Dungeon Siege III for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

I've been playing action/rpgs for quite a bit of time now, and I can tell you this is one of the better ones out there. The story is ok for this type of game in the genre.
Normally these type of games have a disposable who cares type story, and while Dungeon Seige III's story isn't the best out there it's better than average (for the genre). Dialogue options borrow the Mass Effect conversation wheel that at times you can pick out side quest though most of the time youre just weeding through the options until you get to the meat and potatos of the task at hand.

The action part of this game is great and has some really good ideas to keep action flowing. Two of my favorite concepts they add into the game is no potions and no mana. I've never really enjoyed the potion and mana concept in action/rpgs. It takes me out of the immersion of the game when im constantly stocking up on the various strength vials and running from a fight and popping these drinks like a homeless drunkard. Instead, they use defensive abilities to take the place of potions and a focus bar instead of mana. The defensive abilities run along the lines of damage reduction and heals over time. Each one of these abilites can be augmented to increase the benfit of the reduction or heal.
The focus bar depletes as you use abilites and normal basic attacks fill the bar up. Each character has 2 different combat stances that have access to different skills based on your current stance, for example, Lucas (the warrior class) has sword and shield stance which has access to a shield bash and charge ability as well as a two handed sword stance which allows him to use sweeping attacks and a cleave blast type of attack.

The RPG part of it is a little limited but each ability the classes have are augmentable and there is a talent "tree" on top of the augmentable abilities. All in all if you like action/rpgs this is definetly one of the better entries into the genre.

The good: This game has a great story, as fantasy-RPG-typical as it may be (you are one of few. at one point you are living a normal life, then you are called upon to save the world from a common enemy, a singular source of evil.)

Also, the graphics are quite impressive. The character models could be more detailed, but the world you explore is rather good looking. Also, there aren't any loading screens as you travel from area to area (although your character may be forced to walk a few feet as the game loads the area you are heading to.)

There is also a good loot&item system, but that's where I head into the negative...

The bad: While the items may be diverse, and are divided by rarity (grey, green, blue, etc.), that's where the praises end. many items have the same skins, and, quite frankly, one of the most rewarding things about great RPGs (Diablo II and Fallout 3, for example), are that you get to watch your hero, over time, go from rags to Super-Suit&Buster Sword. This game does not give you that pleasure.

And one thing the good graphics and story cannot make up for is /gameplay/. You get two fighting stances, each with a default attack and 3 abilities. The problem is, you don't need those abilities unless you play the game on hardcore. If you're careful, you can get through most battles by evading, blocking, and using your primary attack. It all adds up to senseless button-mashing. You may even force yourself to use your special attacks when you don't really have to, just to rid yourself of the monotony.

Also, !!spoiler alert!!, as you set up your team of 4 legionnaires to destroy your common enemy, you don't get the sense that you are creating a team, because you only get one ally to play with at a time, and you'll likely pick one and stick with them.

Overall: The game's good story and graphics are a big plus, but hardcore RPG fans beware. There are many downfalls that may keep you from liking the game.