Dungeons & Dragons Tactics - New PSP Game

Hey guys. I'm sorry I can't give a more personal review for this board, as due to my limited time I have to copy and paste from another board I posted on:

Hail all!

Well it's the adventure and not the beginning or end that counts, right? That pretty much sums up my experience with the game. Here are my highlights and disappointments:

What kept the game going smoothly for me was the amount of different locations. I never said to myself "oh great another dungeon". 90% of the locations were quite unique and differentiate between each other in scenery. The last 5-7 dungeons were absolutely spectacular to play on… Although the difficulty with a standard party (Fight,Fight,Cleric,Rogue,Wiz,Sorc) was pretty much non-existant. Honestly, ever since I hit level 16 my Sorc could walk through levels and absolutely mow everything down (time stop, chain lightning, disintegrate). At 19 she was absolutely untouchable with several Time Stops (allowing me an extra 9-12 turns!). There were some pretty bad-ass moments still. Fighting 7+ Mind Flayers at once… 5 Iron Golems… Dragons (That Draco Lich was such a disappointment tho. Isn't he supposed to be near impossible to beat?). So yea, some badass monsters with some awesome scenery.

My next run through will be with 3 Psychics and 3 Psychic Warriors playing Iron-Man style- meaning I won't rest or save during missions. The game is just too easy if you're able to rest and regain all your spells after a fight.

Now onto the specifics:

Rogues: So mixed for me. Their sneak attack ability is quite amazing when they are geared up. But he still never topped my Fighters for damage, and that is definitely not how it should be. A full sneak/spring attack should be the epitome of damage (As it has been in other D&D games). Also, no locked treasure chest had gear that better suited me then what I picked up with the merchants. Too many scrolls/potions in locked chests.

Fighters: Incredible top damage (I was doing over 120 w/4 hits) with a ton of HP to boot. I had one offensive fighter and one pure defense. The defense guy had over 370 HP after buffs and my offensive guy was the one hitting for 120+. An all around physical powerhouse.

Clerics: My favorite class to play out of my party. He could be a Melee monster with a 2-handed mace or he can absolutely tear things up with his destruction spells. Lots of versatility. Healing, defense, and power. Plus they can choose from any of their available spells, at any time, unlike Wizards or Sorcs. If it wasn't for Time Stop they would be the most powerful class out of my party.

Wizards/Sorcs: I loved my Wizard when he was getting top spells faster than my Sorc, but his usefulness died down when my Sorc gained more levels and became more of a powerhouse. Sorceress started off weak but grew to be by far the strongest class in my party. Just cast buffs and haste, greater Invis. to position yourself in a group of mobs, then Time stop-chain lightning-disintegration-rinse and repeat- and that alone can defeat a whole level (even last few levels).

Misc Notes:
Lots of abilities that I never used. Lots of items with not needed attributes. Did anyone ever see their character poisoned? Did the concentrate skill even matter since it's turn based (only time I could see it working was if I was standing within their attacks of opportunities). The most important skill I found to be was Escape Device- when you battle a ton of Mind Flayers latter on. I never once used Intimidate even tho I pumped it with my Fighters.. never seemed too useful. Never took much elemental damage, so the elemental protection never seemed to be needed. To sum it up, I absolutely love the game… even with the glaring flaws. As with D&D in general, you can make the experience suit your play style. I had a fun (but easy) first run through with my standard party. Now I'll try out some classes I've never played and make the gameplay more challenging. I consider it a great D&D game for on the go (which is perfect for me as I travel all day). If I was at home I'd just fire up Temple of Elemental Evil for a more accurate and true D&D experience. For a travel game compared to others, I'll give it a 9/10. My first run through completing all missions, opening all chest, and scouting out all areas took 48 hours (minus one or two hours for having to put it idle as I go do something). And considering I'm definitely trying out one or two more parties I'll get good 150-200 hours of gaming out of it. Props to Kuju Entertainment for creating an experience that hasn't been presented before on a handheld system!