User Reviews (11 - 21 of 21)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Salvatore should do more video games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I finished Demon Stone... it's actually a fairly short
game. The story, not suprisingly is written by RA
Salvatore, and is as awesome as you would want it to
be. The play control is just ok... but there is some
method to the button mashing, when you level up and
stuff you get new skills and spells etc. You also
spend money on weapon and armor upgrades. By the end
your characters are really cool fighting Dragons,
Slaad Lords, Githyanki Generals... all in hopes of
saving Faerun. There are extra things too... Diary
of Drizzt type stuff, that you unlock that gives you
more story depth.

The enemies are fricken scary and it's a good thing
that they are often fighting each other. The opening
sequence is pretty sweet... instantly thrust into a
battle between two waring orc armies. It's all
the epic you'd want from a really cool game! :)

And, the price is right.

A Fun Beat-em Up

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Dungeons and Dragons has, for a long time, been one of those things I never understood. I've always wondered why people let themselves get so immersed in these worlds that they would begin to live those fictional lives in which they play in a game. I've since learned that this is a sign of insanity, but I also learned that the world in which they are immersing themselves in is truly a magical one.

Demon Stone is a video game based in Forgotten Realms, a side-world in the D & D universe, made popular by Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore, two power house fantasy writers. In fact, R.A. Salvatore wrote the story surrounding the three main characters in Demon Stone, and even brings in his most legendary character: Drizzt Do'Urden. The story itself follows Rannek, Illius, and Zhai as they battle to save the Realms from two creatures released from the shattered Demon Stone. These two demonic beings, at war within the crystal, continue the war that had had them sealed inside of it, and this war threatens to swallow the lands in destruction. With the help of a Khelben, a wizard who was witness to the original war, the heroes learn what is needed to destroy these creatures, and travel all over the Realms to achieve this goal.

The basic layout of the game is very similar to a beat-em up. You travel around as all three characters, switching at advantageous moments between the three, while battling seemingly endless hordes of enemies. It keeps from getting tedious because of the separate skills and all the the items and spells you can add to the characters. And, later, during a non-stop battle with trolls, you can use Drizzt, which is easily the funnest level. Though not extremely difficult, this game can be challenging at times, adding somewhat to the fighting system since you must learn to time blocks and deliver counters. And then there are the boss fights, usually with massive, screen-filling beasts. These are always difficult and satisfying to complete.

The problem with the game, though, comes with the fact that you can upgrade one character to his fullest and make the game easy, that being Illius the wizard. Once you get his strongest spells, you can sit back and just wail on enemies without ever getting hurt. Also, it's a very short game. I beat it in ten hours or so, and though you can go back and explore areas to find things you may have missed, there just isn't any need since the story has already unfolded. A bonus includes top-notch voice acting from Michael Clark Duncan (The Green Mile) and Patrick Stewart, whose voice can be found in Steamboy and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Still, this game is a solid action-fest. R.A. Salvatore did a good job with the story; you could feel where his touches were added, and it was a pleasant surprise to play as Drizzt. Though I don't truly understand Dungeons and Dragons, the novels and great, and so are the games. Pick this up if you're a fan of video games and if you like Salvatore.

Better then the reviews said

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is *really* worth playing. I can't remember an action/fight game done this well in terms of charactization and story. This is a fantastic example of how to tell a story in a video game. And the graphics and gameplay are awesome.

So why did the critics not like it? Well, read the reviews below. "It's short" seems to be the consensus. I wish even one critic acknowledge that it was sold brand new on day one at a mere $30. "It's short" doesn't fly if you it's also cheaper then the average game. The price to game play ratio was about the same as many or most games. But the 8 to 10 hours of game play in this game are all 100% well done -- unlike most games.

Good concept, ruined gameplay

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: June 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This hack 'n' slash game looks great, amazing graphics really bring the fantastic world of Fogotten Realms to life in a way never before seen unless you have a computer powerful enough to run Neverwinter Nights at nearly full levels. The various settings ranging from a Wood Elven City in the trees to a lush Jungle to the frozen Mithral Hall just look jaw dropping and the models, especially the Yuan-ti, look totally cool. It's a little ruined by a bad camera though, leaving you sometimes unable to see what you're doing...

