I was one of those who actively voted YEA for bringing Din's Legacy to GOG when it was rejected at first. Now I'm feeling slightly disappointed. For me, there's not enough new content here to make it a separate full-valued game. It should rather go as another DLC for Zombasite. I do understand that indie developers can be forgiven for such a little sin as selling DLCs as new games to pay their bills and earn their crust. I do deeply respect Steven Peeler for his unremitting inventiveness and creativity in making ARPGs as a genre more interesting, challenging and lively. I do own this game (as everyone can see) as well as all other Soldak titles. And I will buy every next one too. I just vaguely feel that the next title has to be more radical change from the familiar track the serie took from Din's Curse release. New graphical assets, new world (Drox 2, maybe?), something really NEW, not just constantly sliding downstream with endless new mechanics added to the core trunk of the same game. For the newcomers in Soldak world I would still recommend Din's Curse and NOT Din's Legacy, sorry. The game became TOO chaotic now, it seems that some consistency has been lost irrevocably in Zombasite already.
I was stupid enough to have Atlantis bought even after I've already ate the turd with Ragnarok. Do NOT repeat my mistakes. If you're a fan of good old Titan, here you'll see nothing new and nothing better than before. They were still not be able to add the full-fledged new act. Bugs are aplenty, graphics 'improvements' still make game look worse and lag like mad, the story and narration are bland, new items and monsters are nothing notable, and poorly balanced as well. if you're new to TQ and eager to play it, you have not much other options (as I could guess, there's no legal way now to get the good old TQ + Immortal Throne + fanpatch). Just keep in mind that this game was really great back then, but now it's 'improved' to the worse by random bad cobblers.
PROS: Meaningful combat system that demands tactical planning; Crafting system with various upgrades to your gear; Visual design of (some) monsters is interesting (in bizarre French way). CONS: Graphics are eye-irritating and wearying (on any settings); Dialogs are very poor written, full of irrelevant swearing; Sub-menu system (access to inventory, skills and so on) is awkward and non-ergonomic; Plot is second-hand, and personalities are empty and flat; Leveling up is very fast and gives no feel of real progressing (due to the shortness of the game itself); Corridor gut-like locations full of artificial hold-ups (tedious cutscenes) to increase playtime; RPG elements are rather non-existent, choices are illusionary. FINAL WORD: Good combat system to make Witcher games learn and envy; everything else - not worth of your time. There are plenty of much better modern WRPGs around. P.S. Language glitch can be fixed simply by deleting the unneeded localization packs from Data folder.
PROS: + This game keeps you being alert, it challenges you literally every minute; + The gameworld looks truly alive and breathing; + Class system is one of the best in ARPGs I've seen in my 25 gaming years; + Everything about items is very good (items affixes system, items tiers system, looting mechanics etc.); + World-versus-player systems are very good (dungeons environment hazards, map generation, monsters, portal mechanics etc.); + Battle mechanics is very good (damage types, attack speed, chance to hit and so on); + Sounds and music suit fine to the gameplay and add to the atmosphere. CONS: - The flow of the game is unusual and may seem rather chaotic for fans of more traditional ARPGs (games of 'Diablo family'); - Graphics may look outdated to younger and fastidious players; - Gameplay for magic characters may seem not so smooth and satisfying as for melee ones; - Some game mechanics are obscure and require additional unaided research from a player; - Elements of town-management and interaction with NPCs are specific and may be tiresome to some players. OVERALL: Truly unique game in its genre (as well as every Soldak game though) that needs an attentive, patient and devoted player to whom it will bestow its peculiar treasures.
Avoid this abomination at all costs! Gigantic empty locations, megatons of bugs, missing textures everywhere, ugly items and mobs models, absolutely stupid 'just another one more Nordic/vikings setting again' that misfits original Titan Quest atmosphere badly, the tenth Mastery added just to be added, endless hordes of puny human bandits to kill (after when you were elegantly and mercilessly slaying Titans and Gods themselves in original game - WTF?)... There's also no meaning to play Anniversary edition alone (with no Ragnarok), just because it adds nothing really useful or really needed, changing GUI and some mechanics to worse, and dropping the difficulty to more easy and schoolboys-friendly way. Save your hard-earned money and forget about this idiocy. If you want to enjoy Titan Quest - just get Gold Edition, roll the fan-patch 1.17a over and you're fine.
Well, I think there's no need to review or even to comment it.
I can't say what's wrong with ADOM exactly, because everything seems being there for the first glance: character development depth, multitude of enemies, items and so on. But it never hooked me just as Angband, DCSS, Epilogue, Caves of Qud, The Curse of Yendor, Cogmind or The Pit do. Maybe it's just the cartoonish esthetics and overall lightweight atmosphere. Anyway, you'd better try the free version from ADOM site first (especially if you are die-hard classic roguelikes fan, like me).
