Venetica - Gold Edition

There's a skill that lets you kick people in the groin. I don't know why, but that somehow summarizes the game for me. Scarlett is sassy and fun to roleplay. Contrary to most fantasy, where you venture off into the wilds, here you explore a giant, corrupted city. The dialogue is funny, sometimes intentionally, sometimes because they recorded the wrong voice line. Closest comparison I can think of is the first Witcher, though this has more satisfying combat. The game is very restrictive at first, because you start in a small area, on a very linear quest chain, and things open up as you unlock more areas. I didn't click with the game until unlocking the second or third area of Venice, but now I really like it. There are some graphical issues, and one major crash bug. There are a lot of interesting skills, but not enough chances to use them, and some are poorly implemented (being able to raise the dead to fight for you sounds cool until you realize they get stuck on the level geometry constantly). But really, most of the games shortcomings just made me want more of the game. More dialogue, more quests, larger and more varied combat encounters, etc. By the end of the game, I was hunting for things to do. The setting tickles my imagination, and the characters are fun, even if I had to fill in a lot of the blanks myself. I don't know how to express the game's charm, other than to say that it feels like a classic action RPG, with emphasis on the roleplaying, and unsullied by modern design sensibilities. That is a sorely under-represented genre.

I cannot think of other game more fitting of the description "A Diamond in the Rough" as this one. It is readily apparent that this is not a Triple A production, yet everything about it feel grounded and solid. A lot of work and effort went into fleshing out the world of Venetica and it shows. Some areas are quite intricate and beautiful to look. This is a game that kept surprising me as there was always something to find and do the more I looked around and explored. While it is not an open world game, it is rewarding if you are willing to go off the beaten path within the areas you can explore. You'll find new item, quest, and activities to keep you busy for hours on end. The combat is somewhat simplistic at first but never found it boring, specially once Scarlett's repertoire of skills, weapons and offensive/defensive spells grew in size and complexity. The story and cinematics are perhaps the elements where the game shows its weaknesses as facial expressions and body language aren't very varied or elaborate. Perhaps the premise can even be considered rather strange. But this is a minor aside as it doesn't interfere with the core game play in any way. Overall it is a game that gives back as much as the player is willing to put into it. One of the most enjoyable Deck 13 games I've played.

If you are looking for immersive RPG, then Venetica would be like 3-3,5 stars game. If you want adventure game with some RPG flavor and dont mind technical hickups, then you can add extra star on top. You can think of this game as Gothic-like experience with few extra improvements: you have open-ish world with some space on the surface and beneath it to explore for extra items or quests, quite decently made main story, a smooth fight system which requires you use proper weapons against different enemies, boss battles, physical and mental skills to get or improve, factions to join and work for and few more. Game however has some noticable shortcommings. There are enviromental issues, like messed side quests dialogs that didnt even try to play along the lore or goes straight-to-point, lack of clues in some assigments or a lot of errand tasks (they are time-consuming even with unlocked though mid-game fast travel). From technical side, while protagonist is very well animated, the world around looks either stiff or "underanimated". Sometimes you can get quest that requires skill you can't have at that point, sometimes world just dont load and you run through void (luckily its not critical bug, restarting the game helps). Also, fighting skills like blocking (sic) needs to be equiped to and executed from shortcut bar, what is highly questionable design choise. The RPG aspect is mostly superficial and consequences are rather minor, so dont hesitate to choose the way you want. Some bigger disappointment is that somehow interesting mental skills are barely worth using in doing adventure stuff. The bright point tho is main character, Scarlett. Although she quite too strong in compare to her physique, shes not an overly capable skull-breaking brute. Shes also not excessively confident, dont have quips for every situation, dont play victim or deliver overly pompous lines. Shes wrote in very human, then relatable way, what is quite refreshing. I hope it helped, cheers

voice acting was not that bad. graphics are kinda ok but very heavy on bloom, recommend turning off fullscreen effects for this. why the low stars? well the combat was odd, waiting on annimations to finish before being able to react. just felt off to me. some may like it.

Game froze at a main quest dialog first time through. Then had graphics issues during area transtions 2nd time through at multiple locations.