Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

This is a decent Hack & Slash game, with cluncky controls that can be fun at the start but becomes incredibly frustrating and hard at the end. The dialogues and story are very stiff and akward, however the chance to visit different places from Faerûn will certainly pick the interest of Forgotten Realms fans.

They are reminiscent of EA's Lord of the Rings games, in the style of hack and slash ... It certainly seems like a replica, but in the style of D&D. Interesting for its time, although its gameplay is now branded as "anachronistic". It does not deserve to be judged as just any other intend, the game performs well the mechanics and is intuitive, although simple: there are counters, good defense, bow, sword, magic and stealth ... Also, the voice actors do it very well to give it seriousness to the story

I originally played on XBOX and liked the game. A while ago I bought this game direct from Atari as a download for 9.99 and deleted the game almost immediately as the graphics were low resolution 640x480 16bit console port (uugh!!) and game was choppy, buggy and hard to control. When GOG announced it was releasing it I went back to atari to re-download for a second look and they wanted me to pay 3 bucks for re-download insurance.. I took a chance and downloaded this from GOG and am very happy I did. This install is much better as the now default front end launcher (demonlaunch.exe) allows to use native resolution of my desktop (menus seemed stretched but game is crisp) and options for shadows and advanced graphical effects. I can also customize the controls for my xbox360 gamepad for windows. I am glad I took the chance here as this installer is much better than the direct Atari install and does NOT feel as much as a console port. It is a hack and slash game but is still fun and gratifying and you cant go wrong with voice acting by Patrick Stuart...

I played this on Xbox, and it's pretty disappointing as far as "cinematic action games" (fancy hack n' slashers, a la Devil May Cry and God of War) go. The action is very "soft". There's little connection between hitting a button and having your character hit dudes. It's more like hitting a button and watching your character play a "hit dudes" animation. Combos are floaty, there's little connection between hits and animations, and it's ultimately not that satisfying. That is, if you're like me and played Devil May Cry, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, and tons of other similar games at the time. On the PC, I don't think a lot of these games get released, so it's probably worth checking out if you're interested. Not like today, when tons of PC games are port-ups from the 360. It's more in-depth than your typical Diablo-esque hack n' slasher, that's for sure. And the production values, for the time, are top notch. I just think it should've, and could've, been a whole lot better.

Demon Stone is a familiar hack-and-slash experience to anybody who has played the Lord of the Rings hns games - which makes sense because they use the same engine. Combat is fun, all three characters have their strengths and weaknesses. I ended up using each one about equally. In addition to the standard attack-attack-attack combo, there are a few other combos which can be learned through spending points. Each character plays differently - the fighter is hardy and can take a lot of hits, while the thief excels at hiding in shadows and taking out powerful enemies in a single shot from behind; the mage excels at ranged combat and can attack multiple enemies at once with several spells. Buying items and weapons between levels is a nice touch that adds some replay value. The graphics are a mixed bag. Character models look great, but the backgrounds aren't very impressive close up. I would recommend sitting a bit further away from the screen than you usually would since the graphics were designed with consoles in mind - and therefore won't look as nice close up. The story isn't amazing, but it's reasonably entertaining for the genre. You play as a trio of adventurers who accidentally free two evil beings from a prison. Each character has their own moments of development between stages. Production values are overall great. The music is excellent and always fitting. The voice acting is overall great, but I think they could have found a better choice for Khelben, whose voice actor is a bit too associated with that of Captain Picard. My only real complaint about the game is the length - five hours is all you'll need for your first playthrough. You may play it through a second time to buy different items at the store, but overall the game is a singular experience. For only $10, I would highly recommend this game to Hack-and-Slash fans as well as fans of the Forgotten Realms setting.