First of all, I need to point out a bug that I experienced. I could not load the game in the demo. The developer could not replicate this. Should this occur to you then the developer has got a thread for feedback in the game's forum. Please consider reporting it there. I verified that this bug DOES NOT exist in the full game. Said version also has got achievements if you care about those even though the storefront does not reflect this reality at the time of me writing this review. I did not beat the game yet but all of the ones that I got seem to have unlocked properly. If you play this demo first and you have synching issues when booting up the full game then uninstalling the demo helped solve those issues for me. GOG has only recently allowed for the editing of reviews and I am still getting used to this. I also don't often have to award points to a demo which is, at the time of me writing this, worse than the full game. I would give the demo a 7/10 with the lack of saving and there is an issue with the 2nd stage boss (after you exit the caves) which I encountered in the full game but never got around to in the demo due to the saving issue but I must assume exists in here, as well. (I would verify this if it weren't for the synching problem.) While I am confident in saying that the full game is better I have not managed to complete it yet. This is another reason why I prefer to finish games first. I will edit this review with a grade once I do so you will have a better impression. With that out of the way, the game takes some time getting used to in terms of controls. Once you understand what the game expects of you it will make a massive difference. I did NOT go with story mode, which means that you lose 5 coins each time that you wipe, and the first stage where you can find coins and candy had me finish with 0 coins on my first attempt. On my second attempt I ended with 35 coins. The game gives you a "dash" but I personally think that a better word for this move would be "twirlwind". This "charges up" your jump to become stronger as it lifts you up higher into the air. You can read the description of what the game is about or watch a trailer but doing it for yourself is worth a 1000 pictures. This game is not easy. You will want to save up coins to buy upgrades and look for secrets. In that sense the platforming will make the boss battles easier to deal with. That is something to consider. The game has got some small touches like artwork of the bosses appearing in Monie's house after you defeat them. Flowers will open if you shoot them. Bats drown. Every stage has got unique artwork for completionist stats on the overworld. You can find bits of lore to piece together the backstory of the world. Tips (for those who don't want to figure things out for themselves). -Interact with all of the signs that you come across in levels! -There is an in-game NPC who shows up to alert you to a stage's major secret.
I would recommend that you check out the demo to get a good feel for the game. I personally like to play-test first person games after experiencing motion sickness in a title. Initially this game game me some minor issues in this regard but they subsided. In my personal experience I find that lining up your chair with your monitor helps should this affect you. Okay, so what I can I say for the people who don't want to play the demo or want more information than what the demo offers? For starters, since GOG appears to have given us more characters for reviews I will try to go into greater detail, when I think that it is relevant, beginning with that I have beaten the campaign on Journeyman difficulty so you may have a better understanding of what to expect/how to interpret this review. I have also beaten the final mission on Nightmare difficulty using level selection. The game has got 2 different classes. The Cleric and the Sorceress. The Cleric gets 100 base health and can reach 200 with overhealing. The Sorceress gets 75 base health and can reach 125 with overhealing. The former gets a mace for a melee attack whereas the latter gets a wand for ranged damage. Should you like to collect treasure but find it tedious to destroy barrels individually, while also conserving special ammunition, I'd recommend picking the Cleric and using the charged up attack of the mace. It destroys multiple barrels with a single strike and unless it strikes enemies does not use up charges. The wand is nice as a ranged option with unlimited ammunition but slow or weak compared to alternatives that you'll unlock. This starter weapon is much better at sniping lone enemies standing on crates or walls than it is for destroying containers. Each class gets 4 spells that you'll unlock over the course of the campaign. The spells that are not "class spells" can be found as scrolls (consumables) in levels. I don't have much to say about most of them aside from the fact that I tried each class spell once after unlocking it and then mostly forgot about them. Maybe they are easier to activate on consoles but on PC the mouse is typically more convenient. At least the inventory, when I got around to using more than the health potions, can be accessed by pressing "T" which also freezes time so you can get all of your buffs by clicking the respective items instead of mashing buttons while avoiding enemies and projectiles. I personally think that "Repulsion" would be way more fun if you could use said spell