Posted on: May 29, 2021

demilinx

Games: 608 Reviews: 1

Peak 90s action RPG

In 1997, most games were released on Windows 95+. Not Battlespire. TES Legends: Battlespire promised 3dfx accelerated graphics using the TES: Daggerfall engine. Neither 3dfx acceleration (due to memory limitations of the Voodoo1 series) nor Win95 support were part of Battlespire. Instead, a "focused" action RPG with strange dialogue choices was the result. The environments were relatively gorgeous for the time; however, the gameplay was clunky and downright frustrating. After many, many failed attempts at this game I used a walkthrough guide and was able to complete it amazingly enough. I'm reluctant to recommend it to anyone. If you are a fan of Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc. I would encourage exploring Daggerfall and trust that experience to be superior to what Battlespire has to offer. Battlespire (and Redguard) was at a time in Bethesda's history when the emerging technologies promised new opportunities and the development studio was not ready to abandon the success brought by Daggerfall and the antique technology driving it. Stick with Morrowind and the Elder Scrolls titles after it. Battlespire is a curious detour and not worth the time nor money.

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Posted on: February 20, 2020

Jezebel1988

Games: 248 Reviews: 100

Boredomspire

What do you do when you just released the successor to an epic open world RPG and the next installment is still quite far away? Right - you create a cheap and quickly programed spin-off, slap the IP "Elder Scrolls" on it and that's how you get garbage like Boredomspire- uh I mean Battlespire. No open world, just one dungeon. Normally that is good (I love a good dungeon crawler), but this one actually sucks - proven by mediocre to poor reviews and being a commercial failure when it came out. So when this came out in '98, it was already was outdated on a technical level. Of course it came with a buttload of bugs - it wouldn't be a Bethesda if it didn't feature bugs, now would it?! and extremely braindead enemy AI. Enemies clip through walls and ignore you, you'd think Bethesda would have learned after Buggerfall. Well, they didn't. The only positive aspects this game has to offer are some good puzzles and the detailed character creation. But that's not enough to save this from oblivion - where it belongs!

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Posted on: January 24, 2019

balzabul

Verified owner

Games: 35 Reviews: 1

A Fantasitc, if Buggy, Classic

I may be in the minority, but Battlespire is my absolute favorite Elder Scrolls game, period. The lore, the silly dialogue, the beautiful-ugly mid-to-late 90s graphics, it's far and away worth it to pick up!

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Posted on: February 18, 2018

Socrates85

Verified owner

Games: 7 Reviews: 1

Plays Like Original to an extent

For the most part it plays like the original. I only have two issues. 1. the old cheat (yes I said cheat) during character creation of buying potions for 60 points, save class, exit game, load class and sell potions pack for 600 points no longer works. 2. playing on a laptop my F1-12 keys are dual function so casting mapped spells is challenging wish they had coded a remap option of the F keys to the number row for the sake of the laptop gamer that did not exist during this games original release.

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Posted on: May 31, 2016

EonDragon20

Verified owner

Games: 23 Reviews: 2

A frustrating experience

First, the good: This is an intense dungeon crawler with some excellent level design. Unlike Daggerfall, the dungeon levels aren't frustratingly huge or difficult to navigate, and unlike Arena, you can find clues for the riddles and passwords hidden throughout the levels where they are needed. If you are an enthusiast for this sort of level design and don't mind the frustrating flaws, you might find this game enjoyable. The bad: First of all, there's no resting option. Combine this with a complete lack of natural regeneration, and limited healing potions, and you'll be starving for health throughout the entire game. Your only salvation are these tiny blue crystals which fully heal you, and respawn after a short time. However, starting as early as level two, you'll find yourself backtracking to these crystals, sometimes after every battle, and this starts to become tedious. Even if you start with a healing spell, you'll still starve for mana (which also doesn't regenerate), and you'll still have to backtrack to crystals to restore that, too. Also, the game is unbalanced. It seems like any build that isn't a mage or an archer is severely underpowered. At the very least, with level 70 Long Blades and 89 Strength, the common enemies in level 4 are so difficult I find myself constantly needing to switch to my bow instead. I am more effective with level 32 missile skill and 50 agility than I am with my Long Blades--something isn't right here. Lastly, the game boots back to DOS every time you die. This means that every time you die, you need to wait through the boot-up sequence, followed by a load time, and then you need to load your save, which involves another load time, and while it doesn't take too long, it becomes tedious when you begin to die around 10 times in one room. If you think the good level design makes up for these problems, then by all means, you may find enjoyment where I did not. But for the rest of you, I'd recommend Daggerfall instead.

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