Dark Side - first impressions

[Zhuangzi]

I thought I would start a Dark Side thread where people can post about their early experiences (first few hours) with the game to give those who haven't bought it an idea of what they can expect if they pay their $25. I know the game isn't officially out for another three days but it's the weekend and the game seems pretty stable and complete to me. Bear in mind I've only been playing for about two hours.

The first thing that anyone who has played KB games will want to know is: is it better than Warriors of the North (WoTN)? I'm not far enough in to say for sure, but my initial answer is YES, it's better.

Things I've liked so far:

- being able to choose from a vampire, demoness or orc hero at the start

- unique starting locations for each of the three classes

- I've always liked the Demon race in KB games, but it was rarely possible to have a whole Demon army until mid game, and then only in Demon lands for restocking of troops. Now I can play as a Demon straight from the beginning!

- a minimum of grinding in the early game. I'm about to go to Portland for the first time and I think I've only had about 15 fights, and yet the story is advancing at a rapid rate.

- New rage spirit (Blackie) seems solid so far and his rage abilities seem useful, especially the statue one.

- No having to click which rune to use before every attack! Man, I hated that. In fact, I just hated WoTN altogether.

That's all I can think of right now. The only negative I can see so far is that Whitehill seems ridiculously empty and underpopulated. Perhaps it's deliberate, but it seems unfinished. I am playing Impossible Demoness (Paladin class) and I've had to give up on no-losses already as some of the required early fights are quite challenging. And that's how it should be.