There are 2 icons (2 games). One is 'Stronghold Extreme' which is the one you get a desktop icon to click and launch the game (I do not recommend it at all as it is beyond ridiculous as how hard the game is) and in the folder where you installed the game you have 'Stronghold Crusader' icon (this is the classic one where you have the campaign where you slowly get more tasks with each mission and more issues to deal with: get food, deal with rats a few missions later and so on, various objectives. This is that nice game people know and love!) 'Stronghold Extreme' is for those who have played 'Stronghold Crusader' for years and click once every second issuing orders, selecting troops, building... Yep: those who play in nitro/turbo mode and that is the 'normal' for them. (the equivalent of those playing Starcraft or Dota or LeagueOfLegends in tournaments).
This is a very well thought out game. Wonderfully well balanced and the choices you make are actually opening some doors and closing others in regards to your future strategy/approach for other missions. I found the game to have sufficient missions till it reaches the end so that it does not become tedious/boring and the difficulty scaling is well managed and so it keeps things challenging. The game has great re-playability too! It has a futuristic vibe to it so it felt futuristic, dystopic future in 2016 when I played it the first time, it still very well feels futuristic, now at the end of 2024 and it will feel that it is ahead of time for another 20 years or more!
Did I get into it and for 2 days during work I was burning to play it? And when I finished work I played till past midnight on both occasions? Yes. Addictive. Funny and witty narrator. Really worth it for the 3.89british pounds I paid for it (on 84% discount in June 2024)! A thousand times would make this choice. The game hooks you in, and I have some characters to unlock so I am still somewhat excited about that so I will return to continue to play it. My feel is that the fights become repetitive and there is a bit of a grind to unlock the next character and then you are forced to use your talent points so you can then use a spell, to unlock another character... And then you have to finish the game on the hard difficulty (which would be no easy task) to unlock 3 characters... (that is really the carrot at the end of the stick...) I think for up to 10 dollars it is well worth it: good mechanics, keeps you entertained. Good graphics. Witty comments form the narrator.
I liked the first Blackguards, but this is another level! The voice acting is sensational and the story is to a degree gritty, realistic and with plot twists. Quite an impressive game and it is as many people like it: a focus on story, character leveling (where you will spend a lot of time deliciously thinking where to invest every point!) and tactical combat, and not other useless distractions (like huge maps with all kinds of silly flowers that you end up gathering like a true kleptomaniac to then make a quazillion potions... aaaaand that is how you broke/spoilt the game for yourself, by either having too many and powerful consumables (example: years ago I won the arena in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion at level 3, due to reaching very high levels in alchemy) or by getting a lot of gold due to selling these. In these game armour is pricy and money is tight and so you think twice about spending that mana potion...).
I liked this game. The voice acting is a main positive for this game. The story is also pretty good. The con: simplistic towns where you cannot do much... I wanted to complain about the prices, but overall this is actually a balanced aspect : everything is expensive (like very), and the items you get are quite rare/sparse, which makes resource management a necessary approach (and this is something I like; I don't find it fun to have unlimited mana/health pots and other consumables, or to be able to buy the best armour set after you completed 10% of the game).
