After my Initial Review, I put it down for a few days and decided to come back at it, knowing what to expect and also knowing what not to expect.I have to say, it is addictive. I found myself unable to go to sleep (more so than usual) for thinking of things like "where could the thing be, that I need to get past the other thing"?
And looking past most of my initial problems, I found it a bit easier to play. And the further you get into the game, the more there is to do and see. Combat is sure different in real time ... you can hit & run, unlike the old days of Wiz 7 (where you could run, but would come back to fully healthy monsters every time). Though, it does get hectic when you have to run, then run into more bad guys
Overall, I am finding the game still irritating in spots, but more playable (for instance, I clean the kitchen for two minutes while the game is loading - which helps keep my wife happy too ).
Here are some tips (not spoilers) that may help:
1. Be sure to Use or Give when appropriate. I 'Used' an item on an NPC that I was supposed to 'Give'. Due to the limited number of saved games (8 ... or 9 if you count the "autosaved" last time you exited town one as well), I nearly had to restart the game for that mistake. As it was I had to replay about 2-3 hours, once I figured out the difference between 'Use' and 'Give'
2. Questing seems linear and is kludgy. I have two warriors and could only afford for one to join the guild initially. Having done so, he took up the first quest and eventually completed it. By then, I had enough gold for my second warrior to join.
He then took up his first quest - the same one just completed by the party. But he was not recognized as having done this quest, so I had to 'waste a trip' back to the site of the quest, then return to get credit ;-(
Knowing this, I had both my Wizards join their guild and accept the (same) first quest, before either completed it.
It was funny, I initially rated this game as (to me) worth about $30, the next day, Compusa dropped their price from 49.99 to 35.99 - I doubt this was more than sheer coincidence. But now I see their price is back up to 49.99. I recall someone saying that was the "weekend" price - maybe some holiday or special?
Anyhow, I am raising my rating to $35, given that it seems I am going to get a lot of play out of it. The question of Replayability will have to be answered later, at which time I may adjust my price rating again.
Another thing that would greatly benefit the game and it's playability (thus replayability) would be a patch, which HP has said they could easily do, but their hands are tied until Activision deems it is necessary and lets them do one. This "catch 22" situation, (for me anyway) doesn't bode well for continued sales of this product, or future sales for either company, especially when there are already talks (or at least whisperings) of a sequel.
Tools for your Wizardry(r) toolkit