Despise the lack of coverage from 1up, these are my first impressions of the game so far:
I thoroughly went through a lot of the preview and I am impressed. Anet managed to improve EVERYTHING across the board. There are still tons of bugs but I expect those to be worked out by Halloween. I also like that characters in NF have a lot more personality regardless of how vain some people can be.
Pros:>
-Hero System:
I don’t care where they got it from, all I know is it works very well. It brings in a new dimension to the world of henchmen. IT also won’t affect team making or paring up with a human player since people who have used henchmen exclusively in the past won’t have any need to change their habit, Or become disgusted with the game because they were forced to team up with humans.
-Music / Battle Music:
Jeremy Soule decided to give ANET the good stuff this time around. Maybe they upped his pay. But whatever they did, it allowed him to put personality into the music. There is also the addition of battle music that triggers when you cast a spell in battle. Its very catchy and it CHANGES depending on conditions in battle. That was a nice surprise. Its very blood charging and makes battling much more fun.
-Environment:
It looked good from the screen shots and looks even better in game. Plenty of Egyptian influence on the island. Flora and even the monsters themselves look very original. I did notice a couple of plants from Maguuma Jungle but it was completely dominated by the landscape. The New portal animations are a very nice touch and makes the game look current. The environment is much more immersive than both post sear Tyria AND Cantha.
-Cutscenes:
Cutscenes so far have been pretty good to experience. Its Nothing like the random emotes from Factions And its even better thrown together than in Prophecies. The moving jaws on the characters are a nice touch. The voice acting talent is just as good as ever, but THIS time they decided to DIRECT THEM LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO. Good to finally see you guys on your job Voice Directors.
Cons:
-Quests:
The quests are just as weird and mundane as ever. Go do this, bring me that, fetch this, protect that, bring this, visit that. I haven’t seen any REAL departure from the norm in the quests yet. Maybe they get better further in the game, but its pretty much the same.
-Outpost Layout:
The outposts so far are very WEIRDLY laid out. ITs very easy for a low level person to wander into an area with groups of very dangerous creatures. This can be easily fixed by rethinking the nature of the the placement of monsters and their power levels or get the player evenly matched for the next area.
-Henchmen AI
I applaud the Hero system but the AIs are another subject. When placing markers for them to perch on, they become very fidgety and bugged. Like they were on some extreme version of speed. Every time you move, they attempt to move with you but the programming keeps them there which makes them display kind of a flicker. They also know no fear so they will not easily retreat from a battle if you leave the area. IT can probably be fixed, but right now its garbage.
Mixed Reactions:
-Professions:
I have a mixed reaction about the new professions. Its most likely because I have yet to see what they are really capable of. I do tend to favor the Paragon since their abilities can greatly affect the performance of your team. Dervishes on the other hand are a complete mystery to me at the moment so they will most likely take more time getting used to. Its the same like Mesmers were to me back in the gap. But I love Mesmers now, so I bet all it takes is time.
-Title Grinding:
This is also another area of murky water. The title grinding is a bit confusing to me. Maybe this is supposed to bring a sense of accomplishment to new players. I mostly see title earning an optional thing to do. Or something you do after you beat the game. Not something that actively affects progression into the storyline. IF this is necessary or needed for the story, it needs to be balanced with varied storyline events and feel like fun, not kill a species until its extinct.
Final Thoughts:
I have much praise about Nightfall so far. I had quite a few doubts and worries about Factions which actually materialized. But, I have hardly ANY doubts about Nightfall. Guild Wars really feels NEW to me again with NF. Its a bigger experience than Factions. Its like a more stylized and interesting Prophecies. It doesn’t feel like they are trying to rush you through the game. The new graphics are much smoother and modern.
IF you didn’t buy Factions then you MUST buy Nightfall. 