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forgotten realms=easily forgotten game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: July 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

After a thorough inspection of all the games the local hollywood video had to offer, i decided to invest 5 dollars into this "promising" gaming experience. After reading what this game had to offer on the cover/back of the box, it seemed it had alot going for it: voice acting of jon stewart, beautiful graphics, intuitive character development and a decent storyline. Im sad to say, however, that each of these dreams thoroughly decayed as the game unfurled before my eyes.

Ill start with the pros of this game, because it does have some good aspects. The graphics are amazing. anywhere from the detail of the jungle, the burning rubble of a peasant town, and the entertaining backgrounds consisting of npc's duking it out with a dragon or what have you. Along with these graphics, i experienced absolutely NO GLITCHES amongst the 7 hours of play. Along with the graphics were the tight controls. i never found myself frantically shaking my controller like a british nanny in hopes that the game will realize its err. Targeting enemies with ranged weaponry couldn't be easier, and utilizing what skills/spells that were available were simple.

Alas, this is where all that is good ends. The mini cinemas cannot be skipped. this will frustrate and anger you as you see the same cinema for the 27th time when you are stuck in a situation. Normally this isn't that big a deal, except what the main characters say can get really annoying. Between the three heroes eerily mourning out loud to the villagers "run to safety! run! this place is in danger, get out! RUN" (normally i'd write this sarcastically, but this is honestly how the game speaks), pointing out the blatantly obvious "that dragon is in the way! we must defeat it!". THis lame speak often annoyed me during gameplay. an example of this situation would be like a battle with enemies on the other side of the river pelting you with arrows. The game has the characters say "OH NO! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER! wizard, use your ranged attack to get them! thats the only way!", and "fighter, use your new power of breaking objects to use! there is a log right in front of you that is blockin our way" (this is maybe 2 minutes after the game has a small cut screen explaining the skill and when to use it). I'll end this rant on the auditory and open it up to gameplay. its a watered down version of "lord of the rings". you do the same combos over and over again, with the same result against all the enemies (say the fighter has a combo that you can impale their spine. he does this with all the enemies, from small undead elf to slaag). Most of the time i found myself wailing away at X, since there was never a need to have to parry, break a shield, push enemies away, etc etc.
The a.i., oh man. God knows how many times i found myself playing the warrior with maybe 12% health left, running to the health potion in the middle of the field, but found that the rogue with 99% health ran to get the health potion before me. so many times i was swarmed by enemies, and found the other two characters in the corner picking on the weaker enemies. so many times, so many annoyances of getting knocked down by an attack i cant avoid, almost in a "stun lock" situation.
The upgrades are very unsatisfying. the only difference i really noted when i spent alot of money/experience was a slight change in visual armor, but increased damage, more spell damage, etc went unnoticed.
the gameplay got repetitive, very repetitve. They threw in a "sneaking type" scenario every other level, but that in itself is a watered down version of those stealth assassin games.

If you are a fan of DandD and the like, maybe RENT this game, but dont buy. I had this game for 2 days, got to stage 7 of 10, and pretty much gave up since there was nothing really to play for. very dissappointed

Good concept, ruined gameplay

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: June 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This hack 'n' slash game looks great, amazing graphics really bring the fantastic world of Fogotten Realms to life in a way never before seen unless you have a computer powerful enough to run Neverwinter Nights at nearly full levels. The various settings ranging from a Wood Elven City in the trees to a lush Jungle to the frozen Mithral Hall just look jaw dropping and the models, especially the Yuan-ti, look totally cool. It's a little ruined by a bad camera though, leaving you sometimes unable to see what you're doing...

The voice acting by Patrick Stewart is great as Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun though it's very, very easy to often just think of him as Captain Picard or Professor X in a funky robe with a funny staff. The other voice actors are ok, though strangely the ones for the actual playable characters are only average...

Finally you also get to not only meet but play as the legendary Drow Ranger Drizzt Do'Urden. I won't spoil too much for you, but it's a blast.

And unfortunately that's where the good parts of this game seem to come to an end. The gameplay itself is repetitive... you get a handful of combos to do, but only a very small number, and they are exactly the same button layout no matter who you're playing as. And even then, it just turns out to be easier to run around mashing X over and over and over again... so you begin to wonder what the point of the combos are in the first place. Also, when you learn new combos as the game progresses, many of them simply replace the older ones, which is a little dissapointing, especially so for the sorceror. I for one would like to be able to choose between fireball, lightning bolt and cone of frost... instead each spell just ends up leveling up to a different one, which takes out a lot of variety.

