Rubies of Eventide

Did the install and several patches to get fully updated to the current beta. I lamented to myself that I onlyave a 1 Gig Hz T-Bird CPU while the game requires a 1.4 Gig or better. I spent the patch time hoping the rest of my system (which greatly exceeds requirements) will help to compensate.

Character creation was a cinch. The interface was very easy to use and well detailed in explaining the various options and shorthand names. Many of the acronyms are very familiar to those who have played any sort of CRPG or other pencil & paper RPG. My only two complaints with character creation are the amount of information and the formatting of that information. The sheer amount of options in regards to choosing your class is staggering. Many of the class descriptions read to be very similar. One thing lacking from the class section was grouping by function (ie: Magic users being listed in a Magic User group, Fighter/Magic Users in a separate group, etc). The other complaint is about the formatting of the Info details. With such a small column for the details, the information is often broken up after two or three words making for a long scrollbar.

I finally get ingame. I spent the next couple of minutes wondering how slow the game is going to render. Turns out I was in for a nice surprise. Even with all the graphics settings set at maximum and the screen resolution set for 1024x768, the video was extremely smooth. It appears that a 1 Gig T-Bird is capable of keeping up quite nicely if the rest of the system exceeds required specs.

Actual game play is very simple and streamlined. The entrance of the game has a tutorial area that is really well done. One pitfall I see of this area is that it's possible to farm it for XP & DP. Another minor quibble is never saw anything that would imply a reward for returning a certificate of completion to the section's trainer. I did that on a lark and found I got rewarded for doing so.

After leaving the training area, I ventured into the game proper. I had a few minor issues here as well. The names of the various NPCs are often faded out until you get within a certain range of them. The problem I was having was the NPC names either displaying behind the scenery/terrain or showing up and then fading out altogether. Also, the tutorial area trainers never mentioned that to get new skills, I'd have to train for it via a teacher. This isn't to say I disagree with that system (I don't), just that certain informative details are missing. Along the same lines, equipment & spells that give stat & skill boosts don't have their effects show up in your stats & skills panel. Equipment effects don't even show up in the Effects bar where duration spell effects are located though Spell effects do.

Gaining a quest (or two) was really simple and logical. Talk with NPCs. One or more of them will have an errand or task of some sort for you. I've currently got two delivery style quests active where I have to deliver two scrolls. As luck would have it, both are wanting me to deliver their respective scrolls to the same person. Speaking of which, I do love the directions I was given (Somewhere north of Kaj Blood in the foothills). This kind of feature definitely adds to the role-playing atmosphere. It certainly had me out running around and searching.

Combat & Spellcasting are easy to use. It's really a case of point & click. No need for fast nimble fingers at the keyboard. Combat runs smoothly w/o issue. Melee combat basically consists of equipping your weapon and attacking. Short, sweet & to the point. Just the way melee combat should be. Magical combat is slightly different. Here, you have to have some thought to your magic strategy. You have to decide what spells to put on the spellbar as well as their mana usage since their mana usage has a huge effect on how well the spell works in battle. The only thing I have to say about ranged combat is to not try it with the requisite skills not being trained. It won't work well. The only minor point for me in combat is that repeat action (F2 key in combat) does NOT stay selected between battles.

In summary, if the rest of the game (I'm currently level 3, just a few XP from level 4 which iirc requires 6400 xp) holds true to what I've experienced thus far, it'll be a fun game. The choices one has to make are compelling. Do I want to be a generalist or a specialist ?? The game is flexible enough IMO to accommodate all types. Is the game good enough to make me leave my current game ? That's a good question. I have a lot of time invested in my current game (Asheron's Call). I'd loathe giving up my two main characters. For me, the game would not draw me away from my characters in Asheron's Call. But for those who are looking for something different or a good reason to drop their current game, RoE can easily be *that* reason. It's that good and it's friendly to all skill levels.

My unofficial rating is 4 out of 5 stars. It's already shaping up to be a great game. It'll be on my watched game list so I will have something handy should I switch games and/or expand to newer games in the future.