Walk here, press A, read dialog. Walk there, press A, read dialog. Now walk back, press A, read dialog again. This game feels very restrictive. I really expected much less reading and much more building - maybe even a bit more freedom while moving around. Speaking of building, the controls for building and player movement are very different. They feel like they were programmed by two different teams that didn't talk to each other. Plus, building with a controller or touch screen is clunky as hell (played on a handheld). On the plus side, the graphics are great and I like that the animations are modeled after the movie, with LEGO parts being stiff, not bendable, like in many other LEGO games. All in all, this is not a bad game, but could have been so much more.
First of all, and despite what I will write next, I had a lot of fun with this game. And I mean a LOT. However, there are some downsides: Missed opportunities - no leveling up - no bonus items - found loot is purely cosmetic - only a few secrets - a bit on the short side (<10h) Occasional bugs - Samples sometimes stop playing, while music still works - froze up once On the plus side - Fun and novel concept: navigating narrow dungeons with an oversized weapon - Easy to pick up - Gets quite challenging without being mean - Time only moves when you move - No cheap deaths! You die, there is only yourself to blame - Keeps you on your toes and never gets boring by constantly adding new types of enemies, traps or interactive objects - Fair price, especially if you get it on sale
Update: After playing for several hours with our group, I had to contact GOG to reduce my initial rating. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this game. As much as I wanted to enjoy Gloomhaven on PC, I am sorry to say that it is a bug-riddled mess with horrible usability. I am a big fan of the board game - despite the heavy price and the insane difficulty. Sadly, I cannot recommend this game in its current condition. For a game that is no longer in early access, it has too many game-breaking bugs. Considering the enormous difficulty, it is all the more frustrating when you get stuck due to bugs. On top come so many missed opportunities that should be a no-brainer when digitizing a physical game. While you can create multiple heroes of the same class, the game does not allow you to bring them on a quest together. If you play online, other players cannot play with their own heroes but you have to assign them characters that you created. If you have not played the board game, you probably have no idea what is going on half of the time. My group has played through 3/4 of the main board game plus half of 'Jaws of the Lion' and we still have to consult the log. Many things happen too fast or are not adequately visualized (e.g. curses). Some non-consequential events have to be confirmed several times, either by the active player or by the whole party. But during a fight, you oftentimes miss using an active element because the 'highlight' is so far out of your field of vision. The many bugs we regularly encounter will hopefully get fixed in the near future. But this game lacks usability that could have been improved massively if the developer had run proper user tests or if they had employed a decent UX designer. This game should not have seen the light of day for another couple of weeks or even months of development. It surely has much potential, but so far, a lot of that has been squandered.
Before the actual review: To get this game running, I had to locate the 'NOX.EXE' file and enable Win98 compatibility mode. Now to the review: This game really caught me by surprise. Never heard of it, never saw any of my friends playing it... I just saw it on GOG and bought it on sale because of the great reviews and boy was I in for a surprise! Despite the aged graphics, this game is a ton of fun. Many dialogs and cut-scenes are voiced. The game runs in perfect FULL-SCREEN on my ultra-wide monitor which is a real treat! The controls have aged wonderfully with only some minor inconveniences. The spell inventory system works great with drag and drop functionality (did not expect that from a 20 years old game). As a new player who just picked this up, I can say that this game is still worth playing today If you can look past the slightly choppy visuals. Running through the world, exploring, questing, charming and clobbering monsters it so much fun!
This DLC is a great encouragement to donate for a good cause. I don't get why people would give only 1 star. It is clearly communicated what you get and that the whole thing is done to help animals. You don't like animals? Don't buy it. You want to help them? Donate a couple of €€€/$$$ and get the DLC on top. And the devs don't even take their cut. They make their money with the main game and donate 100% from what we pay for the DLC. What's not to like?
