Very cool story, interesting characters with somewhat unusual goals. I was unsure whether to award it 4 or 5 stars, because some decisions you have to make in the game are just redundant (like hit a specific dialog option when everything's set up right before Kate's eyes) or just plain stupid (yeah, I'm talking to you, Barrockstadt flow terminal control). The story's too good to let it at just four stars, so there you have it. Kudos for the voice actors, especially for those incredibly upsetting phone calls when you got your hands full and just need to scram.
Well, gotta say at the very first chapter (prologue) I realized I wouldn't enjoy this game. It's not that turn-based combat against zombies put me off (although allowing same size action windows for your characters and zombies alike is a bit strange) but I let that slide. However, at about the third or fourth battle we encounter an Undead Nurse, which has two special abilities: she can poison you with her attacks (which is fine) and also heal her zombies comrades during battle. Yes, she heals her brethren, other walking corpses, which as already dead. And she heals them. At that point I quit and uninstalled the game. You may not be as picky as me when it comes to context, but from that point on I knew I simply wouldn't enjoy the game. As a turn combat RPG, it might be okay though, so go ahead if stuff like this don't bother you.
What a gem of a game! Other reviews will praise the game elements plenty (and you the reader should take heed of it, because it's true), but I'd like to throw a bone at something which may likely go unnoticed: storytelling quality. It's overall quite good, but some passages are very. very well-written, to the point of taking a few moments to re-read the paragraph and actually depicting the scene in my head. Very talented penmanship there. And to the writer(s), I'll buy your book if you get down to write one.
Ultima VIII: Pagan is one of a kind. I just finished it for the first time after getting it on GOG and I will say this: it's full of gray caves. Everywhere. You'll find yourself roaming in gray caves most of the time you're making progress in the game. Moreover, there's a place called Catacombs that I always dreaded going, and thus tried to cross it as efficiently and quickly as possible. Guess what? The game requires you to go back to the Catacombs all...the...time. So, by this point,that simply appear beneath you and swallow you whole it may seem I hate the game. I don't. In fact, I picked it up more than 20 years after I first played it so I could actually finish. I played it before any Ultima game (maybe with the exception of Ultima Underworld - which I love) and I can say this game's plotline is fantastic. The characters are awesome, the eerie atmosphere is top notch, the music is superb (especially the cemetery tunes, just 11/10 material) and the magic casting system is very interesting. I had to finish this game because it embodies what a RPG should be: difficult but fair, engaging but not over the top. I don't really mind the constant explosions (you'll see), the hordes of enemies trying to make your life miserable or the platforming. I do mind some ridiculous game design decisions, such as holes that appear beneath you and swallow you whole. Come on, who finds that funny? People that green lighted this should be shot in the balls, for all I care. Anyway, I digress. Pick this game up when it suits your wallet, it never did get outta my head, you'll enjoy it too if you like a good story.
If you read other reviews about this game, you may have noticed people complain about the crass juvenile humor (which is true, but doesn't bother me), use of foul language (don't quite understand why people make such a fuss about this tbh), some bosses' mechanics like Neuron (yes, he is a pain, but I enjoyed quite a bit to fight him in a new fashion) and even the inability to play your character the way you wanted too (this is true, you need to invest is things outside your main area of expertise to progress, but I played on max difficulty and always had quite a few spare learning points). If that's so, why the three stars, you may ask? Well, it's because this very cool game is run by a terrible dungeon master, who hates your guts and tries quite hard to see you ultimately fail. -- SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL -- You've been warned. When you face the mages in the last tower, you really grasp what I meant by a vindictive and sadistic DM who runs this game: I'm in the next to last screen, and once I get past this I will get access to the very ending boss fight...but I doubt I'll another second of my time. In this particular screen (and the one before it, which was already a pain), we have annoying mages (who never run out of resources, btw), all but the easiest one conveniently placed out of your immediate reach and put in such advantageous positions that I began evaluating if I wanted to go throuh all that just to finish the game. I would like to, as it seems there's so little of it left, but at some point in redoing those particular screens and getting my bottom handed to me continuously by armies os skeletons that greatly limit your options I realized I wan't having fun anymore. Who designed this wanted things to be hard, I get it, but it should be done in balance with other features of the game. I think I will leave this one at 99.9% completed. Almost put five stars, but the final experience with the game deserves only three. Pity, I was having fun.
Just what the title says. After playing the Eschalon series (which I loved), Balrum's graphic style got me sold. It's an isometric RPG, with a crafting system, with a chance to build your custom home from the ground up! All just dandy, right? Wrong. I swear I tried to like this game for what it offers you down the line, but in the first week I got it I found I was forcing myself to keep playing the game. The reason was there is no sense of immersion: the game has a lot of cool mechanics but severely lacks key RPG concepts. I'll provide two, maybe three examples and leave it at that. ## SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD ## At the very beginning of the game, you find out that your grandfather was a powerful wizard that, among other things, offers you a rune to teleport yourself to a safe haven. At level one. No sweat, he just plainly gifts it to you. No quest, no peril. The rune was just sitting there in his inventory, and upon starting the game it is in your possession. Well, you know you are the saviour of the world. Next, you hover the (frankly open unfinished patch of grass that is supposed to pass as the) world map and the mouse pointer indicates that you found a trap! Well, all necessary mathematical information is instantly revealed to you, like the exact chance you have to disarm it. Even if you're ten paces away and just got a glimpse by the corner of your eye. Well, you're the saviour and have Superman's eyesight. Lastly, I'll end this sad note with the uninspiring narrative: it feels like it was done out in a rush, like something to fill the dialog boxes just to get it done with. Brief, to the point and in the saviour's point of view, without sparkle and (again) immersion. I almost considered a refund, but I suppose I won't go into that much trouble. Very disappointed with Balrum's gaming experience.
Think of one of those bad MMORPG characters, he ones newbies used to make: a guy who does alchemy potions, then becomes a miner, then a blacksmith, carpernter, cook...well, Graveyard Keepr expects you to become this persona, but in a very amusing manner. You've got always something to do. In fact, there's just so much tasks that require your attention and/or intervention that you'll most likely be selecting what you want to deal with first, as opposed to some games where you roam around aimlessly trying to figure out what specific thing you need to do to keep moving forward. Early reviews of this game made me wary of buying it a couple of times, because the premises interested me a lot, but I was afraid of getting a broken game with a cool idea behind it. Well, I'm glad I did: I'm just over 50 hours into this fame, and still I extend my playing sessions for a couple of hours just to finish this thing...and then that other thing that just opened up...and, oh, right, today is that day where that guy shows up on the tavern and so on. Is it awesome? Yes, love the game's sense of (dark) humor, most tasks you need to do (some are corny though) and the varied assortment of skills you can develop. is it perfect? Hell, no: the incessant amount of walking you need to do, ugh...sometimes it feels silly to go across the village three times in a roll just to deliver some dude's reply to some other character. And the energy mechanic really pisses me off at times, because it forces you to sleep or just eat something when you just want to finish the bucnh of crafting you need in order to do something, and it really gets in the way. I know that without it some systems could be abused, but I would welcome a different manner of energy spenditure whenever the char is not in danger. Would have given a 4.5 rating if it was available. TL;DR: Awesome sense of dark humour, lots and lots of things to do (tasks and new skills), lots of grind and walking...but you should buyt it!
