Posted on: March 22, 2018

gnomechucks

Games: 120 Reviews: 2

A MOBA trying to be a CRPG

This feels like it could have been much more in depth, but ended up making it simple like any standard MOBA type game. You start with 4 characters on your team (standard tank, healer, caster, and melee dps), and while there are ways to upgrade them, it is very simplistic. You have a few accessories to swap around and each character is has 4 total spells/actions. Each spell can be upgraded and eventually will split into 2 different variations to choose from. However, it is not as interesting as it seems, because the variation ends up changing the spell to a channeled vs cooldown spell, or one option does more damage, but the other has some sort of minor crowd control. The difference is usually so negligible that it does not matter which you choose. There are no NPC interactions, so no deep kind of gear buying or upgrading, and no deep story other than a little prescripted dialogue based on whatever enemy shows on screen. The combat was very difficult, but not impossible. You have to utilize the pause button quite often to make sure each of your 4 characters is using the proper skill on the proper bad guy/team member. The game does not autosave regularly so you will quickly learn you will have to do that yourself often. The game looks and sounds good, but without more character items, spells, and NPC interaction, you will find it gets repetitive fairly quick. You will moving from area to area battling a random group of 2 to 6 enemies at a time, so even if the enemies look different, your battles will all feel similar. I liked the fighting style but got bored sooner than I hoped. This was not a bad game, just not really my style.

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Posted on: April 21, 2016

DomesticatedVagabond

Verified owner

Games: 301 Reviews: 6

Worth a play, hard to sing high praise

I finished Aarklash and my opinion of it fits somewhere bizarre, I do not want to simply pass over this game without giving it credit. The ending suggests the game was meant to have a sequel that did not happen :( The game's plot is hardly present throughout the game. Cutscenes come every so often, amidst some awkward dialogue, but to say there is no plot is fairly disingenuous. Each character is a Wheel Sword for the Goldmongers Guild. All of the characters backstories are available through the inventory. After a job goes south the party find out the whole of Aarklash has turned their backs on them. The plot leading on from that is interesting, but the ending is a cliffhanger (sequel when?). To say there is no plot is a downright lie in my eyes. I might even use it as inspiration for D&D! The mechanics look, and are, incredibly simple. Each character has four abilities of differing effect. There are the standard MMO roles. You can swap out several different characters. With four abilities one might wonder how you could stand the repetition. However, the skill tree allows you to effectively choose two paths for each spell. Your stomp can deal more damage or knock down this in a radius. Your taunt can be a rooted AoE, or just a single target. You are free (outside of combat) to change your entire skill tree for free to fit each encounter. The combat, from my exp of hardmode, has been a frustrating yet rewarding experience. Encounters feature enemies that each have their own part to play, with abilities that heal, blind etc. You need to figure out who to target, when, with who. The abilities enemies have can sometimes be overwhelming but figuring them out is always a blast. Basically: Game is very barebones, it's purely combat; it's casual, yet difficult. I wouldn't write it off. There is a lot of fun to be had, but it sits in such an awkward spot. It did a lot of things right, but missed a lot out. Ultimately, I am glad I played it for the 12h or so.

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Posted on: March 1, 2025

MethusalemOrion

Verified owner

Games: 478 Reviews: 25

Does not Run on Win 10 in 2025

I wanted to try the game but can't start it. Running the game always end up with an exception regarding missing assemblies (*.dll files). "d3dx9_43.dll" and "X3DAudio1_7.dll". Tried several things on the internet but none worked. So I guess you should stay away. I also do not like that gog somehow throws in games sometimes which just do not work nowadays. I had similar issue with "Dark Reign"(?) or was it Earth 2140? But if anybody finds a way to run it, tell me please.

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Posted on: March 6, 2023

mausmori

Verified owner

Games: 84 Reviews: 8

Simply awful

Atrocious voice acting that breaks the 4th wall by being so glaringly fake. Utterly generic writing. Linear gameplay. Boring world. The mediocre tactical combat doesn't even begin to make up for even half of how bad the rest of the game is.

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Posted on: October 19, 2013

alextaters

Games: 91 Reviews: 2

Great Strategic Combat game

Think Icewind Dale, or perhaps just the combat from DAO 1 and you've got an idea of what to expect here. You control 4 fighters (from a larger pool) whom all posses individual strengths and weakness. There are some interesting skillsets for characters here too, not just your standard Cleric Rogue figher etc. Each fighter only posses 4 abilities, but what makes it interesting is that early into leveling up each ability you can make a drastic change to how it operates. And since you can rewrite your skillpoints after each battle you've essentially got 8 abilities per character, with these abilities often complimenting other char's abilities. What's kind of a letdown is the equipment. Instead of armour/weapons your char's equip jewelry which affects stats. There is no merchants, and you just destroy unwanted equipment which fills up a bar which when full will give you a piece of epic equipment. The graphics are good, the storyline is decent, the characters are all pretty interesting (you early tank is a genetically engineered human/raptor with the mindset of a child) and the tactical battles are fantastic. But make no mistake this isn't a classic rpg. There is no going back to areas, no sidequests and no interaction outside cutscenes. Great game, but make sure you know what you're buying.

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