Curse you, you high priced, awesome, old game!

[roushimsx]

Anyway, I eventually managed to buy the original Dark Alliance for the PS2 in a $14.99 bundle pack which also included "The Matrix Online" and after playing it, it was well worth the $14.99 I paid for it. (I could care less for the Matrix game)

Are you talking about Matrix: Path or Neo or Enter the Matrix? Matrix Online was PC only, good sir. Also, the phrase is "I couldn't care less", because if you COULD care less then that means you're probably interested in it to some degree.

I'm stuck in kind of the same boat. I picked up Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance I and II up for PS2 on the cheap before demand skyrocketed, but after playing X Men Legends for a few hours on PS2, I realized that I'd much rather play that sort of game on the Xbox (mainly because of loading/saving speed), so I tracked down an inexpensive copy of Dark Alliance II but I've been completely unable to find a decent copy of Dark Alliance I anywhere locally. Going to hit a few shops today just to double check, but I may be stuck hitting up the good ol' ebay.

..and Bard's Tale is yummy, you say? I picked it up a while back on the cheap (it was $7.50 but then I got 75% off of that....so yea, I bought both the Xbox and PS2 copies just in case one was better than the other) but haven't played it yet. About how long of a game is it?

[The_4th_Survivor]

Are you talking about Matrix: Path or Neo or Enter the Matrix? Matrix Online was PC only, good sir. Also, the phrase is "I couldn't care less", because if you COULD care less then that means you're probably interested in it to some degree.

I'm stuck in kind of the same boat. I picked up Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance I and II up for PS2 on the cheap before demand skyrocketed, but after playing X Men Legends for a few hours on PS2, I realized that I'd much rather play that sort of game on the Xbox (mainly because of loading/saving speed), so I tracked down an inexpensive copy of Dark Alliance II but I've been completely unable to find a decent copy of Dark Alliance I anywhere locally. Going to hit a few shops today just to double check, but I may be stuck hitting up the good ol' ebay.

..and Bard's Tale is yummy, you say? I picked it up a while back on the cheap (it was $7.50 but then I got 75% off of that....so yea, I bought both the Xbox and PS2 copies just in case one was better than the other) but haven't played it yet. About how long of a game is it?

Whoops, sorry about the confusion on the game title for the Matrix game. It's actually "Enter The Matrix" and both games in the bundle were the 'Greatest Hits' versions.

See? I got the title confused because I really could care less about the Matrix-related game. I primarily bought the $14.99 bundle specifically for Dark Alliance, since GS was selling used copies of BG-DA (greatest hits no less!) for $14.99 anyway, so I figured, 'all I want is to play this game, I'll see if they have it cheaper somewhere else. Luckily, the helpful GS employee mentioned that a 2 pack set (the aforementioned BG-DA/Matrix bundle) was available, so he called around and tracked down a set from another local store. That's how I eventually got my GH copy of BG-DA for PS2.

As for "The Bard's Tale", it's definitely along the lines of the whole BG-DA series. Same style of attacks, weapons and all. Of course, there are many variations, such as the ability to find 'spirits' to summon and aid you in your quest, but the overall experience is definitely similar to what you'll get from the Dark Alliance series. Not to mention that The Bard's Tale has some hilariously funny instances. Think of the game as an adventure/fantasy/comedy and you can get an idea of what to expect from The Bard's Tale remake. BTW, I would recommend that you play the first Dark Alliance BEFORE The Bard's Tale, just so you can have a laugh at the obvious references and overall parodies that were made to the original scenarios in BG-DA. (Not to spoil anything, but the 'rat' situation is a big reference. You'll see)

Overall, I clocked in about 16-18 hours of time for The Bard's Tale.

[The_4th_Survivor]

gah!

I just found out that there are 2 more games that are very similar to Baldur's Gate and have even been compared to "Diablo"!

They are "Champions Of Norrath" and "Champions: Return To Arms", both for the PS2.

I initially ignored those game titles because I thought that they were just expansion packs of the Everquest series. Hell, I remember seeing some of those games at those clearance racks at my local Circuit City stores, for as little as $9.99. Damn. Damn. Damn.

If I would have known they were similar to the whole 'dungeon crawler' type of game genre a'la Diablo/Dark Alliance/etc., I would have bought them in a heartbeat.

