From the article, I got the impression I was fearing based my experience with Sims 3 and EA in general. This is a boring, watered down, mainly pointless game. It has nothing in actuality to do with adventuring or RPG, but plays like some partial management system of day to day chores, of some Sim, in a type of Medieval setting, with their interpretation of social interaction. It doesn't even appear to have a decent design/build system this time around. Basically a major snore-fest again. I am looking for other opinions on the subject and their thoughts.
It'll probably sell like crack, seeing as how it's going to add what The Sims has been somewhat missing, actual gameplay. Feeding people to a giant monster, or burning them alive sounds like fun to me... in a game.
If I can be a King, then I'm probably sold on it.
Agreed, as long as its more enjoyable and fun then Fable III.
I've got it pre-ordered but I'm really skeptical with the Sims Medieval. I hate to say this but I honestly think that Rachel Bernstein has been a bad influence on the Sims and Sim City series. Games appear to be lacking the qualities they once had. I think that if I don't enjoy the Sims Medieval then I think I'm going to take a break from the entire series until things change in EA.
On another note, I cannot wait to see what mods people make for this game
The review made it look pretty interesting for me. I always ALMOST liked the Sims games, but they never quite appealed to me. It's risk, but this might just be something I like. Plus I'm a sucker for unlockable characters, especially if using them is something you can do as part of the main story and not just when you finish the game.
This game will sell like hotcakes, yes. It looks wonderful for casual gamers, which is about 95% of the market.
From what I have read and the videos I've watched, considered as a typical RPG it probably lacks a lot. But considered as a whimsical humorous and fun way to spend an evening it will rank at the top for most players.
Those looking for a serious gaming challenge probably won't find it. Those just looking for fun and entertainment will be delighted.
And just think of all the expansions to come!
Keeping my eye on it. Maybe this will the game to overcome my Simophobia!
To me, when I read, "The Adventures are done off screen," in other words they just occur behind the scenes, that blew the RPG any thing of it. I can just imagine all the fighting ending up being a limp, overcooked noodle like what World Adventures brought. I was very disappointed in the sparring. The same goes with just simple things as Ghost busting in Ambitions. Doing that career felt more like paperwork than any thing else. And Spore, I bought it from Impulse when it went on sale, what a mistake. I couldn't really play past creature, and even that started to really annoy me. Socializing when you just climbed out of the tide pool? And the further you advanced in Spore, the more moronic and simplified gameplay became. If I wanted some basic mindless arcade, they could at least have left us in the tide pool. That at least felt like an old arcade game. Shoot, I can remember back when playing a game that was similar on the Mac.
In the game, you controled things like surface and cloud albedo, tectonic activity, etc. You created conditions and spawned life. It felt much more intriguing than the current crop. Seems like every thing EA touches has the ingenuity and thought sucked out of it. Not that Blizzard does much better, but at least they have cheesie, entertaining stories. I tend to like cheese.
Even in Medieval's case, the intro-video was hilarious, but it did nothing to sell the game or give even a hint of what was in it. It seems to me, they've kept it so secret because I have the feeling the game play isn't up to par. They hope to sucker in some initial purchases from outside their normal fan base.
- create a sim similar to Sims- what you can do with this sim (monarch)=> sit on a throne and hold court (Oh skippy)==> pushing bills into law and issuing edicts doesn't sound all that fun the way it's described
=> furnish the various buildings, but not actually build or design any of them=> Play dress up=> do the basic tasks/chores of the unlocked characters, ala Sims==> I suspsect they don't have as many needs, chores, due to controlling multiple Sims and the need to cut down on micromanagement
=> adventure off screen, akin to jobs, before ambitions, to unlock things - this really burns it.
Note nothing on combat, exploring or crafting. All that was covered was rudimentary socializing and doing a job according to a characters, "caste" which I don't like either. I mean, where is the RPG in here? Did I miss some thing?
I didn't really get an RPG vibe from the article either, or at least no more then Sims 3 was with it's levels, xp and skills. It seemed more like an extremely goal oriented fantasy life simulator, with a little kingdom management too. That's actually what makes me interested in the game, the fact that it has the potential to be something different and unusual. But like anything different, it could crash and burn as well.
As a side note they did hint at crafting when they talked about being able to cook something better if you had the ingredients. Given that the emphasis seems to be more on more daily life then adventuring I'd be very surprised not to see various craft skills. We'll find out soon enough though.
There are some videos and other information, just to check out.
http://www.ea.com/the-sims-medieval
I didn't realize this was coming out this month, I thought I read it wasn't until Summer.
I'm such a geek, you can throw the word "Medieval" onto just about anything and it peaks my interest.
Same here. I have often wondered what medieval people would think of our modern civilization. I bet they would be very impressed with our social and technical advances, but would be rather appalled by what they would perceive as our total lack of physical activity. I think part of the appeal has to do with the idea of actually doing physical stuff on a day to day basis, although as a 5'7" wimp I would probably not have a great time unless I was born to royalty - ha! fat chance.
