Outward Definitive Edition

I tried. I sure did. I logged a couple hours on my first playthrough, restarted, and logged a couple hours on my second playthrough. Not my bag. The combat is senseless (no parrying, no patterns, unforgiving), map is referenceless, and there's no leveling system (as far as I can tell from my < 6 hours of play)

The "you're not a special hero" genre is small so each new entry is exciting. This game brings with it a good survival system that feels immersive instead of tedious, and the magic is interesting. In terms of graphics and UX it's old school. AKA bad. Combat is clunky, you are fighting the controls as much as the enemy, which makes getting whupped a lot more frustrating. And you get whupped a lot, even if you are careful and try to avoid unnecessary combat. It's nice that you don't simply die and reload when you lose, but it ends up being even worse: you get stuck in purgatory, imprisoned with no stuff, now you have to somehow escape and claw your way back to the level you were at before. Which was already not good enough. Trouble is if you are going to get anywhere as an adventurer you do need to be a little bit special.

I really hate the combat in this game. it feels like dark souls but worse. the magic systems, however, is amazing. it's all about combining spells to get different results. from using runes in a certain order, to using different spells in magic circles, you can place magical traps, get buffs, summon swords, inflict debuffs, attack and more! I sure hope this will be even more expanded in the next game.

What can i say its a nice survival game were you manage your char needs, theres crafting, decent combat. Cant say anything for story though since havent finished but theres stuff i find intrigin.

I wanted to like it but it never clicked. It feels like it draws inspiration from games like Gothic and Risen with hints of Dark Souls. But it never felt like it's own original thing, and I never felt any purpose for doing anything. Game design felt nice and the world is rather pretty sometimes and feels familiar and yet fantastical almost like discovering Morrowind for the first time. Managing your hunger and thirst is easy and never felt like an issue, more of a tiny bump in the road. ( Although it might be harder in the desert, never got that far) Death is a breathholding experience, it was equally nerveracking everytime I was waiting for the loadscreen after dying. And I mean this in a positive way, dying is a new experience each time. Plot felt pretty meh Pay off a debt, follow the tribeleader to some meeting in order to be adopted into their family - Honestly didn't care. Or follow your two friends who leave for different parts of the map, one on a holy mission and one for their own future if I remember correctly - Also yawn... Might get better in later game, but after 5 hours I still didn't care enough about anyone or anything in the world. Graphics are fine, nothing extraordinary but also not bad. Controls feel intuitive and as you'd expect. All in all it wasn't my cup of tea but I can see why someone might enjoy it. I got 5 hours out of it and I bought it at a discount so I don't regret anything as I still feel like I could come back and give it another try in the future.