The voice acting by Patrick Stewart is great as Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun though it's very, very easy to often just think of him as Captain Picard or Professor X in a funky robe with a funny staff. The other voice actors are ok, though strangely the ones for the actual playable characters are only average...

Finally you also get to not only meet but play as the legendary Drow Ranger Drizzt Do'Urden. I won't spoil too much for you, but it's a blast.

And unfortunately that's where the good parts of this game seem to come to an end. The gameplay itself is repetitive... you get a handful of combos to do, but only a very small number, and they are exactly the same button layout no matter who you're playing as. And even then, it just turns out to be easier to run around mashing X over and over and over again... so you begin to wonder what the point of the combos are in the first place. Also, when you learn new combos as the game progresses, many of them simply replace the older ones, which is a little dissapointing, especially so for the sorceror. I for one would like to be able to choose between fireball, lightning bolt and cone of frost... instead each spell just ends up leveling up to a different one, which takes out a lot of variety.

Second, the overal story is horrible, it is so terribly cliched... you have the: Fighter who tried to save his village from attack but failed and now carries their guilt forever because he refused to just get over it... the sorceror who was born into a family of knights and therefore outcasted because he chose to study magic instead of martial combat... the half Wood Elf who, because of her Drow half, was feared by her village as she grew up and therefore despises her Wood Elf half until she suddenly learns that they're not as week as she thought they were... even the main storyline is straightforward, with hardly any twists or turns in it at all, it might as well not be there at all. Basically it's even worse than a second or even third rate Forgotten Realms novel.

But wait a second... isn't that R.A. Salvatore's name in the credits as the writer? Isn't he supposed to be one of the best Forgotten Realms authors ever? Now I have to admit I haven't actually read any of his books... I've only read a few Forgotten Realms novels, when it comes to Dungeons and Dragons books I've always been about Dragonlance (still waiting for an official Dragonlance game... yep...) but from what I've heard of his novels, he ought to be ashamed for admitting he wrote this game...

The biggest, most obscenely horrible flaw though is the friendly AI. It's not a pain in that you constanty have to save the neck of the other two players you're not playing as, but it isn't effective at all. At first it's only a minor thing, where you can find yourself thinking "Gee, I would have coordinated that a lot better if I actually had real people fighting with me..." but then you get to some boss fights where the sorceror has to blast targets at a distance while the other two protect him from ground troops. Here, it all falls apart. As the sorceror, you start off blasting away but then you're knocked down constantly by ground units. Hey wait a minute, you ask... where are the other two? Aren't they supposed to be protecting me? Instead, you find them slashing away nicely... on the other side of the level! So you have to fight off the ground units yourself... by the time you've gotten clear to start shooting again, your targets have regained all their health, and you're back to where you started except suddenly you only have a fraction of your health!

Ok, no biggie, you think... I'll just play as another guy and let the sorceror blast away on his own. Except he doesn't! He runs around like an idiot attacking the constantly resupplying bunches of ground units, and maybe takes two shots at the targets he's supposed to get rid of! These boss battles happen an awful lot right near the end of the game, and they will almost always leave you clenching your controler as you scream "HELP ME, DARN IT YOU USELESS COMPANIONS!" only you'll be using a lot more less Amazon friendly language...

All in all, if you're into Forgotten Realms than see if you can rent this game, just for the visuals and the chance to see your two favourite characters and the world they live in come to life, but if you really, really want some hack 'n' slash action that'll keep you satisfied, go out and play God of War instead, because this game is just too repetitive and frustrating to be worth it.

Wish I spent (...) on something else

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: June 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Title says it all, I'm just glad that I held out for this to drop(...). When I poped Demoncrap I mean Demonstone in my PS2 all I could think was "Damn I want to be Lord of the Rings" Then I saw that the same people did both, didn't suprise me. Oh, and one more thing especially for the gameshark users, the game will freeze up if you use codes. Heed thy words, save yourself the trouble on that. Don't learn the hard way like I did.

