Overall most helpful review

Posted on: February 14, 2022

feena750

Games: 23 Reviews: 1

World is detailed and feels alive

World - 9/10 Graphics - 8/10 Sound - 9/10 Combat - 8/10 Progression - 6/10 Story and conversation - 8/10 Difficulty - 9/10 World: 9/10 The feel of the world is the best part of the game for me so far. There is a lot of attention to detail in the world from people walking to and from places, squirrels, birds and animals skittering around. It does a lot to make the world field alive and lived in. Graphics: 8/10 - Similar to Secret of Mana The graphics somewhat remind me of Secret of mana, both the characters and landscape. However I think the detail kicks it up a notch above. - Lighting The lighting in this game makes me feel like it is a Thomas Kinkade painting. The light coming through the windows, and as you walk around the first town is just wonderful. - Combat Animations The combat animations make combat feel impactful and fun. The sparks and explosions from the girl with the cannon are simply beautiful. Sound: 9/10 - Music adds immersion The music does a lot to immerse you in the world, perhaps more than anything else so far. It is also quite varied even within the first few hours of the game. Combat: 8/10 [b]Tactics[/b] Taunting mobs, ordering your attacks to enhance other attacks, interrupting big attacks, and making sure you lock down dangerous opponents all comes into play right from the start. Progression: 6/10 Progression takes multiple forms: Talents, weapon/armor, and accessories. - Concern about less meaningful talents Some talents are decent, but none of them really feel exciting. - Concern about limited skills It feels like you get most of your active skills early on. I would like a few later in the game to spice things up. Story and conversation: 8/10 - Conversation Conversations have a good amount of fun and humor and I find myself looking forward to reading them which is rare in an rpg. - Story It starts out a bit happy go lucky, but later gets further into political intrigue and darker stuff.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: April 4, 2022

MadMerlin

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 2

Fun but flawed

It is, fundamentally, a JRPG, but with a few twists. You learn all of your skills very early on, and you get a full MP refill between every battle, which results in almost every battle being the same set of "nukes" over and over. Not a lot of strategy or challenge. I signed up for the "normal" difficulty as I don't care for grinding, and on that front, it did deliver. YMMV with other difficulties. Team/paired skills are kinda neat, and swapping party members mid battle is kinda neat. I like that there are no random battles, you can avoid them if you want. I fully cleared every area I visited of monsters. In retrospect, skipping most probably would have been completely fine and reduced some of the tedium in them. I like that they're trying new things with the battle system, but the end result is a bit repetitive. Accessories are cool, I like the attunement system. I am mixed on the rest of the equipment system, there is virtually no choice in it, it feels more like leveling up (strictly better) than finding new equipment (important tradeoffs... sometimes). The point of no return warnings are excellent, and should be standard in every RPG. The story is interesting and the writing is good. There is lots of well executed humour. If you have played Ara Fell, you will feel at home immediately, the feel of the game is very similar, but with a number of improvements. There is no continuity of story, although there is a nod or two to those that have played Ara Fell. I look forward to the next game in this "series".

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: May 5, 2023

P-E-S

Verified owner

Games: 2002 Reviews: 41

Great light JRPG

Another fun and somewhat streamlined JRPG from Stegosoft. Quality-wise it's a noticeable step up from Ara Fell. It's a fairly linear game and the overworld looks bigger than it actually is, which really is more of a vehicle for some of the sidequests than anything else. It has a good and very-well-written story, likeable cast of characters, and some really nice music. While I found the cartoony character portraits a little weird at first, I grew to actually like them as I kept playing. Also there's no need to grind much if at all. I'm looking forward to whatever game Stegosoft will come up with next.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: March 2, 2022

theloathable

Verified owner

Games: 230 Reviews: 2

A wonderful homage to RPGs of yore.

