The other thing, one that's tough for my friends, is that most of the characters aren't really able to lend a hand in a fight. People can participate in all other ways, but really only the Slayer (and any friendly vamps) can bring the pain.

And no one wanted to be part of a game that was all Slayers, because then you'd have Slayer Moon, Slayer Mars...

I thought the fact that non-Slayer characters got more Hero Points (or whatever they're called, it's been awhile since I read a review) was supposed to balance out them being less able to unleash the vampire butt-kicking. (As an aside, one of my problems with the new Buffy video game is Xander is just as powerful as Buffy, Spike and Faith when it comes to beating up baddies. It's especially silly when you pull off a power move and send a vamp flying through the air. It would have been a lot more true to the show if Xander was weaker, but always started a level with some kind of weapon--like that ax he seems to favor on the show--to even things out a bit.)

On the other hand, I'd imagine being relegated to the role of supporting character for a long-term game would get old after awhile, Hero Points or not.

[ Edit - made a post in the wrong thread. Sorry.]

I'd imagine being relegated to the role of supporting character for a long-term game would get old after awhile, Hero Points or not.

That's exactly it. You have to spend Hero Points like there's no tomorrow to be involved in the fights. Which is actually fine with me, but bugged the non-Slayer players. I appreciated that they had to be more creative, using found weapons or whatever; they felt like they weren't able to lend a hand.

And it being BtVS, there are a fair amount of combat scenes, ya know?

That is pretty goofy with the video game. Unless they are using Soldier!Xander, he's not a fighter. Also, he should get a lot more hurt, a lot faster, than Buffy, Spike, or Faith.

Joss recently hinted that there might be another Fray comics series.

Is this old news?

Depends what you mean by "old." He said he'd like to do more with her in the Fray #8 letters column.

Ken, I'm a little late on this response, but I have the Chaos Bleeds game, I'm over halfway done with it, and I'd like to join the tirade of comparison to the first game if you don't mind. Playing as Willow has made me want to throw my Xbox out the window on several occassions.

--thinks you mean me-- Willow takes a little getting used to. Though once she gets the shield spell, her ability to survive goes way up. It lasts until it absorbs a certain amount of damage, rather than having a time limit, so I would cast it at every oppurtunity. I never bothered using a weapon other than a stake with her, as it's the only thing that doesn't interfere with her ability to cast spells. Usually to kill vamps I'd do a fireball follwed by a single punch and then go for a staking. If there were multiple vamps in close range, I'd use the sun spell rather than risk getting gang-beat. I did pretty well with her with just those three spells, though when you fight her boss in the mall, you need to use the possession spell on the boss's minions and the homing missile to damage the boss when there's no minions around.

But yeah, the game's extremely frustrating at times, particularly during boss fights. And whoever's bright idea it was to have the characters twirl their weapon before staking a vamp on the ground should be shot. I've lost count of how many times I got clobbered by a second vamp while I was trying to finish off the first one because of that stupid weapon twirl.

(Edited because I accidently did something wierd with the formatting)

I appreciated that they had to be more creative, using found weapons or whatever; they felt like they weren't able to lend a hand.

Yeah. It's more true to the series, but I can understand it being annoying to always have to come up with something clever when one character can just unleash the beatdown without much thought.

And it being BtVS, there are a fair amount of combat scenes, ya know?

True.

That is pretty goofy with the video game. Unless they are using Soldier!Xander, he's not a fighter. Also, he should get a lot more hurt, a lot faster, than Buffy, Spike, or Faith.

It's one of the many things about the game where it felt like they weren't trying very hard. Another big lack-of-detail annoyance is that according to the video game, stabbing a sword through a vampire's heart works just as well as staking them. Oh, and stabbing them in the leg with a stake is just as lethal as stabbing them in the heart.

In the first game, barring the occaisional glitch, if you weren't close enough to reach a vamp's heart, you couldn't stake him. (Well, you'd stab him with the stake in the ankle or whatever, but it wouldn't really do anything.) And if you were using a bladed weapon, you'd decapitate a vamp with it instead of impaling them.

I'm actually thinking of writing up a list of everything the designers of the first game did right that the designers of the second game threw out the window. Sadly, it's going to be a very, very long list.

In comparison, the things that the designers of the second game did better than first game is a rather short list: the ability to play characters other than Buffy, the addition of a multiplayer mode (in which you can play as Joss, which is actually quite fun as he has amusing comments when he beats up on the different characters), the interviews and other extras, the Quick Stake button (which is a wonderful addition, something I would have loved to have in the first game) and the ability to fall much longer distances without getting hurt. (That was my only real complaint about the first game. Buffy took damage after much shorter falls than I've seen her take without ill-effect in the series. Of course, with how crappy the camera is in the second game, if you took damage from falling off of things, you'd die a whole damn lot so it mostly saved them from the game being practically unplayable.)

stabbing them in the leg with a stake is just as lethal as stabbing them in the heart

Maybe they were just confused by the "stake the vamp anywhere near the torso and he's dust" choreography of the TV show.

Playing as Joss sounds very fun...and what other game based on a series or movie lets you play as the creator? Maybe the third game will have an easter-egg setting where you can play as Marti Noxon, Jane Espenson, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, David Fury, Tim Minear, and the Drews. A writer-creator smackdown. They could each have their own style or speciality. It could work!