Iratus: Lord of the Dead

This game is very addictive and has a really nice progression system. There are a lot of new classes to unlock throughout all of your playthroughs so you will be happy to restart a new game on harder difficulty settings just to try out the new classes. It is essentially a Darkest Dungeon clone so if you loved that then you will find yourself at home with this one. I have played through this to the finish three times now and have had a lot of fun. I will definitely go back to it again. It does seam a bit short at only three levels but the harder difficulty settings will keep you wanting to do more. I'm hoping they add more levels later when it comes out of development. Overall a great and addictive game.

Iratus has fun game play, the combat graphic are beautiful, and the tone and dark humour set the mood for some morbid fun. The gameplay is very similar to Darkest Dungeon, but significantly easier (it has higher difficuty for those who want more challenge). There is very little healing, so your minions slowly get beat up, and you need to rotate them (they "heal" when left at your base) meaning you are encouraged to have more than one party of minions. There is a sanity damage mechanic FOR THE ENEMIES. Your minions don't need to worry about sanity, but they can (and probably will) drive their human opponents crazy. You also have rage and mana resources that have interesting interactions with minions skills. The most glarring thing about the game to me right now is how ugly the loot is. The combat scenes are quite nice (dark and gruesome, but still "pretty") while the loot (body parts and equipment) look like a six year old drew with an etch-a-sketch. I played and reviewed this game in early access, and only put in enough to complete the tutorial. There is much about this game I do not fully understand. However it has the basics needed for several hours of fun, and its comparatively cheap. If the developers keep improving the game, I have no issue giving it 5*s.

In case you're wondering if this is DD with a different skin, it is not. Yes, there are many similarities, yes, it's clearly inspired by the (already classic) Lovecraftian mental endurance tester and yes, it stands its ground as a separate product. Main reasons for the latter are: - Battles are less RNG-dependent and more focused on correct skill usage and combos; - Each battle is generally its own thing and your goal is to win it with minimal losses (of minions' health or surviving minions, whichever is possible). The opponents are typically both tougher and deal higher damage than your party but have exploitable weaknesses. You get to "rest" after each battle, heal the survivors and is you want - send another, healthier party with different composition to fight the next group of opponents. - Resource management is not only a mean to upgrade your camp, it's actually required to progress. You "build" your minions with parts found after the battles (and some extracted from structures in your camp) and the number of parts is finite. No parts - no minions. Moreover, you create level 1 minions by default no matter how far you have progressed and in order to make them strong enough to face the current challenges, you need brains - which are also finite. - There's an extra dimension during battles via spellcasting. Many spells are only marginally useful but with the correct usage could help turn the tide. - You're playing the bad guys who can stress their opponents, not the other way around. Arguably that's not very easy, but it's far from useless. Killing the enemies the traditional way is typically easier though. Combos of stressers and cutthroats are quite interesting. In terms of atmosphere, Iratus is nowhere near as good as DD, Iratus' voice actor can't hold a candle for the Ancestor (pun intended), but the game doesn't lack personality and you may grow fond of some of your minions... which of course usually die during the next battle. Try it out.

I am following the game since i saw the first alpha preview and i bough it on release. Here what i can say after about 50 hours in the game: + really nice graphics + cool units and synergies between them + the combat is faster than DD + some replayability value + interesting boss fights + not as hard as Darkest Dungeon and the cons: - a bit too short ( i finished it on the lowest difficulty the first time i started the game) - not as hard as Darkest Dungeon - not balanced. There are too many cookie cutter builds and OP items - the music could be better and the undead moaning and grows are really boring after the first hour - almost on the price of AAA title and we also have 10$ DLC with only 1 unit as a bonus? I gave 4 stars, but if i could, i would give 3 and a half. The game is fun and addictive, but it could be way better

Playtime: 14 hours (completed campaign on Cakewalk) =The Good= - You can quicksave, so you can just load if you lose. - The Cakewalk difficulty setting lets you just play the game without grinding or strategising. - Despite the necromancer theme there's a decent variety in units. - Solid variety in enemies. - The bosses are neat. The "witcher" boss was a nice touch. - Most unlockable units can be gained by playing normally (and attacking your own team). - You get lots of parts (used to create units) so a unit dying isn't too big of a deal. =The Bad= - Confirmation screens have to be clicked, Enter, Space or Escape don't work. - The game displays a pointless confirmation screen when booting. - There's no replay value. You can get all the items and try out all the units the first time. - A run takes ~14 hours which is far too long for a roguelike. - Unlocking Dhampirs requires outside knowledge and can take several runs. =The Ugly= - Clicks often don't register, which can even make you lose a battle. - The game does not explain how to reorganise spells (apparently you can right-click on them). - There's no proper way to regenerate mana or talents (player skills) that improve spellpower, making a magic-oriented build non-viable. - Every time you change to the maze map you have to select your "battle group". Every single time. And these clicks often don't register, and the selection is only indicated by a vague yellow haze. It is beyond obnoxious and could've simply been fixed by... keeping the freaking group selected. FFS. There's not enough variation in combat for a 14-hour game. =Conclusion= Iratus is one of those games that is just "okay". It's not as obnoxiously grindy as Darkest Dungeon and IMO the more playable of the two, but not something i would recommend. Especially not for freaking €30 (!!). There are countless better strategy games and roguelikes that are often cheaper too.