to unlock secrets that require you to push back a wall. Given the cooldown it would still be quicker to tap walls manually but it would make the player feel more like a wizard. During the first chapter the game eases you in and the boss at the end allows you to go ham but as you progress beyond that point you will start to notice a shift and for the final confrontation the game expects you to have mastered all weapons in your arsenal and know to use which ones against particular enemies. I will be going over advantages of weapons so if you are someone who likes experimentation and discovering things for yourself don't read that. (It is a big wall of text but for the purposes of making it easier to skip for people I opted to keep it that way.) Beyond particular enemies being weaker against certain attacks they are also situational. The fire rings for instance are inaccurate and if you are standing on a ledge while aiming at an enemy to your right you will likely miss at least 50% of your hits as both hands blast fireballs. The same is true if you see one peeking around the corner. There is a chance that you will apply a burn (damage over time). The frostweaver can shatter enemies with its special attack. Aside from that it is fast and precise. The pistol is my tool of choice when exploring areas with tight corners as it can kill things quickly but its reload time is long. It also appears to enable headshots against many of the weaker enemies, rewarding a player's accuracy. I can typically down a group of the first enemy that you encounter in the game if they are grouped together with a single shot and conserve ammunition that way. The fire rings are much better at strafing tactics as a result of this. By the time that you can no longer down enemies with a single pistol shot the game will have given you an alternative which is more powerful in a sense that it can pierce anything in its line of fire and does not require the same degree of accuracy but is much more limited in terms of how much ammunition that you have available to you. I don't know what the use case for its special is which leaves poisonous clouds. The lightning gauntlets do good damage and they seem to slow enemies down but have limited range. The Chaos Staff can hit targets about as fast as the Frostweaver but is better at hitting moving targets as it doesn't need you to be as precise. I think that fucntionally it combines the ice staff with the fire rings. I am personally not sold on its alternate attack. It appears to cost a lot of resources and fire more slowly. I haven't really been able to figure out its particular niche and the special doesn't feel as good as the other weapons to serve as an incentive to experiment with it. It wasn't very good at crowd control and for those purposes I prefer the big fireball that you can see in the trailer. This thing can blow up in your face if you hit too close to where you are standing, though, so not the best choice if enemies are about to close in on you. The book does not have a chance to damage you but takes longer to cast and the game rarely gives you the pages to play around with it. It can take out pretty much anything on the screen but I did find that by aiming slightly off I would miss some flying enemies. In terms of time that it will take you, the HowLongToBeat times are currently 5.5 hours for the main story. I suppose that is possible if you b-line to the exit? I bring this up because some people base their value appraisal on how much they get out of a game. It took me pretty long to get through the demo and there are 21 levels in total. Another reason to check out the demo to see how long the levels take you, I suppose? You can spend quite some time hunting secrets if you enjoy that. I found all of the secret levels without a walkthrough. The game typically draws your attention to places where you need to look if you take the time. For regular secrets (which do not pertain the secret levels) you can also find a treasure map pointing you in the right direction but this merely shows you were it is located on the map. There are rooms which you reach by teleporter just to give an example. Another way to extend the game's longevity is the mod support. They use mod.io for this purpose and you need to agree to this website's terms and conditions should that feature interest you. You can make use of the editor and play your own levels without doing so. Nitpicks -The special ability (not to be confused with the spells) for the Cleric feels underwhelming if it doesn't kill your target (like when I used it against a mounted enemy in Chapter 3). -It is very rare but in some instances, such as in the level "City of Ember" behind (on the inside) the big doors of the cathedral, the game places ammunition that you cannot pick up. I mean that it was deliberately placed there by the designers, not something that was dropped by enemies. -Cheeky shots. The enemy you encounter at the start of Chapter 2 is often placed in nooks and will get a cheap shot before you notice it unless you are scanning for enemies because it is only visible from one particular angle. Monster closets are a thing and you always have to be on your guard because the forces of Chaos have got teleporation magic. In the words of Darkest Dungeon "Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer." I'd say that if you are not turned off by that then the game is really good for what it is.
