I'm sure the criticisms below will be fixed by launch. There is a frame of a great Rogue/RPG here. I'm ok with the $16 I paid to support further development. I'm waiting for at least 2 major updates to play again. Three Stars as a rating because it's neutral. The world map is large & mostly empty of anything interesting. You walk - slowly - great distances to reach your target locations. Takes 15-30 min, depending on what you do along the way. Quest area: Clear the underlings, then Boss brutally beats ou down. They have a lot of major attacks & abilities. That's a lost hour. - You should be able to leave a quest dungeon/crypt (before fighting the boss) without the dungeon/quest closing forever. - NPCs can actually trap you in rare circumstances, because you cannot move through them and they are scripted to go to a certain place for bedtime/getting up. - After 8 hours, I found Marauders/bandits, Deer (2), Bears (2), Boars (2), and Wolves (packs of three - brutal) to fight on the world map. There were skeletons and Ghouls as well (in crypts). - The Economy is brutal. Buying anything useful is VERY expensive. You sell for peanuts. A lot of money must be spent on food, bandages, salves, potions (if a shop actually has a good one in stock), and other mending supplies. - I've only seen an enemy drop a weapon (and one time an apple) after dying. No gold ("Crowns"), potions, armor, scrolls, mending supplies ... - Needs a mini-map and a MUCH better world map. It's very basic and not real helpful. Being able to make small notes on the map would be great. - Weapon/Armor variety is very lacking. There's very rarely anything to buy that is helpful. Four pieces of helpful armor in 8 hours play time. - Leveling is punishingly slow. I'm level 3.5 after 8 hours. After playing 8 hours, with about 4 hours lost due to death, I'm staying away for a while.
A background of my experience with this game genre: I'm older than video games. I have played almost all the games in this genre. There are two Grand Champion games in this category that, IMHO, have still not been bested - Rogue (original) and Dungeon Master (by FTL). This game earns 75%, upgraded to 4 Stars for the website's system. Breakdown: 75% - Excellent graphics, especially the creatures. Entertaining puzzles, ranging from very easy to a couple of head-scratchers. A few will frustrate people with poor reflexes, but those usually open "bonus" locations rather than a critical path. Usually. Character creation was interesting due to skill choices for each character. I enjoyed fighting - you have to think on your feet and, at times, use the dungeon layout for protection from many untimely deaths. I've read criticism about, "just going in a circle to fight," but that is over simplification. You can fight head-on. Or you can try to get behind them for your Rogue to unleash powerful back-stabs. In some places, you can use the dungeon itself to help you defeat the enemies. Doors are friends. LoG has a good balance of fighting, exploring & puzzle solving. It's NOT an action RPG - it's real-time, turn-based fighting. LoG has an editor, so, hopefully, you can enjoy many player creations. 15% = Meh. Fighting items are sparse and repetitive. I used 3 weapons for each fighter. Weapons can be used by anyone, but only the Rogue is best suited for using many. Creature variety is decent, but not enough to suit me. Too much repetition. LoG borrows a great deal of game design from predecessors, but doesn't innovate. Too few spells. I used a half dozen, never using Air or Ice. Skill trees go to 50 Pts - you will never get close to 50. 10% = HATED. End "story?" Lame, obvious, done better elsewhere. Final Boss battle is insanely OBNOXIOUS. Most annoying End Boss fight of ANY genre I can recall. A BUY for dungeon crawler fans.