Great Game... over too quickly

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game for my birthday and within a week I had beaten the game. It is a great game, killer graphics, great story line but it is over too quickly.

If you want your D&D fix, it is a great buy. But for a challenge taking you months and months to finish... this is not the game to buy.

Demon Stone

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Hack and Slash! The action was constant, you barely got a break! You can easily plow through one level to the next in a few hours which was a little disappointing for me. I was hoping the game would have been longer than it was. The animation on Drizzt was awesome but sadly he was there for only a brief amount of time.

The horrible gameplay ruins every other good aspect about Demon Stone.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Let's leave the gameplay discussion for last...

The graphics and sound are nice. The voice work is really well done and the characters have personalities all their own. The places they go to and the enemies they fight are varied and interesting. The animations could use some work and come across a little weak. Buying items and skills, which not much of a tactical consideration, spices things up. The music works well without being overpowering. Unfortunately the game isn't long at all and has no replay value aside from the sheer spectacle.

That being said, Demon Stone might be a guilty pleasure. In actuality, this game is nothing short of a frustrating example of bad control, lacklustre gameplay and depressing boss battles.
You will be spitting out the same 2 or 3 attack combinations throughout the entire game. To break up the monotony, your attacks don't track the nearest enemy... they swing where you point the controls. With the camera in really bad places half the time, with monsters moving erratically and with the analog control being so wishy-washy (never aims where you think you are), simple attack button repetitions become hair-pulling exercises in anger management.

Top it all off with the worst boss battles I've seen in many a year. Bosses resort to cheap 'tactics' of invulnerability and paralyzing the character you are controlling. Give the player about 2 seconds to do any damage, then rinse and repeat. This goes for nearly EVERY boss at the end each chapter. The only 'winning tactic' is to routinely switch between the characters and get a swipe or two in before the boss goes invulnerable (while you watch for 5 seconds of boredom) and then paralyzes you. That means being knocked out for 10 seconds. Switch characters, get paralyzed again before the other guy recovers. You can imagine how lame and stupid this gets. Quickly.

If the controls were nicely tightened (alot of work), animations made smoother and more varied, gameplay deepened to more than an endless chain of wild blind swings, and bosses made challenging and/or FUN... if all of that was fixed, this game would be a decent, albeit short, fantasy hack and slash. If you could sit down and just watch it play itself the way the developers may have envisioned, it could make for an entertaining movie. As it stands, Demon Stone gets bogged down in it's horrible mechanics.

If you can handle the aggrivating cheapness of the game, check a bargain bin. Prepare to be annoyed and be glad the game only lasts a few hours. The underlying story and characters might make the journey worthwhile.

Great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The best thing about a video game is the story. Demon Stone has a superb one. The great story is supported with awesome graphics, stunning soundtrack and visuals, top-notch voice overs, and just plain fun. Go through several chapters slashing your way through. This game isn't epic. But it is totally worth a rent to beat.

Like RPGs but not into hack and slash

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'll admit I was cautious about purchasing Demon Stone. Having played D&D since I was eight using 1st Edition rules and paper and pencil, and then moving on to the various computer games that have come out since the early eighties, I was a bit reluctant to give Demon Stone a try as I knew from the start it wasn't the type of RPG I'm used to playing.

I am truly not a big fan of button-mashing or using a analog controller to move your character around in real-time combat. Let's face it, I hate controllers and am more comfortable with a keyboard and a mouse then a PS2 controller. That being said, Demon Stone was still very enjoyable and I would purchase the game all over again as I am satisfied that the money I spent on the game was worth it.

Things I liked: ability to upgrade your characters, ability to switch between the various characters. The variation in monsters and they way your character changes when you upgrade them was pretty cool.

Things I hated: using an analog controller in real-time combat though I knew that was one element the game possessed before I purchased it.

If you like RPG games you will like this title. If you're into D&D you'll find a familiar enough environment in Demon Stone to please even the most dedicated RPGer.

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions