Zen Studios’ modern homage to classic first-person dungeon-crawlers takes you to the land of Operencia, an unconventional fantasy world inspired by a faraway land referenced in countless Central European folktales. An old-school turn-based battle system combines with inspiration from unexplored mythology to offer an RPG experience that feels unique yet also familiar.
Operencia is home to an intriguing mix of unexplored mythology and fantastical versions of actual historical locations (e.g., Deva Fortress, Balvanyos) and characters (e.g., Attila, Seven Chieftains of the Magyars), all coming together to form one cohesive new gaming universe. Several of your own seven party members take influence from heroes of forgotten tales told hundreds of years ago, such as the brave knight Mezey and Sebastian the Dragon Slayer.
Along with a deeply strategic turn-based battle system full of spells and special skills to execute, tile-based movement encourages thorough exploration of each area. For added challenge, turn on Cartographer mode to plot out each of the 13 maps yourself. How many secrets will you find?
Breathtaking hand-drawn cutscenes and fabulous 2D character portraits bring the story to life in a style not easily compared to any other game. More than 30 colorful characters are fully voiced through top-tier performances authentic to the game’s Central European roots.
Posted on: December 29, 2020
AltinGavranovic
Verified ownerGames: 136 Reviews: 17
Well-done take on dungeoncrawler genre
I feel like the other reviewers are a bit unkind to this title, which is a very good game of its kind. This is basically a modern reinterpretation of the old 'Eye of Beholder'/'Lands of Lore' RPGs (you move through a series of grid-based 'dungeons' with a party of characters, fighting enemies and solving puzzles) but with a turn-based combat mode reminiscent of JRPGs. The story is nothing special but is very well told - and the various characters you encounter and that join your party banter in an endearing way as you are progressing through the game. The graphics and music are evocative, as is the setting, which deploys fairly standard fantasy tropes (dragons, witches, etc.) but with pleasant folktale-ish twists. The turn-based combat can be unforgiving (especially on hard) and at times requires picking the right combination of characters (only 4 are active at any one time) and equipping the right abilities for your characters to counter-act your adversaries' strategies. The 'taunt' mechanic that other reviews complain about is a case in point - several of the characters you recruit to your party have skills that 'break' taunt and certain battles are almost impossible without using these. The end battle is indeed quite difficult compared to the rest of the game (as is one of the other 'boss' battles) but otherwise the game presents a good but not insurmountable challenge. I'd say its well-balanced on the whole. All in all, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in turn-based RPGs or even JRPGs - it won't blow your mind but you'll spend 30-odd hours with it very pleasantly.
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