Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Well, they tried. But the game is thoroughly mediocre and plays worse than NWN 2(a 17 year old game!). If you are itching for a dungeon crawling simulator with a completely forgettable story, outdated graphics and, basically, unfinished game(pay for classes, very few impactful Archetypes etc), this is your game. Also, some weird setting, why couldn't they use some SRD locales from D%D? I do not care about this "Solasta" setting one bit. It is basically a modern Icewind Dale or Greyhawk.

I enjoyed playing this game, we really feel the D&D system. It's really well implemented (reactions system that was not even in Baldur's Gate 3, not so long ago!), so the fights really have this board RPG feeling. The stories are nice, though the DLC stories are not insane (Lost valley). I enjoyed the main game, and there are nice and funny dialogues when there are scripted NPC encounters, and there are nice one-line banters reactions, that change from the usual manual triggered dialogues. That being said, after playing extensively the game, I was a bit disappointed by Lost Valley and lost interest for the game.

This game is clearly in the early stages (some mismatched subtitles and barebones menus) but it's already got its heart firmly in the right place. This game has banked hard on how pretty and dynamic the combat is, but the true thing to distinguish this game from others I think is the dedication to ROLE PLAYING. You don't just learn how to hit things, you learn how to read, how to move around, how to adapt spells and abilities to different situations. You can make lore checks to investigate objects to see if your character recognizes them. NPCs will make different remarks if you belong to certain professions or have a background they recognize. You don't just level up and make your spells/weapons more powerful, you learn skills you can use and will recognize if you've played recent D&D rules games! I was incredibly pleased you need to center some spells like Light just like in the pen and paper RPG. It's more fun and satisfying somehow to carrying around an enchanted object than just change the Gamma balance on the screen. It just feels more satisfying as your characters branch into positions in the team, like you're living out a story instead of just trying to min-max a fighting team. Is the story great? No. The voice actors are giving their all in their performances but the game is rather generic in a classic fantasy sense: no real surprises. But with the focus on making the systems feel tight, the graphics immersive, and the characters distinct this is a game I'm going to play a lot of and enjoy as it improves!

And the potential is high. This game is very obviously an rpg down to its very roots. If you're into that sort of thing, you'll be happy. If not well, you still might be happy, if you give it a chance. There are a few quibbles that betray its early access state, but all of those can, and I suspect will be improved. The world feels a bit flat (no pun intended) as of now. Needs more unique architecture, paintings, carvings, just things in general to make it feel like its own unique world with a history. The UI has a plain and economic aesthetic, which is fine, but it can be improved as well. Items need to be grouped better, it is time consuming looking at different vials of potions in which 2 may be "ingredients" and the others healing potions etc. Combat is the strong point as of now. Spells look nice, the camera randomly dramatically zooms in for some attacks, you can tell this is where the developers have spent the majority of their time. The three dimensional aspect of combat adds a lot of tactical depth. Watching those reptilian soraks climb and cling to walls, knowing my characters can do no such thing was a pleasant surprise, and had me re-thinking how I was going tackle the situation. Maybe the weakest point as of now is, things need to be explained more, and better. Most of us have played plenty of crpgs, but that doesnt mean we've all played this specific version of D&D. My cleric couldnt cast spells because he lacked a free hand, yet the game started him with a mace and shield. No explanation given. I found an option to turn that off, so I did. I wouldve rather had this wrinkle explained and then worked around it, not just disable it. Much more spell explanation is needed in the future. Also for a game this expensive, with an apparent price increase at full-launch, this needs to be a 40-50 hour game at least. But the bones and roots for a great rpg are here. For classic rpg gamers, this could be one you wont want to miss out on.

So, I finished the game before the primal calling DLC was released , and I said : " Hey ! That 's how they should do it ! " . This game is THE ONLY Baldur 's Gate II - like game I 've played since 2001 . No B******t practices such as implementing many things not helping the genre (in my opinion) in order to make more people buy the game . Simple ,pure fun . The story is not something mind - blowing , it 's just a good one . The game has partial licence for the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Role playing system , so that 's why you don 't get all the classes and subclasses available to that system , and the level cup , at least before the primal calling DLC was 10 (I think it was increased to 12 after thew Primal Calling DLC , but I 'm not sure) .The only disadvantage is that after finishing a quest of the main story - line ,you go back to the town / city to deliver it , and you get some side quests of the " Go fetch that item from the area you just unlocked and come bask to me for some money and 3 level 3 spell scrolls " type , and you complete them as if suffering from OCD (I mean I completed them only because I feared I would have a hard time finishing the main quest - line , because I would need all the experience points and items they reard me with , I don 't mean to insult people who suffer from OCD) . Anyway ,that 's EXACTLY how they should do it in oeder to create a Baldur's Gate II - like game ,and not like some companies notorious for their scumming practices go like .