I never thought much about the term casual but for this review I will be using the meaning in that anyone who plays up to completing the main story. For casual players I'd rate the game a 10/10. For anyone else I can do no better than an 8/10. The main reason for this is that the game is rather forgiving but only if you treat it as a puzzle platformer. The game gives you an instant death if you make a mistake but spawns you at the level where you died and you don't lose progress. You can also quit at any time or revisit levels that you have already completed. When played as a casual game it respects your time. Also, I must give high praise that this game does not have achievements related to the amount of times that you die. For one, dying is not an achievement and secondly if you plan on playing this game then you must not be afraid to die and achievements tied to deaths would teach the player otherwise. Now, if you want to play the "Hard" levels or wish to go speedrunning it ceases to respect your time. You should be aware of this. The biggest issue for me is when a game has got issues where the player dies or fails not because of mistakes made by said individual but because of game design. For example, in Chapter 5, levels 42 and 44 there are times when Sunblaze gets stuck inside of the starting platform and cause you to miss your opening jump. This is not that big of a deal for a casual run but if you are speedrunning then this can mess up your entire run. Level 104 of "The Lost Levels" had me confused as Josie did not appear on screen and a block fell out of the sky as soon as the level loaded. I could not replicate this but I did often "transition" into the level in front of an obstacle when I should be starting behind it and as a result fall to my death. For those thinking of doing a completionist run, I must warn you that the HowLongToBeat times at present (17.5 hours) for completionist are terribly off. The old completionist times were 70-80 hours.
I figured that I should lead with that given that, at the time of me writing this review, the storefront does not reflect the new reality. Honestly, the way that achievements on GOG Galaxy work it is as though they were made for this game. If you want the achievements and you already have them on a save file then you only need to boot up the game while having the GOG Galaxy client running in the background. Upon loading a save the game "gives" you the achievements. This means that you can play offline and only rely on the internet to get you 100% completion in an instant. A round of applause for Minotaurus0 for making this happen. In terms of achievements, the dewdrops one is probably my favourite and the best that I've come across to date since it is optional, is not required to understand the story but gives foreshadowing for those who bother with it. It is not an afterthought and it clearly shows. My second favourite is the story collecting. It adds life and the excitement of discovery to locations. The stories themselves come in the form of audio books, with artwork that is reminiscent of German fairytales, which could provide additional value to parents of young children who might be too young to play the game themselves yet. The game never forces you to sit through these tales, though. Collecting cards is fun but the deck feels underutilized. I approached it as a tool, much like the magical coin. I approached a disguised character thinking that a game of quartets was the way to start a conversation but while the character accepts and drops the disguise the game does not acknowledge this as Jerry looks surprised when the "real form" is revealed in the story. For my final thoughts, this title could be seen as a cozy game with creepy undertones but never to the point where it is unsuitable for younger audiences. It is fun for children and it has got some jokes for adults sprinkled in which makes this a timeless classic for those who enjoy foreshadowing.
