Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (Xbox, 2004)

I got this game because I'm a big fan of the Forgotten Realms book series. The game play is simple enough - though you should read through the manual to make sure you get little tidbits like the call for help from the other characters, etc. I'm a long-time gamer & I tend to gravitate toward one kind of character, but there were a several in this game I was happy to play. Of course, my favorite being Drizzt in the books, I was excited to see that you get to play as him and fight alongside him at different points in the game. That has to be my favorite part. I liked the fact that the character play was true to the series, though one thing that drove me crazy was the knock-down affect....when a mob hits you, your character is knocked down for an exceedingly long period of time for a single hit. It makes gameplay, particularly with the wizard at points in which only he can get you through certain parts of the adventure using ranged attacks, quite frustrating. Other than that, it was great to see the pages of my favorite books come to life. I'd suggest this game for any fan of the series & any fan of fantasy adventure games.

Although the game is fun to play, Demon Stone is one of those constrictive-feeling linear RPGs that assume everything and allow no decision-making. Primarily a hack & slash, it's not overly original in its combat system, and it getsold switching from one character to the next every time the game forces you into a situation where only one character's skill will solve the problem (you basically control three characters at a time, except during special fights, like when you control Drizzt).

On the positive side, it's a pretty game, and the terrain and ai don't interfere with gameplay, which so many hack & slashers suffer from. There are also plenty of skills and items to accumulate during the course of your adventures. But, best of all, Patrick Stewart and Michael Clark Duncan provide excellent voice acting and narrative for the game. Captain Picard's dramatic level introductions were in an over-the-top Shakespearian stage growl, which (yeah, I'm a dork!) I found got me excited to start the new zone.

My advice? Go on and buy it if it's cheap, but don't shell out too much for a barely-better-then-mediocre game.

3.5/5 (rounded up to 4/5 above)

This game goes by your everyday d&d gameplay
You have your sorcerer,assasin, and warrior type playable characters
You switch through them throughout your adventure
Although this game is relatively short it is worth your time to play
The graphics are great and the combat is easy to pick up and fun to use(especially the assasin wewtz salamnder slayin with sneak attacks!!)
The plot for this game was also written by one of my favorite fantasy novelists,R.A. Salvatore
If your are familiar with this author he brings in some of his more notable characters into missions in the game
If you aren't familiar with him and like fantasy/d&d books his books are a great place to start

What year was this game made, 1985? This is an action/rpg with save points at the end of very long levels. I will never give a good review to a game with save points so limited it is obviously designed to increase the length of the game artificially. I am a parent and do not always have 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to play and this game's save features are antiquated and the action is repetitive. Don't buy if you have a life.

Hello - Well i basically bought this game because it's a rare original XBOX game and its also backwards compatible with the 360. Plus the game is easy to pick up and play and a fun hack and slash title. Even better was the fact that is was CHEAP! You know in this economy you HAVE TO watch every dollar and with eBay you can save a load if you know how to look!
-Suicidesekt