Think about this though, at 5'7" you were actually 3 inches taller than average! People were a lot smaller back then.
Plus when you account for the fact that our bodies have not been ravaged by disease and improperly treated injuries, many of us are probably in far better physical shape then many of the people back then were.
Yes, I forgot about that! Nevertheless, they were small, but mighty. As a kid, I remember reading that during the first crusade, the men at arms stood in the desert for almost 9 hours in 130 degree heat in iron armour while fighting off wave after wave of arab cavalry and emerged victorious. The way I think of it, a Doberman Pincer only weighs ninety pounds, but I wouldn't want to mess with one. There was also a French countess who would bath in the local river in the middle of winter and then lie naked in the snow to dry off. They had to be a tough bunch,
Ooops! Double post.
You know how your grandfather would exxagurate some of his claims and stories... well, this stuff probably came from your great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Regardless, I think people back then had to and could endure quite a bit more then we do nowdays. Unfortunately, they only lived to about 30 as a result of it.
I've played way more of Sims 3 than I care to admit to any human beings iRL. You know, you guys are Special.
I'm also pretty damn bored of it now, so just uninstalled it. I can definately see buying this in short order, but I'm waiting to see if it shows up on other download services before buying. No point in preordering if they're just gonna turn around and paste it elsewhere afterwards.
You can also find plenty of examples of amazingly tough people enduring amazingly difficult things today as well. The Middle Ages didn't exactly have a monopoly on that.
lol my wife's drooling over the game and gets rabid any time I mention it. I already have to get it for her for her birthday next month. It looks kinda fun for what it is I think, but then again, I'm not really hard core into the sims either. I know the intro video has Patrick Stewart doing the voice, so that makes it full of Win if you ask me..lol.
Fable Three was so disappointing. They hyped it up like you could actually individually recruit people, and you would reign as king in an unscripted manner, not a linear story with a few choices and consequences. It was more disappointing than the ending of Fable II - Expecting a big boss battle at the end and instead you get an evil monologue that can be ended with the shoot button, and if you don't then the gun slinging pretty boy does it for you. After his speech about killing the ones you loved, I'd have thought there'd be some epic tower-top showdown.
Sorry, I saw the "So long as it's better than Fable III" comment and had to do a mini rant.
That isn't actually the end of Fable 3 though. That's like the middle.
That game was wack though and I'm done with Molyneux.
Well, Sims Medieval must be awesome. My wife loves it and hasn't stopped playing it for like 3 days/nights now. Since I got it for her, she's either been working, sleeping, or playing the Sims Medieval while checking her Facebook in the background. While she has played Sims 3 for a long period of time, she often stops and takes a break from it for as much as a couple weeks at a time, then she'll pick it back up and play it for a few days, then stop for a week, then play it for a few days, rinse and repeat. With this one though she seems pretty deep into it, so it must be good. I still haven't had a chance to try it my-self.
My better half loves it as well, but I had a harder time getting into it. It's not that it's bad, it's quirky and pretty much exactly what I expected from my limited runs with the other Sims games. I don't like how almost everything is done off-screen (but I realize that that's how The Sims works), or that you couldn't design your own buildings, or that I had to reset everything after I had depleted my quest points and finished my Ambition. Worst of all, on the second Ambition, I restart with nothing. Yet, the buildings, layout, pathing, minerals, trees, flowers, quests, literally everything else is exactly the same as the first. I would've enjoyed different quests, or at least different locales. It felt more like I had deleted all of my saves right before the final boss and restarted, than completed phase 1 of the game.
My lovely lady didn't mind though. She doesn't like it as much as the diner-dash games, but still likes it. She isn't bitter toward most of the industry like me though, so maybe that's the problem.
As a side note, her APM in Diner Dash would probably outrank most Grandmaster League SC2 players. It's ridiculous.
Oof, I can't imagine restarting the game to play through a second time with a more advanced ambition. That would be way too many hours of painful repetition and it's not like the gameplay is all that deep to begin with.
I do like things about the game, it's interesting to unlock new classes and experience playing from their eyes. I like how, for example there are advantages to doing quests with my blacksmith because it levels him up and provides more gear for my other classes (at least I assume the market stall quality depends on his level). I also like just how the different classes feel different when you play out their daily lives.
But for the most part I don't feel there are that many options or that much challenge. I start a quest, I perform a bunch of simple tasks (ie go to this location, talk to this person), and then the quest is done. There is nothing to think about, no strategies to consider, mostly just a lot of busy work.
This and then this:
Means it is a dead-dog, boring game for me. Looks like I was correct in not getting it for me, and feels typical of the sims series.
It probably is a boring game for you, but it isn't typical of the Sims series.
Major difference 1 is if a char isn't on a quest, you don't control them. Your wife and kids go off to do whatever they feel like doing. Much less stupid micromanagement.
I don't think the game is mind bogglingly awesome but it is a refreshing change for a Sims player.
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