Dungeon Siege - PC - Chapter 1: Stonebridge (Blind, Hard Difficulty)

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Published on June 11, 2022 2:30:09 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KaLET3wtOc

Game:

Dungeon Siege (2002)

Duration: 6:39:48

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Chapter 1 of Dungeon Siege, played blind on hard difficulty. Includes the full chapter from start to finish. This is a 2002 RPG, where you start out as a humble farmer, and set off on a long and dangerous journey to save the kingdom of Ehb. Along the way, you can gather a party of up to 8 characters, and watch them gradually morph into powerful heroes.

Full playlist, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0oLoNHDuXcbWGSItz-IKORn7D6W9VhbH

I’ve read that this was an attempt to de-clunk RPGs by making it more streamlined and visceral, with less micro-management and more quality of life aspects. Skills and stats upgrade as you use them, there is no manual levelling or character building, and healing spells and attacks happen automatically, without the player needing to instigate them.

The auto levelling system is deeper than it might first appear though, with several builds possible from the few skills and attributes available. E.g. you could mix and match strength and intelligence, to make a tanky caster, or you could give a character the ability to wield heavy ranged weapons, by boosting strength and dexterity, or you could just stick with a single skill and make them a master of their craft. The only issue I had with the system is that using healing spells doesn’t boost stats much, so if you’ve got a dedicated healer (which you will need on hard difficulty), their growth will be stunted until they switch to an offensive role.

While you could probably casually click your way through on lower difficulties, hard difficulty definitely requires some micro-management, as poor tactics and mistakes can easily result in a swift party wipe (you’ll see, as I'll be showing my defeats in this playthrough). Also, unlike the last PC RPG I did, Neverwinter Nights, this does require learning a hot key or 5. I beat over 50 NWN campaigns on Very Difficult, using the mouse almost exclusively, with this, I was brushing up on hot keys by Chapter 2. So perhaps not quite as de-clunked as they intended, especially if you're playing on hard, but that's OK. At least it does let you play in a more methodical, tactical way, if you want to.

One thing that does clunk things up, is that when a character dies, they drop all their equipment, which has to be gathered and re-equipped. That’s not so bad with 1 character, but if several die on the same spot, their gear can get jumbled up, which bogs things down, especially if you like to keep a tidy inventory. There's an organise inventory key, but it just seems to shuffle items around and not actually organise them. A few of my party wipes will be intentional, because it's sometimes quicker to let them all die and try again, than it would be to put everyone's gear back if just 1 character survives the battle.

Apart from gripes like the gear dropping issue, I actually thought this was an excellent RPG. The world is detailed and seamless, with no loading, and it takes you through many varied fantasy environments. The path is ultimately linear, but there are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore. It’s not always clear what the intended path is, so what initially seems like a small side area, can give way to a huge dungeon of epic proportions. It gives a great sense of exploring the unknown. I was actually exhausted by the time I finished some of these areas, just like the real adventurers would be. You do feel a genuine sense of relief when you hit a new town or shop and can re-equip and unburden yourself. The character progression is good too, as your humble farmer gradually expands into an unstoppable band of adventurers, with tactics changing dynamically as more come into the fold and new skills and gear are acquired.

I’ll be showing everything in this playthrough. There will usually be at least 1 long shopping / inventory management session in each video. Shops are few and far between, so by the time you reach one, it takes a while to sift through all the loot you’ve acquired and decide what to sell, buy and equip. Especially with up to 8 characters in the party. I'll be including timestamps, so you can skip those bits, if you prefer.

00:00:00 - Character Creation & Intro
00:04:38 - Upper Farmlands
01:04:52 - Edgaar's Basement
01:17:29 - Forest
02:02:56 - Secret Shrine
02:09:57 - Forest
02:18:39 - Crypt of the Sacred Blood
03:28:06 - Path to Stonebridge
05:12:09 - Stonebridge
05:30:07 - Stonebridge Shopping
06:16:04 - Stonebridge Beach

Quests Picked Up:

Seek Gyorn in Stonebridge
Clear Edgaar's Basement
Ordurs' Axe
Deliver Gyorn's Report
Clear Glitterdelve Pass
A Sister's Message

Quests Completed:

Clear Edgaar's Basement
Seek Gyorn in Stonebridge

Note: I had to record in desktop mode for this to be in 1080p, because it switches to a lower resolution in the title screen menu, then back to 1080p in the game. Due to this, the title screen and character creation are stretched, but the actual gameplay isn't. Also, this results in a visible green dot in the lower right corner.

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