LOTR The Third Age
Ahhhh.....LOTR In RPG. They say that it going to be better than FF and basically I don't believe that! Do you think this rip off will pay off!???
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If you ask me on a monday I'll say yess!
If you ask me on a tuesday I'll say yess!
If you ask me on a wednesday...........
I want to get it when it come out. Looks good.
The whole concept sounds like utter crap. A group of random adventurers helping Gandalf fight the Balrog? Yeah, sure. I bet they levelled up by killing Tom Bombadil, that's why he's not in the movies.
An RPG based on FF that is beter then FF. The first one who makes that I still have to meet or buy. Altough it seems a good game to me. Only they must keep it "realistic" not killing the Balrog etc. Or fighting Nazgul. And then winning. They should have made a different storyline with different figures and a different time. That would be way better. Or something like the Battlefield series. Can you imagine?? Humans against the forces of Saruman and Sauron?? That would be so cool.
Moogle:
1. Catlike creature. Has a large red ball on it's head attached by a long hair. Some can fly. Some can fight. Some are lazy bastards. All say Kupo (or Puu)
I'm not really impressed with it, to be honest. Like SephirothNL, basing a game on FF but then claiming it's better? Sheesh...besides, I think most people would rather play as the film's heroes like Aragorn. Yes, no doubt some people would prefer to, as quoted from EA's site, Play as all-new characters from Middle-earth, but I think the majority would not.
The EA LoTR game I personally am looking forward to is The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth. If that wasn't coming out, then I'd probably rent, or possibly buy TTA, but it is, so there you go.
The battle system looks like complete garbage, and I'd rather play as the famous adventurers in the books / movies than some random people I've never heard about before.
"... and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has not yet been written."
EA doesnt make the claim that it's better than FF, EGM did.
http://the3rdage.com/
I've actually played this game, thanks to Cid. It's really really fun. The battle system is like X's, but it works very well.
The story is basically an 'enhancement' to the LotR story we all know, told from the perspective of other characters who're on their own quests and missions and whatnot. They meet up with the Fellowship once in a while, but not constantly.
I loved what I played, and I cant wait to get the game.
So basically, you get to assemble your own team, and go on your own journey while the Fellowship's off doing their own stuff? Sounds like a great concept.
Also, it's consistent with the stories - you don't alter what's already been established in the books and films, something that can always happen when you're controlling the lead characters in other titles. It's entirely probable that there would have been numerous groups of adventurers out in the world during the events at the end of the Third Age, so it'd be fascinating to have a chance to experience the story from their perspective.
Ashley, do you have any good info from your personal experiences? Details you particularly liked, things you found especially innovative and fun? The more I hear about this game, the more I'm looking forward to it.
However, there aren't any demos out yet, so you're my best hope for now
Edit: Been looking over your fantastic website again. Seems like the game has a pre-determined set of characters, but all drawn from different backgrounds... I especially like the addition of more Rohirrim characters. Again... the more I see, the more I like.
Well you run into people who end up helping you. Berethor is on a quest from Gondor to find the fate of Boromir, and ends up encountering these other folks with other missions. Like Idrial, who is trying to help her fellow elves, and Hadhod, who just wants to get back to his ancestrial home in Moria.
EA was very very careful not to alter the storyline in any way. Any encounter with the Fellowship stills follows the lines of the movie... for example, when you aid Gandalf in the fight against the Balrog, even if you win, the Balrog still goes down with Gandalf.
Good info, hm... I'm not 100% sober right now, so bear with me.
Well first of all, from what I played it's very much like X. But keep in mind, this was pre-alpha development, before they got our feedback. They seemed very interested in what we had to say. That and the fact that the linearity also had to do with the fact that it wasnt complete. Even though the map is 'linear' like X's, there's still a whole LOT of exploring in every area. Here's a list of my personal favorite things.
-Encounters are story related. Random battles are not in the level (until you complete it and choose to return later).
