Sacred Gold

I was reluctant to get this game at first because games like Titan's Quest and Diablo 3 look pretty but get boring quick. Sacred sidesteps this problem by having some brilliant animations, charming graphics, an insane level of customization and replay value, and a frankly wonderful level of care and detail. Your character has different vocal responses to different kinds of enemies! My dwarf was wandering around and remarked on human buildings with disgust. You can go to areas without enemies but tons of books about the backstory. You can go through forests with just wildlife to admire or towns of furtive peasants going about their business. There must be hundreds of enemies types and unlike a lot of other ARGs which have them different colored flavors of a base type they all seem to have a purpose. I ran into multiple classes of bandits, named enemies that weren't bosses, massively over leveled enemies I could still kite and fight on my terms. It doesn't seem to be randomly generated either: the whole map is custom made with fixed encounters not all directly related to a quest. I came across a group of deserting soldiers summoning demons just because I wandered into a cave. You can practically go anywhere at any time and you start dirt poor and wielding a stick so it really does feel like a rise to power using skill choices by level to refine a play style. It still looks great, the tutorial is helpful (and you can skip it) you can do more quest types than collecting things or killing people...it feels like an isometric open world game instead of just spamming area of effect spells. I hope the sequel is half as good!

Well. I should hold this one up, since it's from a German develpoper, but ... well, there's a lot of problems. Most notably that you don't grasp the metrics, as the stats - especially for weapons and armor - are quite extensive, but don't actually tell you what they really do. The worst imbalances have been ironed out with the latest patches; still there are clear paths of "easy going" and "rough ride". If you like action RPGs, this is still a solid contender with all the usual stuff, but - and I say that as a NON-fan of Diablo - it's _not_ anywhere near that league, as it lacks a lot of polish. It does put aside horrible contenders like Loki single-handed, though. 3 Stars from me.

Always good for a quick game. If you like this kind of games - buy it. Its real fun and a huge world keeps you busy. Easy to play and much fun. The Bad? Bugs, Still bugs. Bad manual ( you will need external Guides ). I am one of these impudent guys who expect working software. For the gameplay you dont realy need to save very often... But the bugs. Dont get me wrong - The game is very good playable. But cast the wrong spell in combination with the wrong weapon glow effect and you may stall/crash the game.

'Review too long' - sigh. + Interesting new skill concept. Skills are randomly found in the form of runes. Increasing skill levels are a strategic choice, so be careful. + Colourful, vibrant world. + You can ride a horse. No joking, that was novel at the time, you can even give it different harnesses to boost specific stats. - Absolutely terrible story. Yes, Diablo does not tell a novel, mesmerising story either, but at least it comes with some lore and gfx 'oomph'. Sacred has neither of these and delivers a bland, utterly repetitive and boring narrative. - Incredible amount of worthless filler sidequests -- completely randomised on the outside, mind-numbingly repetitive on the inside. - Only maybe 6? 7? different monster types. Overall. In the whole game. Yes, the world is huge, but damn - is even a palette shift too much to ask for? - Horrible itemisation: 99.9% is vendor crap. The only notable exception are the beautiful sets, but a few deplorable design decisions (no muling, static item levels etc.) mar their usefulness, and thus the excitement. - Tons of game-breaking bugs. TL;DR: I wish I had the time back that I sunk into this game. It is/was advertised as an aRPG, but it fails at providing (a somewhat engaging) both the A - action and the RP - roleplaying, leaving only a mediocre time-eating G - game that will inevitably make your eyes bleed before you uninstall it.

Some distinctive pros: -There are several different builds with distinct play-styles for each character. They all work and are enjoyable. Ex: a character will have a build for spellcaster, archer and dex-based melee. -Different types of weapons and armor will have different magical and non-magical bonuses. Ex: two-handed hammer with bonus damaged based on percentage of your strength and a one-handed sword with bonus to accuracy and dodge. -Very customizable game: choose attributes, skills, combat arts, and equipment. Make combat art combos and socket your equipment. I have fond memories of exploring the world of Ancaria and doing side quests while listening to metal music. Some cons: If you don’t invest in magic find on your equipment and the trading skill, most of the items you find from enemies or stores is trash. It gets worse on higher difficulty levels. I rarely changed my gear and relied more on my innate build. There was less worrying about the RNG of loot, I guess. Traveling through the map might be slow for some players. With planning, forethought and jumping combat arts it won’t be a problem. But some will feel upset from the lack of portals, warp-to-town mechanic, and move speed. I feel like playing the higher difficulties, gold, platinum, niobium, is pretty boring and pointless. Maybe it’s just me.