Soulbringer??

[centrifuge]

Several months ago, I bought Planescape: Torment in the bargain bin, and it came bundled with a game called Soulbringer. I had never heard of it or seen anybody talk about it since. It's made by Interplay/infogrames, and as near as I can tell (with the 2 minutes that I've played it) its a fantasy RPG along the lines of D&D.

So has anyone played or heard anything about it?

If so, what can I expect, no spoilers please

[centrifuge]

Okay, so I take it that nobody has any info on this game, so I guess that means that it's up to me to fill you in

I found some reviews on the web, and it turns out that some people loved it an some hated it... and now few remember it.

I played it for several hours last night, and have become engrossed by it thus far. It is single player RPG, doesn't use AD&D rules and so far has a pretty dark storyline. It's the storyline that has made it so engrossing for me. Which is good, because the combat has been fairly non-existent so far, I'd say about 70% story, 30% combat.

My impression so far is that this is one of those diamonds in the rough that didn't get the credit it deserved, I've really enjoyed it thus far My only real complaint is that rather than give you a map like in BG, you have to get directions from people and use a compass. I've been getting lost quite a bit .

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by centrifuge
Okay, so I take it that nobody has any info on this game, so I guess that means that it's up to me to fill you in

I found some reviews on the web, and it turns out that some people loved it an some hated it... and now few remember it.

I played it for several hours last night, and have become engrossed by it thus far. It is single player RPG, doesn't use AD&D rules and so far has a pretty dark storyline. It's the storyline that has made it so engrossing for me. Which is good, because the combat has been fairly non-existent so far, I'd say about 70% story, 30% combat.

My impression so far is that this is one of those diamonds in the rough that didn't get the credit it deserved, I've really enjoyed it thus far My only real complaint is that rather than give you a map like in BG, you have to get directions from people and use a compass. I've been getting lost quite a bit .

I suppose you could draw your own map, al a old text adventures.

[Standup]

I saw this on ebay when i was trying to find a copy of planescape and i'd never heard off it. Maybe it makes paying the high prices Planescape is going for a bit more worthwhile. I keep hoping its going to appear on budget but i've been waiting a while so i think i'm going to need to shell out some cash.

[centrifuge]

Just don't expect a Baldur's gate clone. It (so far) has been a very good game in it's own right, but after playing BG, IWD etc, Soulbringer takes a while to get used to the interface. After playing it for a while now, I realize that I miss some things from the BG/infinity engine interface, but I also think that many of the things that are incorporated into this game have been an improvement. One real complaint that I have is that I can't find even an ondisc manual which makes learning some of the features a bit difficult

Otherwise, I've been having a good deal of fun with it. The melee combat, for example, is really quite an improvement over BG. You can choose how you want your character to strike with his weapon, for example, with a short sword you can choose between slash, low slash, underarm strike (which is really cool to watch) , stab, and one or two others.

Also it turns out that getting lost (via not having a BG type map) is supposed to be a feature, since the compass that you start with sticks quite a bit, and you have to either find or buy a better one in order to better know your direction.

[centrifuge]

So obviously, nobody knows a thing about this game, which is really a shame I personally am completely engrossed by it, and think that it is a complete shame that it has been missed and forgotten by the masses. If anybody has the chance to get a hold of it, I whole heartedly recommend it Maybe It's because I'm so used to the BG engine, but this one seems very new( by comparison) and unique. It is obvious that the makers of this game put a ton of thought and effort into it.

Give it a try if you have the chance!!!! IMHO, it is certainly worth it. Oh BTW, as I've gotten further into it, combat vs eory has turned into more like 50:50...

Let me know what you think, should I shut up about it, or does anyone want more details of the game? Don't hold back with your thoughts

[Standup]

currently leading the bidding on a planescape/soulbringer double pack so might be joining you soon...

S

[centrifuge]

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy it

[Standup]

Arrived today and i thought before i start i'll do a bit of background reading, look for patches etc. Despite being published by interplay it doesn't feature anywhere on their website, the official site doesn't exist and its not what you'd call high profile.
The few reviews i found were pretty mixed. The one below loved it but the next one i found said almost the same things but hated it.

Soulbringer review

Looks interesting and it will make a change playing a RPG where there aren't hints, clues,maps etc freely available on the net.

[centrifuge]

I finished it just the other night, and really enjoyed, unfortunately I don't see much of a replayability aspect to it, since you can only control the one character. However, I do think that it deserves more than to just be forgotten, it IMHO has one of, if not, the best stories of the RPGs I've played


BTW, I found an old forum dedicated to the game, it has some, but not alot of info on it.
soulbringer forum
I did a patch check too, but came up short.

What kind of OS do you have? I use XP pro and it worked fine, except for one part where a movie freezes, the only solution was to let it sit for about 3 hours, and let it correct itself

[Standup]

Win98SE and XP but i tend to try them out on the W98 PC first unless the spec is too high. The Readme suggests a P2 400 so that shouldn't be a problem.

Installed ok but time to get some sleep but i guess that's my weekend sorted !

[Standup]

mmh a 2 person thread ? Well maybe someone else will buy it on ebay. Its not so bad that it deserves to sink without trace.

Anyway initial impressions... graphics are better than i expected and for some reason i really like the footprints in the snow !

Away from the main game graphics though it looks quite messy. The 'character sheet' could have used a better font and things like options are pretty unreadable. Its also feels quite clunky in that to use a key you have to first select it in your inventory.

There is a map but its of limited use as it full of icons that are explained in a dialogue but there doesn't seem to be anyway to recall that dialogue. Should we really be having to make out own notes nowadays ?

centrifuge - my CD came with an adobe manual. I can email it to you if you do want to replay but as you said the replayability seems limited.

[centrifuge]

Dohh!! I have it on my cd too

Yeah, the main graphics are quite nice, the movement of the character for example are on par or better than any I've seen . I think that they were done through some sort of motion capture rather than the usual graphics animation. I agree about the messy aspects of the character sheet etc, the pictures of the weapons and other items are useless without the text description.

Have you gotten used to the combat yet? I think the goal was to make it more interactive...

[Dis]

I have both games bundled together. But so far I've only played Planescape. And I have yet to finish that one. Maybe I'll check out the other game if I'm bored.

[Standup]

Haven't tried much with the combat other than just hitting the mouse button loads

But i've printed out the manual (well what else are employers for other than as print shops?)and its looks interesting.