by BIG TIME MASTER Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:24 pm
And about the no fast travel comment, the game does have fast travel, but just like DKS you don't get it until later in the game, and until much later in the game it is limited.
The games vibe is meant to be of a long, arduous adventure with companions, and convenient fast travel a-la Skyrim would totally ruin that. I think the availability of fast travel plays out perfectly. It forces you to make actual decisions and turns what would be cut and dry delivery quest into real adventures that you have to prepare for. This is the only game besides DKS that has ever put me in desperate situations were I was empty on everything I needed, desperate for some kind of respite, and totally unsure about what lay between me and my destination. To me this game has captured the spirit of adventure as remarkably as any video game has.
By the time you are gearing up and leveling up for your NG+, you should have enough port crystals placed at strategic spots to open the map up pretty well to fast travel. Because of their expense and nonavailability until the endgame, they feel like a well earned reward, and not a cheap convenience that detracts from the games integrity at the expense of appeasing gamers with short attention spans.
Another plus of the lack of fast travel is that in the quiet sections between enemy encounters, you can't help but notice the games beautiful visuals. I so often find myself adjusting the camera as I am running somewhere to get a nice panorama. It really is a beautiful game. Also, traveling to and fro works as grinding sections that are necessary to level up accordingly to keep up with the games enemies in the main quest. It won't matter unless you are on hard mode though, or if you just really suck.