-Little details, like when your character is shot with an arrow, the arrow remains in the character for the duration of the battle.
-Over 1/2 million different armor combinations (including matching sets that unlock new abilities) to customize your character.
-Character specific skill trees.
And, best of all, an awesome cast of characters and a great storyline. At the very least we wont have to listen to the constant bitching of 'omg the guys look like girls/the girls look like whores'. Check out the site I posted, and I'll elaborate more once I get home (and my internet actually works, we had a big storm and it messed things up, I'm typing from Mandee's right now).
I'll be happy to field any questions, and anything I cant answer, I'll ask our contact at EA.
Ah, so you got to play the game while it was still in development...
I've read through all the major sections on your site. I like the idea of the character-specific ability trees - seems to provide the freedom of FFX Sphere Grid, while still ensuring that the characters each have their own specific set of skills.
Any info on Wizards? I'm hoping that either Radagast the Brown, or one of the Blue twins might show up, seeing as they did absolutely nothing in the books.
I'm a big fan of 'underdog' characters... where the original LotR stories focussed on the greatest heroes and the greatest quest, TTA turns the spotlight to a less significant, but no less real crew with their own objectives and motives. Nice.
Edit: How's the voice-acting? I heard a few lines during a brief preview on Gamer TV, and it didn't seem all that remarkable... but then, I didn't get to hear much at all.
Well, I didn't see it like the descriptions above, but if the game is like that and it's coming out on the PS2....well i guess I have to make room for it
Moogle:
1. Catlike creature. Has a large red ball on it's head attached by a long hair. Some can fly. Some can fight. Some are lazy bastards. All say Kupo (or Puu)
Rip off? I don't see any rip off here....
But I'm really, really excited about this game. I love the books, and the movies, so anything LotR related is a-okay by me. And I actually like the fact that you play as different people, but who were "there" in the movie. I think it's a cool twist that sets this game apart from the other LotR games.
I bet it'll be a real good game but not at the same calibur as Final Fantasy I do wish you could make your own characters.
There are a few skills that more than one character has, but for the most part they're very character specific. By the time I was done with FFX, all my characters had the same abilities. My own fault of course, but I've always prefered character specific things, in which FF has been rather lacking for quite some time.Originally Posted by Big D
If you didnt see the characters in the movies, they wont be in the games. It sucks, and it's a let down for the hard-core LotR tabletop guys behind this (you should have seen the table set up, I think there's some pictures on EA's official site, in the community day section), but that's copyright laws for ya, or whatever. I didnt see any wizards, excluding of course Gandalf and Saruman.
I agree about the underdog thing, my main enjoyment in this comes from the different perspective this game offers. I've always wondered what everyone else in Middle Earth was doing at the time. How long before they knew what was happening? What'd they think? Didnt anyone else want to do anything about it? That sort of stuff.
The voice acting seems pretty decent. Of course the voice overs by Gandalf are beautiful, the voice actors for the characters seem pretty good. It's not anything that knocked me out of my seat, but they seem to fit; in particular I remember Idrial's voice, it seemed very fitting of an Elven maiden.
As for the comment about 'making your own characters' from Sephiroth., I cant really thing of any traditional RPG that lets you do that, so why would this one? Anyway, Battle for Middle Earth should satisfy that craving, and in TTA, the characters are pretty customizable, and the armor is so extensive that you can really have a hand in the way your character appears.
Some more things I liked, now that my mind is clear -
-The armor includes all the things recent FF's have been lacking; helmets, full armor, greaves, etc, and they actually appear on the character at all times, even in the cutscenes.
-Lots of customization in general
-All the neat things more 'hardcore' RPers want, but enough normalicy to entice first timers. Your starting characters are rather basic, you aquire cooler (in abilities and what not) people as time goes on.
-Very faithful to the LotR story
And more to come, I'm sure.
AGH. Have you ever even PLAYED a traditional RPG? Final Fantasy isn't one of them.
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