Firstly, I want my review to counter the 1 star review below (which breaks GOG's first guideline on review requirements). I completed the hardest difficulty in about 36 hours. I don't believe I missed any side quests as they were not difficult to come across with a minimal amount of exploration. You run around fighting bad guys, crafting equipment, solving puzzles, gaining skills & levels, and doing side-quests, all while pushing towards your final goal. Standard stuff, but the way it's implemented makes it extremely cohesive & wholly realized. But that's not what this game is about anyway - the story and world are. This is my favorite story to come out of a JRPG in over 20 years. A light-hearted version of a very adult tale. Not getting too deep into it, and to avoid any spoilers, the game follows a group of resistance fighters who've received intelligence that the leader of a former empire has given the go ahead to reestablish control over its two former subordinate polities. You will be that resistance. Your path will be rife with twists, betrayal, and forced love interests (Rowan's serial monogamy is frightening). Without question, it's best to have the experience with no foresight. I strongly discourage guides for your first playthrough. The world is absolutely gorgeous. NPCs are plentiful & dialogue rich. Each time I returned to a town/city it still felt fresh & you can spend a good amount of time just running around learning the lore of each town/nation & the world of Rin. R3P doesn't have an openness to the world until you're about half-way through the game, which was a bummer. Yet, I honestly cannot comprehend how an open world could be done together with the story. Really what you have here is a throwback to the great SNES & PS JRPGs. One that holds itself to the standards of those greats, and then takes it further. It does not surpass it's spiritual predecessor Ara Fell, but if you like story rich JRPGs with a beautifully realized world, buy it.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: July 8, 2022

Landak

Verified owner

Games: 556 Reviews: 5

An excellent mini-epic SNES-era RPG

I've just finished Rise of the Third Power – it's excellent and very much in the spirit of Ara Fell (Stegosoft's previous work) but in a totally different, yet self-contained, world. It reminds me quite a lot of the good Final Fantasy games on the SNES – the plot deals with what might be called "mature themes" in a fun, accessible and engaging way without evangelising or shouting from a soap-box. I didn't see all of the plot twists coming, and I liked the fact that your party only becomes complete near the end. Most of the other reviews focus on the mechanistic aspects. I'll focus instead on the storytelling – in brief, the world is engaging and plausible. There is a large, overarching narrative that hangs together well and has plenty of twists and turns – I wanted to get to the end of it. There are lots of funny lines of dialogue hidden in places, both between the protagonists but also between "random NPCs" who know their lot in the world. The exploring is good and the puzzles are straightforward yet satisfying – and a recurring theme of pirates, the resistance and hidden treasures sort of provides a reason why you should _expect_ there to be random caves full of loot. The military themes are dealt with really quite sensitively. I think it's the only game I've seen where characters regret bloodshed caused by their actions in fighting soldiers. They recognise the humanity of their opponent and at several points that is stated explicitly. It's a nice change. Nobody comments on the ethics of killing giant cave moths, however! The "optional extra" baddies right at the end are surprisingly difficult and felt very satisfying to overcome although I'd like to know a bit more about why they were there. Overall, this is an excellent game and exactly the sort of thing that GOG should exist to support – it's made by a very small team and is obviously a labour of love. Play it. You won't regret it and you'll find yourself thinking about the story days later (like me!)

Is this helpful to you?

...

User reviews

Something went wrong. Try refresh page.

This game is waiting for a review. Take the first shot!

{{ item.percentage }}%

Awaiting more reviews

An error occurred. Please try again later.

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Your rating:

Stars and all fields are required

Not sure what to say? Start with this:

What kept you playing?
What kind of gamer would enjoy this?
Was the game fair, tough, or just right?
What’s one feature that really stood out?
Did the game run well on your setup?

Inappropriate content. Your reviews contain bad language. Inappropriate content. Links are not allowed. Inappropriate content. Content contains gibberish. Review title is too short. Review title is too long. Review description is too short. Review description is too long.

Not sure what to write?

You cannot save your review due to the following reasons:

You need to select star rating
You need to enter review title
You need to enter the content of your review

Filters:

No reviews matching your criteria

English Deutsch polski français русский 中文(简体) Others

Verified owners Others

Last 30 days Last 90 days Last 6 months Whenever

After release During Early Access

Discover CD PROJEKT RED games

Highlights

Featured

Close, but not an exact hit

Rise of the Third Power

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Delete this review?

Report this review

Additional Details (required):

Report this review