Second, the overal story is horrible, it is so terribly cliched... you have the: Fighter who tried to save his village from attack but failed and now carries their guilt forever because he refused to just get over it... the sorceror who was born into a family of knights and therefore outcasted because he chose to study magic instead of martial combat... the half Wood Elf who, because of her Drow half, was feared by her village as she grew up and therefore despises her Wood Elf half until she suddenly learns that they're not as week as she thought they were... even the main storyline is straightforward, with hardly any twists or turns in it at all, it might as well not be there at all. Basically it's even worse than a second or even third rate Forgotten Realms novel.

But wait a second... isn't that R.A. Salvatore's name in the credits as the writer? Isn't he supposed to be one of the best Forgotten Realms authors ever? Now I have to admit I haven't actually read any of his books... I've only read a few Forgotten Realms novels, when it comes to Dungeons and Dragons books I've always been about Dragonlance (still waiting for an official Dragonlance game... yep...) but from what I've heard of his novels, he ought to be ashamed for admitting he wrote this game...

The biggest, most obscenely horrible flaw though is the friendly AI. It's not a pain in that you constanty have to save the neck of the other two players you're not playing as, but it isn't effective at all. At first it's only a minor thing, where you can find yourself thinking "Gee, I would have coordinated that a lot better if I actually had real people fighting with me..." but then you get to some boss fights where the sorceror has to blast targets at a distance while the other two protect him from ground troops. Here, it all falls apart. As the sorceror, you start off blasting away but then you're knocked down constantly by ground units. Hey wait a minute, you ask... where are the other two? Aren't they supposed to be protecting me? Instead, you find them slashing away nicely... on the other side of the level! So you have to fight off the ground units yourself... by the time you've gotten clear to start shooting again, your targets have regained all their health, and you're back to where you started except suddenly you only have a fraction of your health!

Ok, no biggie, you think... I'll just play as another guy and let the sorceror blast away on his own. Except he doesn't! He runs around like an idiot attacking the constantly resupplying bunches of ground units, and maybe takes two shots at the targets he's supposed to get rid of! These boss battles happen an awful lot right near the end of the game, and they will almost always leave you clenching your controler as you scream "HELP ME, DARN IT YOU USELESS COMPANIONS!" only you'll be using a lot more less Amazon friendly language...

All in all, if you're into Forgotten Realms than see if you can rent this game, just for the visuals and the chance to see your two favourite characters and the world they live in come to life, but if you really, really want some hack 'n' slash action that'll keep you satisfied, go out and play God of War instead, because this game is just too repetitive and frustrating to be worth it.

Wish I spent (...) on something else

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: June 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Title says it all, I'm just glad that I held out for this to drop(...). When I poped Demoncrap I mean Demonstone in my PS2 all I could think was "Damn I want to be Lord of the Rings" Then I saw that the same people did both, didn't suprise me. Oh, and one more thing especially for the gameshark users, the game will freeze up if you use codes. Heed thy words, save yourself the trouble on that. Don't learn the hard way like I did.

This had so much potential....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I pounced on this title the second it came out a couple of years back. I was soooo excited. There is a serious shortage of D&D related video games out there and, after playing the Baldur's Gate games, I had very high hopes for this one. I played this game for less than an hour before I returned it for significantly less store credit than what I had just paid for this waste of time. Yes, the game is visually stunning. But the developers should have spent as much time on game play as they did on making the game "pretty". The camera angles are the worst I have ever run in to (worse, even, than God of War) and when you are thrown into a hardcore fight right from the beginning (no character selection here) where you are forced to sneak and hide in order to survive, not being able to control where and what you're looking at is just stupid. And how in the world are you going to make a D&D game and skip right past one of the most fun things about D&D: character creation?!!? Obviously, you never truly create a character in the console games, but come on... you don't even get a choice. No assigning points to control the traits you'd like to excel at. No customization of what the character looks like. Nada! You wind up being able to control all of the characters, but this was as badly executed as the camera angles. Too much of a pain in the a** to be worthwhile. I usually have more patience for games since I know nothing is ever perfect, but damn. This was a waste of time and money. Shame on you for ruining a wonderful chance to make a killer RPG for a console.

A dissapointed fan

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: September 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

(Also posted on Gamestop and elsewhere)

Lets start with the good. The voice acting is superb. Having Michael Clark Duncan and Patrick Stewart as Ygrol and Khelben lends talent and recognizability to the voices, and it pays off.

