Good: - very nice retro graphics -alright music -many puzzles are fairly logical and simple Bad: - there are a few puzzles that are pretty hard to solve without randomly using items on everything. But the worst ones are two that require you to interact with a random part of grey-black background or foreground (identical to other parts of background/foreground on the same screen) and get critical items from there. Why would you put that in a game? It completely halts the pace and saps out any enjoyment from playing. Oh, you got me, I didn’t click on the few pixels of the dark wall in the corner. This sort of “puzzle” was hardly acceptable even in the 90’s. - the tone and plot of the game are a mess. It’s part a goofy game with cartoon animals and part post-apocalypse horror. Maybe you can do the two together well? It’s not done well. Was it supposed to be a heavy-handed pro-environmental message? I really don’t know what they were going for. *SPOILER* The owls and Owlsgard hardly matter, it’s about parallel dimensions and evil terminator robots. There are also a few giant lore dumps that don’t add anything to the game. There is also a running sub-plot about the wolves and other animals working together, but that gets a little overshadowed; you know, by the world getting destroyed and the genocide. I don’t think I’ve seen another adventure game mess up a plot this badly. Sometimes less is more. - too much of the dialogue is winking at the audience and modern references. - “use” “pull” “push” “pick up”… they’re very often redundant and do the same thing. Either that or you have to waste time and cycle through them to guess what the devs had in mind. There is a reason later adventure games simplified the interface. I just can’t recommend this game. It’s a pity because it looks good and there some good parts, but as a whole it’s a baffling, frustrating mess.
This is one of the very, very few games that truly are an RTS/RPG hybrid. Most are RTS with hero units that have skills and maybe limited inventory, this is an RPG (not a very complex one) that also has an RTS part on some maps, and both parts of the game blend together pretty well. The game has issues with unit AI, skills/spells/grear balance and the pace of the game in some parts, but overall it's fun to play. Great soundtrack too. A word of warning: the GoG version DIDN'T get patch 1.61 that the Steam version got. This is an older version of the game. Both are playable and have their pros and cons, but this one takes some effort to run properly on modern OS and hardware.
5 stars might be stretching it a little, the game is not perfect, but for a solo dev it's pretty incredible. Yes, the combat is a little messy and gets repetitive in some areas, and some things could be explained a little better, and inventory management gets annoying at times, some things can be abused to get very strong once you understand the system better, but overall I had a great time playing Caves of Lore, there really aren’t any huge flaws, only things to refine. The character system is moderately complex and works well, the game uses learn-by-use spell and skill system, and this might be the first game where I don’t dislike this. You also unlock new spells and abilities by using simpler ones. You have a lot of freedom in selecting and upgrading gear and character abilities/spells. Combat is a bit of a mess, but it’s quick and fairly satisfying. Could be improved, but it’s fine. The plot is… it’s alright. It’s pretty original and sets up a sequel. I love the graphics, music and sounds are good. There are some secrets in the game that you can only unlock by reading books or talking to characters and saying magic words in right places (by manually typing them). Feels good to do that in a world dominated by games with quest markers.
I may be biased as a fan of both Metal Slug and turn-based tactics but this game is pretty awesome. There are some gameplay quirks that take time to get used to, but it makes sense once you get a hang of it. It simple on the surface, but there are many ways to approach team building and selecting abilities/weapon loadouts and upgrades. On the highest difficulty you’ll have to get pretty efficient with actions and combos to win, so the game isn’t boring even you get good at it.
One new race, one new biome, some lesser tweaks and additions, none of it feels much different than the base game, maybe except the water biome. It's good, but bit pricy for the amount of content.
Not as good as Pirate’s Curse or Seven Sirens. It’s not awful, but far from great. - There are a lot of transformations, but most are almost useless outside of the few places designed specifically for that transformation. One transformation-specific ability is used in only ONE place in the entire game as far as I can tell. You could cut half of the transformation or more and not lose anything. - The story is disjointed. Feels like each level might as well come from a different game. - Too much backtracking for my taste. You’ll have to revisit each level multiple times to get new quest and transformation items. - If you ignore the backtracking the game has only 6 levels (1 and 6 are super short), each with 2-4 sub-stages, most of which aren’t very long, especially when abusing some transformation powers. The game isn’t all bad: the controls are good, the graphics and music are good, some of the dialogue is funny, a few sequences and boss fights are cool, but most of the game is just sort of passable, which is disappointing.
Fun game, but in my opinion it's too easy overall (playing on definitive mode, which was supposed to be a more challenging version of the game). Levels and fights are well designed, that’s not the problem, there is just too much healing too easily available. It’s easier to power through boss fights by taking some hits and healing than by playing more carefully and trying to avoid more attacks. Kind of a shame. Cool game otherwise.
The game is good, with many issues, but still worth playing if you have the time. - This is a VERY large game with A LOT of stuff and the quality of the content is uneven. It's never awful, but very rarely amazing, most of it is just ok with a highlight every now and then. - A number of feats, classes, items, spells etc either don't work as they should, don't work as they're described or don't work at all. - The HoMM sidegame and crusade managment are for the most part tedious, not fun and distract from the RPG part. Even the kingdom managment in Kingmaker was better.
Continuation of the story from the base game and the previous DLC, only now with higher levels and stronger enemies. There are some new mechanics and some new gimmicks in a few battles, but the base formula is the same as before. Still good, still fun, maybe gets a little tiring by the end, although the final boss battle is unique and very fun.
Not much to say, it's as good as the base game, only could be a little longer. If you get this on sale or as a part of a bundle, it’s absolutely worth playing.
