Hi George, lots of positive feedbacks from the players so far :)

Here are the first reviews of the game :
http://www.complex.com/video-games/2012/05/review-the-game-of-thrones-rpg-is-for-true-fans-of-the-series/page/1
http://www.gamematics.net/game-thrones-review/
http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/Game_of_Thrones/index.html
http://www.gameinformer.com/games/game_of_thrones/b/xbox360/archive/2012/05/15/creating-more-problems-for-westeros.aspx

Not very smart of Cyanide to release this game on the same day as Diablo 3.... :(

What an amazing game, Im so glad I was one of the lucky few who got a closed beta version at goo.gl/5jHXe I really enjoyed playing this new version. I also own a Genesis copy, and I can tell you that you wont be disappointed with this new version if you are a fan of the first one as I am.

I'm so excited to play! Thanks for the update.

I haven't played any games in years, but I'm interested in buying this one. However, when I go looking I find physical copies of the PS3 and Xbox versions for sale, but only downloads for the PC. My preference would be for PC, but I need a physical copy, does anyone know if there's a physical copy of the PC version to buy?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

I'll look into their site. Thanks very much for the reply.

I'm glad to know you were involved with this as far as giving the thumbs up or thumbs down on certain things. But coming out against Diablo III is going to be tough. Hope this game doesn't get lost in the shuffle.

Mr. Martin,

Is the story in this game considered canon?

This game looks like a lot of fun.

Television showS?

I loved the story of Mors Westford and Alaster Sarwyck, with Mors' being the superior one, in my honest opinion. Also, I read that you might be willing to make these characters canon, and I would like that very much, as I feel that the quality of the story is on pair with the novels. At no point during the game was I ever bored with the all the mystery, plotting, tormented pasts, twisted irony, redemption and retribution. I hope that you make at least a small mention of these characters in the future books.

As ever, I'm always disappointed when there's no female character choice to play as, given that the female characters are pretty much the most interesting ones in the Westeros universe to me. I've had my fill with male leads at the moment (thanks to the batman games) so I'm going to have to pass on this one until then.

The reviews I'm seeing so far seem to be saying, "great story, cool game mechanic ideas, terrible technical execution." But presumably most of those reviewers aren't intense Game of Thrones fans, so I'd like to hear from commenters here what they think of the game as a game before buying.

Question for players who have the game: how does it stack up to Skyrim and Dragon Age (Origins, not the horrendous, rushed sequel)?

It's incredibly detailed, and the story-lines seem complex and fraught with grey areas. Mors is a great character. I think you would be pleased!

Unfortunately, most of the reviews generally agree the story is great but the gameplay is completely lackluster and very buggy. I love Western RPGs, but I won't touch this one without at least a few patches from Cyanide. It's unfortunate an inexperienced team had to take the helm. Makes me wonder if those Bethesda rumors were ever true.

That's too bad. The reviews I've read give props to the combat and the story, those aspects matter most to me. I can live with buggy graphics.

Hey, who is the character at the 1:52 mark in this trailer? The one with glasses and beard?? ;-)

I'm not much of a gamer any more thee days, but have played some of the newer ones in the past 5 years or so that are good:

Elder Scrolls (Morrowind, Oblivion and now Skyrim) are all excellent

Mass Effect series

Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2

Diablo III

There are others too but those are the big RPG / adventure games.

The Game of Thrones game LOOKS good, but I'm gonna wait a bit...especially if they have expansions planned...And I want that art book!

Edited at 2012-05-17 08:28 pm (UTC)

Don't care about the negative reviews .im so GOING TO BUY THE GAME.

I just finished reading the last page of the last book last night. So relieved a game is just out to sate my addiction for a bit.

For what it's worth, George, your books have been quite influential on the kinds of guys who write video games (the Thousand Worlds stuff, too) and there are quite a few games out there, notably the Dragon Age stuff, that are ASOIAFesque.

Mr. Martin,

I bought the game when it came out and I have been playing it since.

The story is really well put together. I like how (at least in the parts I've played) it takes place in a time and geography that the books don't or barely mention.

I know the story isn't considered canon (reading your answer to another above), but if you changed your mind the story is put in such a way that it wouldn't really affect your books or differ/change the story you're telling at all.

I'm sure everyone here who is dedicated enough to your writing to check in on your blog would enjoy the game, and I recommend it to all of you...

But...

The game itself is "eh". I don't want to say anything negative because I could never develop and produce a game myself, but I am an avid gamer. So I'll leave it at that.

If you ever want to take another crack at it (if you have license to do so, legally), I would suggest Bioware/Mythic or Bethesda create the next game. They are not only story people, but the "gaming" itself is wonderfully done.

You've made it, Mr. Martin. You don't need to go to third rate gaming companies to create a game anymore, you can go to the best.

I can see GRRM's hand in the storymaking side of this game, it is absolutely awesome. Unfortunately the physical appearance, game mechanics, voice acting and pretty much the general gameplay are very, very bad. Mr Martin - you don't want these people putting the name of your series on anything else they do - give it to a game studio with actual talent.

I wonder why the Witcher series doesn't get any mention here when hallmark CRPGs are discussed as signposts for ASOIAF CRPG.

I want to tell that Cyanide was a good choice for the adaptation.
All is brillant in the 2 first chapters.
Story, gameplay (pretty deep and funny), choices, graphics, voice acting.
Yeah there are bad points but seriously ? A bad game ? I'm very happy that this is this studio and not Bethesda or Bioware.
And there is many positive reviews, you just have to go on metacritics.

I'm impressed. It's been the perfect memorial day adventure. I've been playing for almost 15 hours straight and never a dull moment. The story is as close to being written by GRRM himself as I can tell. I was expecting a totally different story, but so far it's one of the main stories that run through the entire series...and for many of us it's the most important series, though that is open to subjectivity. I'm really enjoying the story.

The voice acting and lip synching is top notch. The game-play features are excellent. I particulary like the combat mechanics with slow-motion allowing selection of up to 3 character actions in advance. It's very well thought out and seamlessly implemented.

The downsides are the fixed 3rd persion view...during some conversations I'm staring at a wall and during some battles in tight corners I can barely see anything at all. I'm hoping there is a way to switch the view to 1st person so I can see what's going on. I've already modified the controls so I can move the character and camera at the same time with just one mouse button, but I still need some tweaking...essentially in PC video games the mouse is always moving the camera angle unless there's a dialog box or menu.

And there's something that prevents a deeper immersion by the way the textures for the arms don't line-up with the torso textures at the shoulder joints. The arms' textures are extending over the torso texture. It's due to their inexperience with the more detailed animation that is required. More experienced developers use clippers, link-meshes, and other techniques to prevent shoulder textures from separating from torso textures and thus give the appearance that the character has shoulder joints which move underneath skin and cloth. The Unreal 3 Engine that is being used has these features because I've played other games which has the required effect.

I hope the game is a commercial success so that they can fix those few defects and release another game using another of the main storylines.

I realize there are some issues with the game, that said, I absolutely loved it. I am such a big fan of aSoIaF, playing this game was a dream come true. How much influence did you have on the story line? It's great! Also, I jumped in my seat when I saw your cameo Mr. Martin! Was that your voice as well? The reference to the books made me whoop with joy. It's my favorite moment in gaming! Have a great day.