The environment, graphics and overall appearance of the game is also excellent. At first, the way the camera scrolls to emphasize things happening in the background is obnoxious, but once you are used to it, it's like taking your own part in a movie.

The story by Salvatore, and the familiar D&D personalities and places is very enjoyable, and the story is as original as can be expected in the fantasy genre.

Now, the bad. I beat this game in 8 hours, on normal difficulty. It can probably be done in less. As there is no multiplayer option, the character development system is rather limited, and the ability to explore the game maps mostly non-existant, the game has very little replay value. Is it worth the $50 dollars for 8-10 hours of entertainment? You decide.

The combat is very unimaginative, and, due to the difficult camera angles, sometimes very frustrating. I found aiming in melee difficult if not impossible, and when I could actually see what I was doing, it was just button mashing. You learn to live with the camera, but, the combat never does become more exciting.

Character development is the bread and butter of these D&D games, and is what lends an otherwise short button-masher replayability and depth. The options for character development are too limited, especially you can't play again with different characters. The three you have to start are all you will ever have, and accordingly they should have more complex and challenging management choices.

In summary, Demon Stone is a great looking, well acted button masher, with a great story. However, its very brief length, sometimes boring combat, and limited development system really take away from what is otherwise a great game.

I'll try to be quick

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: October 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game is pretty much three characters slashing through hordes of enemies. Simple concept that makes for a fun game.

The leveling up your weapons, arms and skills in between levels was a nice touch. Some items even change your characters appearance.

Is this game worth the money?

The game is fairly short so on average most people will beat this game with in 4 days.

No replay value

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game was fantastic!! but only the first time through. the game has no replay value. you do not participate in the story, there is no gathering of information, it is a hack and slash game.

For that reason, i recommend renting this on a five day rental and playing through it a couple of times (takes about six hours to beat it on the most difficult setting).

However, I do recommend renting this game at least once, as it is extremely fun the first time.

Great Game... over too quickly

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for my birthday and within a week I had beaten the game. It is a great game, killer graphics, great story line but it is over too quickly.

If you want your D&D fix, it is a great buy. But for a challenge taking you months and months to finish... this is not the game to buy.

Demon Stone

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Hack and Slash! The action was constant, you barely got a break! You can easily plow through one level to the next in a few hours which was a little disappointing for me. I was hoping the game would have been longer than it was. The animation on Drizzt was awesome but sadly he was there for only a brief amount of time.

The horrible gameplay ruins every other good aspect about Demon Stone.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let's leave the gameplay discussion for last...

The graphics and sound are nice. The voice work is really well done and the characters have personalities all their own. The places they go to and the enemies they fight are varied and interesting. The animations could use some work and come across a little weak. Buying items and skills, which not much of a tactical consideration, spices things up. The music works well without being overpowering. Unfortunately the game isn't long at all and has no replay value aside from the sheer spectacle.

That being said, Demon Stone might be a guilty pleasure. In actuality, this game is nothing short of a frustrating example of bad control, lacklustre gameplay and depressing boss battles.
You will be spitting out the same 2 or 3 attack combinations throughout the entire game. To break up the monotony, your attacks don't track the nearest enemy... they swing where you point the controls. With the camera in really bad places half the time, with monsters moving erratically and with the analog control being so wishy-washy (never aims where you think you are), simple attack button repetitions become hair-pulling exercises in anger management.

Top it all off with the worst boss battles I've seen in many a year. Bosses resort to cheap 'tactics' of invulnerability and paralyzing the character you are controlling. Give the player about 2 seconds to do any damage, then rinse and repeat. This goes for nearly EVERY boss at the end each chapter. The only 'winning tactic' is to routinely switch between the characters and get a swipe or two in before the boss goes invulnerable (while you watch for 5 seconds of boredom) and then paralyzes you. That means being knocked out for 10 seconds. Switch characters, get paralyzed again before the other guy recovers. You can imagine how lame and stupid this gets. Quickly.

If the controls were nicely tightened (alot of work), animations made smoother and more varied, gameplay deepened to more than an endless chain of wild blind swings, and bosses made challenging and/or FUN... if all of that was fixed, this game would be a decent, albeit short, fantasy hack and slash. If you could sit down and just watch it play itself the way the developers may have envisioned, it could make for an entertaining movie. As it stands, Demon Stone gets bogged down in it's horrible mechanics.

If you can handle the aggrivating cheapness of the game, check a bargain bin. Prepare to be annoyed and be glad the game only lasts a few hours. The underlying story and characters might make the journey worthwhile.

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