Venetica - Gold Edition

I played Venetica demo in 2009 and liked it. But only ten years later I got full version of the game (thanks to release on GOG). The most impressive thing in Venetica is level design. There are a lot of beautiful views to see and unique locations to explore. Levels are multi-layerd: on the same point on map there are 3-4 layers on vertical axis. And all of them (ground, canals, balconies, roofs) are worth visiting. Many different ways can lead to the same place, but some of them are hard to find. Going an alternative way, you may avoid trouble or save your time. I recommend to turn off quest markers to make exploring even more interesting. Another feature, I really like in Venetica, is boss fighting. All encounters with bosses are unique. You should pay attention to details to understand tactics against a particular foe and use an environment to your advantage. Combat system is rhythm-based (no frequent-clicking in this game). There are four weapon styles, you should learn at lest two of them to succeed against different enemies. Venetica features safe-day / dangerous-night cycles in the city districts. You should find teachers to learn new skills. Some of them will agree to teach you only under certain conditions. Main story is interesting, but dialogues could have been written better. Most of the optional quests are nothing special, however there are some really entertaining tasks. Your choices have delayed consequences. It will be too late to select game ending in the last dialogue. Setting is unique, based on the real world. If you are tired of generic fantasy staff, Venetica will be a breath of fresh air. There are many jokes in Venetica. So, if you don’t like humor in games, it may be not your cup of tea. I recommend to play this game with the original German voice-over. There are few bugs, but nothing critical. Don’t forget to apply LAA fix and turn vsync off. Therefore, I really enjoyed the game. If you like exploring, give Venetica a try. ;)

Venetica is a third person action RPG. Gameplay is similar to fable series. Pros - - Flow of the game is pretty impressive. You unlock fast travel in a very organic way in this game, and even games like dark souls struggled with managing that. - Quality of life features are decent. - Game length is just right. - Some of the maps in the game remind me of games like dragon age and witcher. - Decent soundtracks. - In general I found it fun to be exploring the world of venetica, which is not always the case for me in other games. Cons - - Have to go in with low expectations, otherwise you will find many things to be of low quality. - Combat is simplistic, similar to fable. No ranged weapons like bows, guns, etc. The only variety in combat is achieved by different melee weapons, and magic skills. - Quests can be pretty repetitive (defeat "Gripper" in location A/B/C). I joined a guild where I got 4 guild missions, all of them involving killing the same enemy. The only variety in those missions were finding the enemies, which was decently fun. If there were more interesting side quests and a better combat system, then this would have been a decent recommendation.

Doesn't particularly innovate, hammy acting, everything is dead serious to the point of being ridiculous and it's completely transparent in its choices. The combat doesn't change much from start to finish and the individual mechanics have all been done better in other titles. 3/5 It's charming as heck though. The characters are believable in the way that cartoon characters are in their own world's, the combat has just enough variations that it never gets boring, the background story is very good (with many overt nods to Terry Pratchet) and although the mechanics have been done better elsewhere, there is a fundamental uniqueness to much of it. It all feels deliberate and considered; like a deliberate B-Movie. I've been playing for almost 20 hours and I've been consistently entertained the whole time. 3/5 is a fair rating, but 5/5 for the sheer fun and charm of it all. It's worth the price as is, but if it's on sale, it's a bargain. Hell, I've having more fun playing this instead of Demon's Souls.

What a good surprise ! I bought this game thinking it was an RPG like many. I was wrong. You are Scarlett a young women in a quest to avenge her murdered lover. Over the game you will learn that it's a much complicated story than expected. The gameplay is solid, you can fight with four kind of weapons, each one with her propers skills to unlock by gaining level. In addition you have powers. At the begining i was afraid because the enemies didn't react much, but it was just for the introduction. The IA is doing her job. Another strong side is the quest and the characters developement. I encourage you to explore and do side quests to learn more about the world, it's very interesting. The voice acting is really nice. The game really start when you enter Venice. The city is divided in three parts that you unlock with the main story. And under each, there is catacombs you can go. Houses can be explored, and the quests are here in numbers. Besides, you can join a guild, (there are three of them) who give you specifics quests. You don't get bored one second, there is always something to do, between, quests in the city, in the catacombs and mines, crafting potions, diging treasures following maps, discovering hidden rooms with your power, testing different kind of weapons and powers. You also have different style of armor, each one with her own weakness. Someblack spot : each time you enter a house you have a loading sceen. Considering that you have to through most of them for the quests it breaks the rythm. I also experienced a lot of crashes, always happening when loading so i recommand you save often. And finally, when you explore house, the npc are here walking following pretetermined paths, so you can be stuck by them. In conclusion, it a really complete RPG, with a good story and a voice acting taken seriously. Took me 26 hours to finish and i'm sure i missed some quests. A must play if you like RPG i don't mind the technicals limitations due to his time (2009).

The game has surprisingly well made environments. I liked San Pasquale: such beautiful views. Also the fighting was not too difficult for an elderly person like me to win all the boss fights (on easy level). The story and game play offer original aspects like fighting in a kind of ghost mode (twilight zone). It also has surprisingly few bugs. I played it on Linux, using Wine without any difficulty and good frame rates (only d3dx9_36 is needed and it should be played in windowed mode as wide screen failed for me). The only minus point for me (one starr less) is the map, which often does not work well and often shows the wrong (or no) location to go to. Also the sound is far from impressing and had (uneqeal) volume issues.