

All in all, the game is solid, well put-together and fun, but it just isn't D&D. I've tried to evaluate the game on its own merits, but I must admit I was expecting something else. If you like action/adventure, by all means try this game out. If you prefer problem solving along the lines of Baldur's Gate or Temple of Elemental Evil, give this game a pass.

Short but sweet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 18 / 20
Date: April 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If I could sum up Demon Stone in one sentence, it would be that this game is a Forgotten Realm's fan's dream come true. With a story by R.A. Salvatore, featuring some of the most spectacular locations on Faerun, and following an epic adventure with a colorful cast, the game is surely not lacking in quality. Though it's not much of an RPG, there are some RPG elements that should be at least vaguely familiar to D&D players. However, these details do little to get in the way of the main theme, which is pure, unadulterated action. The graphics and sound are second to none, and the production values in general are clearly top-notch.

The only real downsides to the game are its length (only 10 missions, albeit pretty difficult ones) and some moderately serious issues that occured as a result of the game's port from the PS2 to PC. I've played other ported games (namely FF VII and VIII) and so the somewhat awkward controls were no surprise. However, I think Demon Stone actually was better than the norm in that regard. The first glitch I noticed was a curious reference to the 'square button.' Hmm... there's an awful lot of them on this here keyboard, and I wonder which they're talking about. I also had no voices in the first cutscene and had to turn on subtitles to figure out what was going on. Additionally, one of the doors in Khelben's tower didn't open when it was supposed to, though a second play through (thankfully) resolved the issue. I did also see a few minor graphics glitches, and the menu screens are obviously still using sub-par console resolution. There is already a patch that addresses a few showstopper issues, which certainly couldn't have existed in the PS2 version.

The console pedigree shows through in the limited saves and check points. Those familiar with other PC action games might be a bit irritated by this, though the checkpoints are generally quite well placed. Nevertheless, you must finish a whole chapter to save the game and resume after quitting, which essentially means you have to do 1/10th of the game at a time.

Complaints about the conversion aside, I really couldn't find much to fault in Demon Stone. Seeing as how I don't own a PS2, all I really cared about was that someone actually took the time to put this excellent game on the PC. If you haven't played it, and are at all interested in action gaming or the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, then I heartily recommend you pick this up.

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