I write the review, after having tried the EE. If not because one wants to play multi, I'll stick to this version. The game is a very good CRPG that implements the D&D 3.5 system (a little less broken than the 3.0) OC campaign is great, with bastion defense, good companions and so on, you will go from level 1 to 20. There are tieflings, aasimars etc... One of the downsides of the OC campaign is that the first cleric companion appears during act 3 (of 5), and the only healer companion until then is a druid, so... main Clerics and favoured souls get an edge. The mask of the betrayer expansion, which seems a continuation of the OC campaign is also great, it the the high level campaign, beginning at level 18. (i am 25 in my run right now). Downside is the devouring mechanism, which can be de activated. It seems that the IA of the companions is well done in this expansion according to my friends (I prefer controlling everything) Storm of Zehir seems to tell a new story unrelated to the previous ones, where you you can create 4 characters from the get go, and directly at level 4. Cannot say much about the story at the moment.
For now, I cannot recommend this game over the complete edition The new one maybe has returned the multiplayer, but that's it. It occupies the same save space as the complete edition, which should not... In the EE, the camera moves way too fast with keyboard, sometimes tooltip are not readable unless you have a controller with the R joystick, the additional horizontal bar is not correctly implemented... I cannot change keybinds... Right now, if I want to use it, I have to play with mouse/keyboard and controller. It seems that they have optimized the experience for controller, but it lacks in Q&A. I give it 3 stars because the campaign of the game and the first DLC are really good
The game is set in fantasy warhammer, you play one band against another band. The game is tactical turn based. If you take your leader with 2 heroes and 2 henchemen on a normal mission (randomly generated), you'll face a leader, 2 heroes and 2 henchmem of a rival band. (exception is the scripted missions) Also, there are no saves, default mode is honor mode. (unless you copy your saves. Save locations is esaier to find on GOG version of the game. The game is kinda hard, no difficulty slider, and no mods on nexusmod I could find. You have to take precautions, and buy the right skills to survive. Also you may need some luck: When one of your band is downed, he can have the following: Nothing, scar, lose a limb (leg or arm(no shield or bow for that one)) or even die etc. (you can dismissed an injured team member) When one of your band attains level 5, you can create other bands with better heroes. One of the heroes from a DLC, the skaven is kinda good really. TL DR: Tactical game bands vs band set in warhammer fantasy, no difficulty slider, and honor mode by default. I would look for some advice before starting a campaign
Up to review, beaten crown of the magister, almost 50% of Lost Valley. So we have here a C-RPG, some classes with interesting subbclasses. (some are exclusive to Solasta) When you begin an adventure you have to create 4 characters like it was in the temple of elemental evil. I like that. Downside: you have to stick to the party you start with at the beginning, there is no swapping a party member, so choose wisely. Also, think well while leveling up, as there is no respec option. Regarding attribute builds, you have points, random or allocated, so it is interesting. Other huge good point is the integrated level editor where we can spend some time or take a look at the existing player made content (either in steam workshop or mod.io) The game can be modded "unfinished business" seems recommeded Disadvantages/ to be improved: when at high level (9+), the UI is not adapted when you play a full caster and have 2 rows of spells (spells of level 4+). There are some spells icons that overlap with a spell of a lower level, and some are not accessible. Contrary to Baldur's Gate 3, the spellcasters can only swapp their learnt/active spells while resting (long rest). On the other hand, you are not limited for the short rests so you can recover some abilties more often. Another difference between solasta and BG3 is verticallity: we have spider walk spell, and you can walk on the walls, and you can have your mage flying above the ground and shooting fireballs while being out of melee reach. (spells do not have areas, but volumes... So fireball is a sphere. Compared to baldur's gate3 It seems that Solasta is a more combat focused game. So if you like C-RPGs in general and don't mind playing in english (for the majority and there are not many walls of text) I recommend
Either with keyboard or mouse, only the alternative Fire button works... I cannot reallhy play
So the game is a 2D platformer with good controls. Ori will gain some abilities when exploring and others are gained with an ability tree. The abilities gained while exploring, usually allows Ori to get past an obstacle. Other closed doors depends on how many spirit orbs expansion you have collected Good soundtrack Good graphics Difficulty on normal settings is quite hard, with some difficulty spikes. At least the "save anywhere" feature helps a lot. I found it frustrating many times, definitely, a game "not for me". (I reached 20% of the game approx, gave up on a sequence I cannot pass) I'd recommed this to gamers who are familiar with platformers and this level of challenge, but not to everyone.