*sighs*

Now I have to resort to used copies or hopefully cheap copies on Ebay.

[hezeuschrist]

I can attest that Champions of Norrath is a fantastic game. You should still be able to get it on the cheap, but I'm not so sure about the second one... it may start fetching a price.

[carlcarlson]

wait, those aren't expansions? I have champions of norrath, but never played it because I thought it was an online thing. well shoot, I'm going to have to play it now, because I love diablo and BG games. how cool would it be if they made diablo 2 into a playstation 2 game?

[The_4th_Survivor]

wait, those aren't expansions? I have champions of norrath, but never played it because I thought it was an online thing. well shoot, I'm going to have to play it now, because I love diablo and BG games. how cool would it be if they made diablo 2 into a playstation 2 game?

If Blizzard were to make Diablo 3 multiplatform and not just for the PC, they will definitely have a mega-uber-juggernaut of a hit on their hands.

Can you imagine how awesome it would be to play Diablo 3 on the XBox 360 along with your buddies from the PC or PS2 version? That game would totally outsell all of the MMORPGs that are out there now, simply because it'll be such a big universe.

[Daria]

I love Bard's Tale, but found the humour's whats made it fantastic. Haven't picked up any of the other games made on the Norrath engine though.

As for stumbling into old expensive games. Back before I was collecting RPGs as opposed to just playing them, I ran into some screenshots for Valkyrie Profile. Fell in love with the game, hit ebay and about shit myself. Totally dejected I put the game on back burner and played something else. Sometime not to long after I was in GameStop and spotted a copy without a box for $32. Steep but I gladly paid it. Was able to score a free box later too.

[Oobgarm]

wait, those aren't expansions? I have champions of norrath, but never played it because I thought it was an online thing. well shoot, I'm going to have to play it now, because I love diablo and BG games.

Champions of Norrath and Return to Arms aren't online only expansion packs, like the PC version has had. They're both standalone action games, and incredibly fun to boot. They do have online modes, if you're interested in that sort of thing. I've had 'em both since they came out, and I remember we tried to set up some 2-4 player raids with some of the forum members, but I can't recall if we actually did.

Also intriguing is the fact that you can play through Norrath on easy, use the same character(leveled, stats, items, etc) to play through normal, and once again use them to play through hard difficulty. Then you can transfer that character over to Return to Arms and start there. Good times. You can actually exploit the hell out of Norrath's inventory system and amass a large sum of money, plus you can dupe items and trade them to friends or what have you. RtA killed that exploit dead. I've not explored the possibility of a similar exploit existing.

Norrath and Return to Arms were developed by Snowblind Studios. The reason you see a similarity between them and Baldur's Gate is because Snowblind did those, too. They also did the semi-recent Justice League Heroes game. Untold Legends (all 3 of them) were done by Sony Online, most likely with what they learned through the dev process of Norrath/RtA. As a result, they lack a bit of that 'polish', but are still fun games in their own right.

Personally, I'd love to have both Baldur's Gate games. I know Dark Alliance II has been a money commander ever since it came out. $40-$50 is reasonable, I think, provided it's in good shape. If you're digging these games at all, you're going to get your money's worth.

[esquire]

Personally, I'd love to have both Baldur's Gate games. I know Dark Alliance II has been a money commander ever since it came out. $40-$50 is reasonable, I think, provided it's in good shape. If you're digging these games at all, you're going to get your money's worth.

I actually have Baldur's Gate for all 3 consoles (GCN, PS2, XBX) and played through all 3 each with a different character (I believe there are 3 character classes -fighter, mage, archer)

I also have Dark Allaince II for both the PS2 and XBX and played through each of them with a different class (I believe there is like 5-7 classes) and would love to play it again with a different class. So there is a strong replay bonus to the game, even if the quests are the same.

Champions Return to Arms had a neat little feature where after you completed each level, you unlocked a bonus level that featured various side quests each having a special requirement to it, sort of like a bonus level in Super Mario Bros./World. Some levels were timed, while others made it where you couldn't die or use a health potion. I never played through all of them, and this thread has got me to dig it back out and try to finish them all.

An added bonus to the BG and CoN series are the very attractive female characters which make Tecmo's Dead or Alive series blush. If I recall, Sony put out a "Babes of Norrath" Calendar after one of the releases, and released individual character themes/wallpaper for use on the PC.