Not a problem if you're interested in other Diablo clones or Rogue Likes in general let me know.

- Ryan Paul Fialcowitz

Sure thing, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again!

Thanks, I hope you're having a geed new year so far. :)

For the games, they are all by differed developers. Diablo III is done by Blizzard and is definitely not kid friendly (lots of gore and dark imagery, no options to turn it off). Sacred 2 and Sacred are done by Ascarion from Germany. Both are available easily (Sacred here on GOG and Sacred 2 from Amazon). Both have options for turning off the gore (not much to begin with) and have more light-hearted moments in them. Champions of Norrath is by Sony Online Entertainment and is based on their Everquest online game world. It's not as gory or dark as Diablo and I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids.

Flynn

The new year has been great for sure! Hope yours has been better. :)

Thank you for your explanations of those games. I think that after Torchlight, I'll go
with the Sacred games. They seem more kid-friendly.

Thanks a bunch, Flynn!

- Tim :)

Sidelined for a bit with a nasty cold, but I'm feeling better now. And a pile of "new" old games to play doesn't hurt.

I'm most familiar with Sacred 2 as it's the first game I'd played of the series. It's a huge time sink if you want to see everything. Ancaria is pretty large and the sheer number of quests will keep you busy in the game's first area alone for a good 20 - 30 hours. There are around 600 side quests and class specific quests to go alongside the main campaign.

My current character is a BeeEffGee Seraphim (named for her main buff, the BeeEffGee gun). She is currently around level 30 (level cap is 200 - I've got a long way to go yet), and she is about halfway through the second area of the game. I think there are still about 8 more main areas to go.

But the cold and the new games have sidelined me for the moment. Playing Knights of the Old Republic for the first time ever. Despite some crashes and glitches I'm really enjoying the game.

Flynn

Well, I'm glad you're feeling better. It's been so nice to play these old games here. I'm really grateful. GOG has packaged them very well as well. Run fine right from install.

We don't have the luxury to buy lots of games, so big games that have a lot of content really help fill in the gap of those shorter games the kids may miss out on at the moment.

Sacred 2 sounds pretty interesting. I wonder if there's a demo available to try. I guess I'll go check and find out.

I haven't played KOTOR but I hear it was a really great game! Glad you're enjoying it. I want to play it sometime.

Take it easy, Flynn!

- Tim :)

Be aware that Sacred 2 is a PhysX game and that you won't be able to get the most out of it without an NVIDIA card or a C.P.U./G.P.U. combination from the future. . .

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic is a decent game- but I'd recommend Dragon Age: Origins over it if you're interested in getting a Bioware style game.

- Ryan Paul Fialcowitz

Hey Ryan,

I actually have Dragon Age Origins! It's a great game! Bought all the DLC too.

My laptop has an ATI Radeon card, I hope it will still play Sacred 2.
It looks pretty neat.

Thanks, Ryan!

- Tim :)

To be clear- it's only the special PhysX effects you lose if you don't have an NVIDIA card. Some people care, some don't. But I think it's best that buyers be informed. Luckily only a handful of games have NVIDIA specific features and even fewer have ATI ones.

Interestingly enough, you can still enable the PhysX feature in Sacred 2- but it puts all the extra workload onto the C.P.U. which will most likely kill your framerate.

- Ryan Paul Fialcowitz

Ha, I don't believe there is a C.P.U. powerful enough to run hardware accelerated PhysX! If you're interested in the details here's Wikipedia's take on the matter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhysX#PhysX_in_video_games

- Ryan Paul Fialcowitz

It looks way too past my level to understand that! Hahah
I'll take your word for it though.

It is true that you learn something new each day.

- Tim :)

Nah, it's not really the complicated. I found some videos showing what it does. Below are some videos showing the difference with PhysX on & off. Like I said most won't care- but I believe in getting everything I can out of a game.

Mafia II:
http://goo.gl/NWln78

Sacred 2
http://goo.gl/8ueN4O

- Ryan Paul Fialcowiz

Wow, that is actually quite the difference!
Stunning, actually.

I as well believe in getting the most out of a game,
Unfortunately, I don't have an Nvidia card or a strong enough CPU.

I may have to hold off on the Scared 2 until I get a new computer. Ohh well.

Thanks for your time, Ryan.

- Tim :)