Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

Yes, this game has problems. It's true that the second half was rushed and that the first city you see is by far the best. But. It's a very original game and has some unique merits. I mean, I've played it about a decade ago yet still remember it vividly. I use it as the golden standard when describing a properly written evil path. In every single game, being evil means being a school-yard-bully type of douche bag. At best, it means joining the antagonist. This game instead does it right. You get to be a proper conniving and calculated irredeemable spawn of Satan. So, if you care to see how gloriously evil characters can be written, play this game and be evil. But know that this requires 180 point in speech, if I remember right, and that joining the Mages and then the Necromancers is probably the best route to darkness.

The concept behind Lionheart - that of a world changed by magic and the influx of spirits, is a really well-fleshed out concept by the designers. They created a beautiful history, plausible nations and factions... ...and then they proceeded to create 1/3rd of a great game, and 2/3rds of a game that was obviously rushed out the door. The game play is pretty good (although ranged attacks are relatively disadvantaged due to the layout), and the first chapter (in Spain) is very well designed, full of subplots, good dialogue, and character choices. Once you complete the chapter in Spain, the game goes downhill quickly. The area in France is underdeveloped, but still has decent subplots at first - it then devolves into a straight line sprint to the end. Because of the way the game quickly devolves into a boring mess, you'll find yourself quickly losing interest after the first few areas in France.

I will just add my two cents, as an addendum to the most helpful review, which is very helpful. I have two comments to place: the game almost completely loses a story after you leave the first city (which doesn't take as long as you'd hope) AND the "alternate history" is more like name dropping with token connections between real historical characters. First off, the story simply stops after the first city. This would not be so much of a problem if the combat gameplay wasn't difficult and uninteresting. Secondly, and even more grating, the (inaccurate) cliches about historical characters pile high and the generational gap in this cross-ages setting is really too much to bear for someone who knows much about history. If this is you, beware. I also caution anyone about believing anything about the historical characters, even when it seems like it was the developers intention to keep some historical truth for interest. In conclusion, you might find some things to like about Lionheart, but if you would have similiar complaints to me, I would avoid the title.

My favorite part of Lionheart methods of interactions with npcs (including different dialogues that slightly changes the storyline and the ability to kill almost everyone). I actually consider the game one of my favorites (on top of Diablo II) because of this. Monsters don't regenerate, unless you force-attack some important npcs who would, rather than fighting you and perishing, teleport you to one of 3 or 4 possible location with some tough fights. Nonetheless, the Non-Regenerative Property of Monsters (not a math term) is resolved by the ability to export and import back to the beginning of the game. Items and money are non-exportable. The main issues I have are that 1. Walking speed is less than desirable, 2. Some items provide +1 skill point / level (as far as I know, 3 such items exist); however, they are likely not acquireable at level 1. As a perfectionist, I find "losing" these add-on skills annoying. The maximum level is 70, and the maximum points allowed in each skill section is 300. Every leveling up typically yield around 18 skill points, based on your choice of character build, but I can boost this up to around 33 without using any cheat.

The first part of the game is really great... Lots of things to do, many people to talk to, intrigue, puzzles, original ideas, etc. But the second part of the game, when you leave the big city, is rather dull and repetitive unfortunately. If the designers would have put as much time in the second part of the game as in the first part, or just make a really good game like those who made Arcanum, then we would have a game worth at least four stars on GOG... I think it's worth only 3 stars... I have the original hard copy release, I got it at a low price, and I was and still am content with that low price... Also, I think GOG's price is more than fair for such a game.