This is a good game that is unfortunately hindered by poor combat balancing and some strange design decisions. You can't use potions in combat, however you can apply blade oils. Another very strange moment occurs where, at the start of chapter 2, the player suddenly finds themself in control of King Henselt (which is very jarring!). However, imo the biggest issues are the combat and balancing. The developers have completely thrown out the combat system from W1, which is unfortunate, as the W1 combat system (with e.g. the different stances) was imo interesting and distinctive. It needed refinement, not complete replacement. The 'Dark Souls'-like combat they replaced it with feels more generic and derivative. The balancing of the game is very bad - it has an inverted difficulty curve, with the prologue and chapter 1 being very punishing and chapter 3 a relative cakewalk. There are a number of reasons why it seems so tough early on. Monsters/enemies don't seem to scale at all as the game progresses and Geralt's character development is somewhat whacky. It seems to be based on saddling him with a load of artificial weaknesses, which require perks to be obtained to correct. Without the right combat feats, dodging is very difficult; blocking costs valuable vigor points; and you take 200% damage(!) from hits in the back. This last point combines with the combat mechanics to be a big culprit for the early difficulty. Hits in the back do double damage; however there is no way to back away from an opponent whilst facing them. So the only way to escape from a powerful enemy is to turn your back on them and risk getting one-shotted from behind. It's bad mechanical design that makes the game feel difficult for the wrong reasons. The game is redeemed by the intriguing and complex plot, the characters, the roleplaying with meaningful choices, and the gorgeous graphics. I will give it 3 stars, as I feel it has a lot of design issues and the current rating is way too high.
@GOG: this is not a DRM-free game. This game includes always-online single-player DRM, which completely goes against the principle of DRM-free that your store was founded on and leaves what may have remained of your reputation in tatters. I insist that you remove this offensive, DRMed product from your store immediately.
@GOG.com: Please remove this offensive piece of always-online DRMed garbage from your store. It isn't welcome here.
First off, I want to clarify up front that I am reviewing this from the perspective of whether I think the game is enjoyable/recommendable by today's standards, rather than based on nostalgia or historical relevance. I tried it for the first time recently and didn't play it 'back in the day'. I like the graphics and I think they hold up well. I really appreciate the large, open world, the exploration and the great interactivity with the environment, that allows you to interact with almost any object you can see on the screen. The roleplaying and interaction with NPCs seems to be well done. The UI seems a little clunky, but manageable. I do of course appreciate the huge historical influence this game has had on CRPGs and it puts many modern titles to shame with the openness and interactivity of its world. However, for me the combat is a dealbreaker. It is simply one of the worst combat systems I have experienced in an RPG. It is effectively real-time without pause and as unmanageable as that sounds. Like playing Diablo with 4 characters simultaneously. You can probably imagine that sort of system will be heavily reliant on the AI; however, unfortunately the combat AI is also very bad and I found that combination to be quite unpleasant. Others have mentioned about problems like PCs walking into fires and standing there, burning to death. The combat feels quite disconnected from the player and I wasn't able to enjoy it. I've seen people saying that the combat isn't the point of the game. However, imo it is a big enough part of the game that I simply can't justify spending 80+ hours on a long RPG that has such poor combat. Again, I do appreciate the historical significance and will give it 3 stars because of that, but I didn't find the game enjoyable, compared to alternative options we have today. If there was a mod or more modern remake with improved combat/AI, I would probably be all over it. However, based on this combat, I would honestly rather play Ultima IV.
This is definitely quite the 'Jekyll and Hyde' game. It does some things better than any RPG, but it also has some serious flaws that conspire to pull it down. The good: the engine and combat mechanics are fantastic. ToEE has simply the best and most faithful implementation of the 3.5 ed. D&D ruleset that I have seen in a video game. The attention to detail is amazing and the turn-based combat works very well. The bad: the Circle of Eight mod pack fixes a lot of bugs that plagued the original game; however, it can't fix the fact that the campaign that has been built on the engine is quite lacking in several ways: The plot is very thin and the game is rather directionless, especially in the early stages before you reach the temple. It can be confusing and frustrating trying to figure out what you are supposed to be doing. Many of the areas you visit also seem somewhat sterile and there is a distinct lack of loot to find. There are many barrels and containers in the temple that are just empty, which somewhat dampens the fun of exploration. There is also a notable lack of traps, locks and in general things for a thief-type character to do. I don't believe the Moathouse (one of the first areas you will explore) has a single trap to find or lock to pick. The game also has a nasty habit of dropping the player straight into combat on area transitions and/or springing ambushes. This seems unreasonable and removes the possibility for the party to scout ahead to assess potential threats. I think whether you will like ToEE will come down to what sort of RPG fan you are. If you are the sort of player that prioritizes combat, stats and character progression, this is the RPG for you. However, if you place more value on plot, characters and dialogue, you will probably be less impressed. I dearly wish there had been more RPGs made using this engine, as it is fantastic. Overall, I would like to give the game 3.5 stars, but I will up it to 4 as I have a soft spot for it.
Buyers beware: this game contains DRM in the form of single player content that can only be accessed after playing online multiplayer via Hello Games' server. For further information, please see the following forum thread discussion: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/no_mans_sky_isnt_fully_drmfree Furthermore, this is not a 'review bomb'. This is an objective review, because the game contains DRM and therefore it is a defective product, which is in violation of GOG's 100% DRM-free policy and should not be listed on GOG.com. There is a wishlist entry for it's removal here, for anyone that wants to add their vote: https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/remove_no_mans_sky_unless_the_drm_is_removed
This is the first Larian game I have played, although I have played many other isometric CRPGs. I think the game is good and worth playing, but imo it falls short of the genre greats. It seems like a good example of the difference between a game engine and the game that is made on the engine. I think the engine is absolutely fantastic. The graphics are great and I love the turn-based combat, which is tactical and interesting. I also really like the interactivity with the game world, which is similar to Ultima 7 or Elder Scrolls in the sense that you can pick up every cup and candlestick, if you want to. The game also has an interesting and extensive crafting system - with a high enough crafting skill, you can craft pretty much any usable item. Character progression is also very well done and flexible. It is probably the closest thing to a tabletop RPG that I have seen in a video game. However, I think the game they have built on the engine is 'ok', but leaves quite a bit to be desired. Shortcomings in my opinion are: - The writing is not particularly strong. The plot isn't very imaginative or inspiring and the character development tends to be a bit shallow, with few truly memorable characters. I am also not a big fan of the overall tone of the game, which is full of cheap gags and silly, over-the-top characters. - There is a huge over-abundance of magic loot, to the extent that you will spend a significant amount of time managing your inventory and struggling to offload piles of magic items you will never use. This somewhat cheapens magic equipment and makes the crafting system pointless for magic weapons and armor. - The game world is very generic and not very open. The player is steered quite strongly along a path that is not easy to deviate from. Overall, it is a fun experience with room for improvement. The game itself is a bit on the mediocre side and doesn't fulfill the potential of the awesome engine.