There are many languages available, but you can't change it in game (bad choice for me). In the game installation folder there is an installation_setup.exe to set it. It is a walking simulator and a very short game. And the story didn't connected with me at all. (I cannot say really why to avoid spoilers) I think I was expecting something else. I wouln't recommend for people like me. (I played 2 chapters of life is strange and liked them)
I am for now level 2 exploring with a cleric, I dont know if it is a good choice, but I am planning on either abandonning the game or switch from normal to story mode: In my opinion, the health / endurance stuff is really a bad thing, I truly dislike/hate the mechanic. Only resistance can be healed, and even if health is much higher, every blow will lower health(0 resistance is unconciousness, 0 health is perma death). The game forces the player to camp to regain health and you have to use consumables for that. People will say that you find easily the camp material, but I can't stand to be forced to use a consumables, to have limited healing without exiting the area or dungeon. (I can just go back to the stronghold or the inn if out of health) Also the perma death thing... another choice... I have beat BG1, NWN1 (all of it), NWN2 (base game and now playing expansions), temple of elemental evil, Divinity Original Sin 1 and now playing D:OS 2 (on normal difficulties) I can't believe I came to think this game is not for me. It is not true that if you like BG and NWN you'll like automatically PoE... Anyway, I will try, a little bit more, maybe the health mechanic is... at least bearable... Now, I feel quite silly for choosing to play a priest/cleric, as I can't heal health, only endurance which is automatically recovered after combat. In other c-rpg, cleric was on of the best choices... And maybe the stronghold gameplay is not as boooooring as it sounds to me. In that case I will modify the review. (if it is possible) I have bought PoE and white march I&2... but now I doubt por deadfire...
I am for now level 2 exploring with a cleric, I dont know if it is a good choice. Also, in my opinion, the health / resistance stuff is really a bad thing, I truly dislike/hate the mechanic. Only resistance can be healed, and even if health is much higher, every blow will lower health(0 resistance is unconciousness, 0 health is perma death). The game forces the player to camp to regain health and you have to use consumables for that. People will say that you find easily the camp material, but I hate to be forced to use a consumables, to have limited healing without exiting the area or dungeon. I can just go back to the stronghold or the inn. Also the perma death thing... I have beat BG1, NWN1 (all of it), NWN2 (base and playing expansions), temple of elemental evil, Divinity Original Sin 1 and nos playing D:OS 2 (on normal difficulties) I can't believe I came to think this game is not for me. Anyway, I will try, a little bit more, maybe the health mechanic is not that bad. and the stronghold gameplay is not as bad as it sound to me. In that case I will modify the review.
Before beginning DD2 I only played the first DD, Beyond Divinity and DD original sin. Original Sin is very interesting but not action oriented... The two first games have in common to Then I stepped into this game which is action oriented, and with an interesting story. You see the old friends Zandalor and Zixzax (hated in first DD). I am still in the maxos tower, and I find the game very fun to play. The character can jump very high, dodge the magical attacks. You can jump, fall, explore the map As every Divinity, you can invest in the skills you want, there are only level caps to obtain a skill. (but no entry skills like in dragon age, when if you want to have mana clash you have to get three useless skills) The graphics are Ok, the level design is good. Some puzzles quite complicated. Also, at the middle of the game, you can restore your skills points, so you don´t have to be afraid to spend points or try several skills. Regarding the bugs, the only one I encoutered in this version is a when loading an area takes forever... but there are automatic saves. Now I fear that we will never have a Divinity 3... First DD were isometric, and one character controlled, beyond D. has 2 characters to control, Divinity 2 has a third person and action gameplay... The Original Sin games had quite a success, changing the gameplay to a version that make me think of a dragon age, but with turns... It seems that finally this formula worked in a sales and critics point of view.
