since me and about three other guys (two others from the GS/GF forums and one from the official Bioware forums) are the only people in the gaming public who has played the full version of the game, i have a few comments to comment on the GS review.
in all honesty, i believe that Greg K. took a wrong approach to this game, for many reasons. he constantly compared this game to KOTOR... another RPG on XBOX. he pretty much used this GS GOTY contender to show the drawbacks of JE. as far as i am concerned, he is entitled to do so. i would understand why this game wouldn't score over what KOTOR got (which was a 9.1 or a 9.2... i don't remember). but there is another XBOX RPG that scored above JE that has me a bit confused... Fable. when all things concerned... JE just does everything better than Fable.
JE's diverging philosophies are much mroe complex than Fable's Fable's alignment was too simplistic. you were left with choices like "attack the orchard farm or protect it," with obvious consequences for both. JE is much deeper and interesting. Bioware decided todo something different, and took away the usual "evil side" that balances out the "good alignment" fora much more favorable "closed fist", which is more darwinian than it is evil. you are not indifferent like the usual evil person is when you take the path of the closed fist. instead, you are just much more concerned about your needs what you need to do to survive.JE's combat system is much more complex and balanced. Fable's combat system was dominated with the use of the sword and with some magic spells like enflame and lightening. spells like summons and berserk were never needed, and became more of a useless but interesting feature than anything else. JE's combat system calls for you to use many of your fighting styles... atleast the majority of them. certain enemies are immune to certain fighting styles, and you are left to sort out which ones to use, which increases the strategy in the game.your followers in JE can actually fight... unlike the mercenaries that you hire in Fable. it is as simple as that.the leveling system of your fighting styles is much more complex than leveling up your magic spells in Fable. in Fable, you just leveled up in one category per each magic spell. in JE, you have to consider the power and speed of your fighting style when leveling up.Greg K. mentioned horrible loading times in JE. i have loaded JE several times, and the loading times are not as bad as Fable's primary loading (which happens when you start the game). not to mention that JE is not filled with small load times everytime you entered another room like Fable.JE was also criticized for being only 20 hours long. how can you give a game that is 20 hours long a lower score than a game that can be in 10 hours (Fable)difficulty was another aspect under fire by Greg K. albeit... it is not DMC3, but it is in no way easier than Fable. Fable's difficulty, even when taking every boast, was entirely too easy. in playing JE, i actually had to think and time my hits. and i actually was struck on as well. i can't say the same for when i played Fable.the only thing i can see Fable being better in is its ability to customize your character's appearance, the long list of items you could own, and the ability to kill anyone.
being able to change your hair and armor... not that much of a big deal IMO. it rarely has any effect on the gameplay.owning items was a big deal in Fable. you could own several types of food, potions, and even books. this did not matter though, since food and health potions had the same effect, and no one ever read any of the books that they found. they were completely useless.your ability to kill anyone seems to be the only valid positive that Fable has over JE. if you are truly evil... you should be able to take lives just as you want.when considering all of these points... i really don't see how Greg K. can put JE side by side with KOTOR and make a comparison, while ignoring Fable and giving JE a lower score than both aformentioned games. this is just my view though.
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