It is rare to see one of these games where the protagonist is capable of casting magic without the use of alchemy, though she also brews potions and such. This is important to keep in mind for certain puzzles as you might be thinking that you "missing" an item. Meredith gets 3 spells during this adventure. The game is rather forgiving as far as hidden object games go. So during scenes where you are looking for items you don't get penalized for misclicking and there are no timers that lead to a game over. There are also no achievements tied to beating puzzles within X minutes/seconds. This means that with the exception of the "boss battles" it is mostly a relaxing experience. The puzzles were not too hard, in my opinion, with the exception of the crate puzzle. This is the first time I bothered with the "Help" button. The puzzle says that you need to build a stairs. I understand that much, however since the protagonist is supposed to directly interact with this stairs it would help if I knew how high the stairs is supposed to be for her to reach where she needs to go. Given that she even mentions that "she's 1 crate short" she must have this knowledge and it would be nice if this information could be communicated to the player. Meredith tells you where to find silver at some point so I don't think that this would be unreasonable. There are simply too many variables, otherwise, and I can stack as many as 12 crates on top of one another. Yes, I know that the solution can be seen if you skip the puzzle but you should design the game so players can figure out what is expected of them without spoiling it. Given that every puzzle can be skipped I am only deducting 0.5 points for a 9.5/10. I'd say that it is a solid addition to GOG's catalogue and may cause other publishers to put their Hidden Object Games on here with achievements which, based on my personal observation, the people who are into these types of games tend to like.
I saw the 1/10 review mention that there was only a 1 MB file so I went to the offline installer and I verified that there is also a 1.6 GB file. The 1 MB file is called "To Be A King Volume 2 - Part 1 - To Be A King Volume 2 - Part 1 (Part 1 of 2)" and the 1.6 GB file is called "To Be A King Volume 2 - Part 1 - To Be A King Volume 2 - Part 1 (Part 2 of 2)". (Since that seems superfluous I imagine that if you decide to check these out in the future the names may have been altered.) In GOG Galaxy the file is called "To Be A King Volume 2 - Part 1". To use the offline installer you need to download both "Part 1 of 2" and "Part 2 of 2" and then use "Part 1 of 2" (the 1 MB file) to download the DLC while you have the base game already installed. Every game downloaded like that comes with a 1 MB file since that is the offline installer. The only thing that I can imagine is that the 1/10 reviewer did not scroll down to see the "DLC installers" category. The version is, as of the writing of this review, 0.11.8. With that out of the way, what can I say about this DLC? I didn't like it as much as the first part. Mainly because I felt like control was wrested away from me in terms of the main storyline (you are still firmly in control of the general's love life). I'll try to be vague but these could be considered to be some minor spoilers. The protagonist sides with one character and spurns another in the process, then tells the former, to his face, that he doesn't trust him. This part includes marriages. I sort of get that the developer probably had to make them similar to avoid favouritism and not add too much workload but not inviting your best friend to his daughter's wedding feels wrong to me. There is a part that gives some background to a romance option but it would have been nice to have given that to the player before having to make the decision on whether or not you want to marry her. If the first part is a 10/10 then I would rate this as a 7.5/10 (3.75/5).
I played the demo on "Journeyman" difficulty and I would say that you can keep yourself alive provided that you don't get overconfident and keep your wits about you. I have died and most encounters will probably result in you losing health if you let enemies get close to you. The remainder of this review will cover things that I found to be of note. Should you like to go in blind and have the demo surprise you/learn what the enemies and levels have got in store for you then stop reading now. -Great music -Satisfying sound effects -Destructible objects -Friendly fire: Enemy spellcasters can destroy descructible objects and kill other enemies with their projectiles. This adds a layer to combat. -Flanking: Expect to be flanked or ambushed. -Fire burns you. That is to say, it deals damage over time. It doesn't last long but it does make you feel like you are on fire. Little details/Neatpicks -Killing goblins gets blood on your mace.
