Venetica - Gold Edition

I grew up on classic RPGs (think Wizardry, Ultima, Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Planescape Torment, etc.) and still mostly play RPGs. Action or fps games sometimes require too much "twitch" for my taste. Not Venetica. Venetica's story was engaging and there was plenty of satisfying exploration and discovery. The progression of skill development, weapon strength and enemy difficulty is well balanced. The fights keep you on your toes without being punishing. The mouse and keyboard controls are easy to learn and the "action" part of this aRPG was easily managed and fluid. Graphics are certainly from a decade ago, but still very pleasing to the eye - beautiful in a fantasy way. Level layouts are well done. There are a few minor bugs as others have mentioned but nothing that killed my pleasure in playing. Bottom line - it's not a AAA game but it's MORE than worth picking up in my opinion. I was engaged throughout and had a fun time playing it!

This game is mediocre and clearly had lower budget. However, it doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. The protagonist is likeable and the game has a certain charm. The story is shorter with cartoonish villain. You can join several guilds, depending on what fighting style you want to focus on. The skill tree reflects those choices, too. You can choose between a fighter, a rogue (but there are no ranged weapons) or a mage with heavy focus on necromantic abilities. The graphics remind me of Fable. The "open" world is divided into several areas that become accessible as story progresses (again kinda like Fable). The game is plagued with several technical issues. I recommend reading about them in the forum. They range from various graphical glitches to important NPCs disappearing after loading the game in the same area as them. Overall, it's a mediocre game developed with a lower budget. If you bear that in mind and can forgive some of its technical shortcomings, you may enjoy it.

Venetica is an RPG where you play as Scarlett, a young woman who discovers she is the daughter of a man chosen as Death. Once a normal mountain village girl, she goes on a mission to the city of Venice in search of answers after her hometown was attacked. The game plays like you would expect, walking around town talking to people while doing main and side quests. You must join 1 of the 3 guilds, which consists of vengeful knights, messengers, or surprisingly polite necromancers. Combat is pretty simple, consisting of hitting, dodging, and blocking. You can choose from a variety of weapons, like your iconic Moonblade, swords, hammers, battleaxes, and spears. There are also plenty of magic skills you can use. Dying is handled quite uniquely in this game, your Moonblade kills refills a purple bar dubbed Twilight Energy, and if you have at least 1 full bar you can revive without losing progress or loading saves. If it runs out though, you have to reload as usual. But what makes Venetica shine the most is its aesthetics. Rarely you see fantasy games with Renaissance aesthetics. Buildings are beautifully designed, and the city has a unique look to it. And you get to travel to cool places such as the Doge's beautiful palace, a Persian ship, and an African village. The graphics for the characters might look cartoony but it adds to its charm. Atmosphere-wise it feels similar to Witcher 1, but obviously lighter. Despite being categorized as Eurojank, the game is quite smooth and well-done in my opinion. The only janky part is the quickslot stuff, where we can only have some skill equipped and you'll have to open your journal to change them. My problem with this game is mostly related with sound, where some dialogue can be quiet, but combat is loud. It crashes sometimes, too. Overall, I think Venetica is a unique RPG that's worth a try if you're into the genre, and I wish we have more as unique as it. Side note, you can use F12 to hide the HUD and take pretty screenshots!

... Aside from a few shortcomings. There is little variety in enemies and, consequentially, in fighting. Not many quests, and those are very simple, some of them even flagrantly copy pasted. Poor writing in general. It's not terrible, but most NPCs speak in the exact same way, so it pulls you out of it a little. In short, it's a good game that needed a little more polish and content.

Sometimes when you enter a region, exit a door, or travel to an other place the world mesh just disappears, you may fix this by going back and hoping it wont reoccur when you exit again.