I would like to go more in-depth but given the limit GOG has put on reviews these days I unfortunately don't have that luxury. This game is best served for people who enjoy grinding stats and preparing for challenges often within a time limit just like the "Quest for Glory" series. As such I will be comparing it to the latter's fifth entry. Compared to "Quest for Glory 5" this game gives the player a lot more information when it comes to relationships, which is good for achievements and if you wish to romance someone, but puzzingly enough gives you less information regarding stats. I would tell you to read the HeroU manual but the descriptions are too vague. I only found out that Moxie can be worth as much as 30 Stamina because I came across that information while trying to figure out why an achievement hadn't triggered for me. Speaking of achievements, I would like to commend the creators of the game for doing an excellent job with them. I often do not like doing achievements because they do not feel like I achieved anything or they are too numerous to the point where they feel like busywork. I also appreciate that you do not have to romance everyone to get 100%. Furthermore, there is a page in Shawn's journal dedicated to keeping track of achievements during that run to help you with figuring out your correct save. You cannot complete all 20 achievements in a single run, however. The combat is probably a dream come true for those who like to play as a Rogue, unfortunately the game doesn't really explain its strengths. The HeroU manual covers most things but doesn't mention sneak attacks. Without that knowledge I'd probably rate the game an 8/10 rather than a 9/10. You'll want to sneak behind your enemy and it'll do twice the damage. Bosses typically start out aware of you so you cannot use sneak attacks against them. As for bosses, some of them are more engaging for pacifists and others are more engaging for non-pacifists so everyone should have something fun.
I am currently stuck at Chapter VII due to a bug that prevents me from progressing any further. I prefer to write reviews once I have completed a game however I do not know if I will be able to do so. My tolerance for such bugs is very low so I will be grading this game at a 1/10. Should the issue be resolved then I will change the score. There are multiple endings, at least 1 of which is obtainable at this point in the game other than the multiple "game over" screens of which there are many. I hope that will help to inform you whether you think that 6 (complete) out of 8 chapters of content are sufficient to warrant a purchase. The game wins a lot of praise from me just by virtue of not spoiling its plot on the storefront. It's refreshing to see developers fighting that urge. The voice actors all do a very good job of embodying the game's characters. With the exception of the guards they all feel very distinct from one another. In terms of gameplay, for those familiar with "Quest for Glory", there is a lot less of a focus on combat. It may play more similar to "King's Quest". It is a bit strange to see the protagonist lasting longer against a warchief than regular goblins, though. (Which are a "Game Over" screen.) The game could probably be a good introduction to the genre as it slowly ramps up its difficulty and by Chapter III you will have transitioned from a linear to a largely open world experience. (I suspect that is why at the time of writing this most people only have the achievement for Chapter I.) The puzzles can be solved without a guide even though the game does not hold your hand. I suspect that the more linear nature at the start is to help players to get accustomed to some of the game's logic because Chapter II has got moments that you could easily miss if you had the whole world to explore. The game requires reading and observation. Do this and you will find a rewarding experience.
I would like to go more in-depth but given the limit GOG has put on reviews these days I unfortunately don't have that luxury. Without going into spoilers I ran into a bug that prevented me from finishing a game. To be clear, this is not a bug that you can simply ignore but given that there are multiple classes you may never encounter it. It's not like I wanted it to fail, reloading previous saves and trying up to 10 times. I looked up if there was a patch. It turns out that there is a patch, which comes with the GOG version, but this does not fix the issue. It is an old title so there is no excuse to not give buyers instructions on how to bypass bugs which are this severe and prevent them from completing a game. Thus, at least one game in the series earns a 1/10 or 0/10 from me. As there are 5 stars to be awarded the bundle of 5 games loses 1 star here. The games are best served for people who enjoy grinding stats and preparing for challenges often within a time limit. In terms of story the game suffers from ludonarrative dissonance (the gameplay won't allow you to do what the story tells you should be possible). There is some social commentary which works at times but at other times you stop to think about the implications and it just makes you shake your head. Another fact which I personally do not enjoy is when characters have their personalities and mannerisms altered over the course of multiple titles without us seeing the character progression. In terms of importing, a selling point, *most* of the games try to take items away from you without even giving you a suitable explanation as to what happened to them. You may find it grating that the chainmail you bought doesn't carry over because you are not a fighter. -The 2nd game has got the best character import. -The 3rd game has got the best bartering system. -The 4th game has got the best object interactions. SPOILER The 5th game spoils itself in the intro cutscene by showing you who the main villain is.
