I bought these seasons long ago, but I'd still rate them here. This is one of the earlier Telltale adventures when they weren't full of reaction games and exclusive dialogue choices. Both things I absolutely despise so for me the Telltale era ended with the Sam & Max seasons, Tales of Monkey Island and Back to the Future - all of which I've played three times already. Not because they are particulary tricky, absolutely not, but I replay adventures mainly because I want to look at every object and hear an atmospheric/a funny comment and because I want to try every single line of dialogue before choosing the "right" one - especially if there is a crazy guy like Max who makes an often smile-inducing anarcho-insane quip afterwards. If this is the way you play adventures as well, then this is not a bad choice. There is no deep worldbuilding like The Longest Journey and the puzzles are easier than in most adventures I played, but the Sam & Max seasons are definitely good enough to replay once in a while just for the laughs. ("Max almost lost a finger once in a fan like that" - "Yeah. But it wasn't my own finger.")
... I actually prefer the sequel. I think I'm in the minority there, but Yesterday Origins' story kept me even more engaged than this one, probably because you don't understand much of what's happening in this one until some major story details are revealed. Not that it isn't worth it - I very much was entertained, and I usually prefer happy-go-lucky adventures like the early Telltale ones. Special mention to the voice acting - I was impressed by the mass and the quality of the dialogues. Well done! Most puzzles are well done - you have to think a bit, but they are usually managable. One thing I didn't like: There's more than one ending sequence and you can only save the game if you end it - so if you want to see all of them you have to end the game near the end and then start again, otherwise you have to replay a possibly large part of the game. I truely laughed at the easteregg ending though. I would buy both games again, even for full price - although this one is a bit short, I very much was entertained to watch the PCs grow and gain more and more details over time. I wouldn't mind buying a third one if one ever is made.
I liked the game. The 3d object viewer needs some time to get used to it, but after a while I kinda enjoyed looking at the characters again in each new scene and listening to the sometimes different descriptions. And, as some other reviewers noted, the game crashed twice for me. Fortunately the autosave function guarantees that you don't miss more than a few minutes at most if that happenes. What else? There are MANY descriptions of objects, which for me makes or breaks the atmosphere of an adventure, making the world more real. The puzzle quality was good in my opinion - some easy, some most moderate to hard, and for some I needed a walkthrough, as it is often the case with me. I liked most of the NPCs, only one had me rolling my eyes. The story is as engaging and dark as the first game, and it sucked me in from the first second and kept me engaged until the very end - if you liked the first one, I don't think you'll be disappointed with this one. I wished there was a third game of this series - I'd buy it in a heartbeat -, but as this isn't the case I'll probably play both games again in one or two years.
Yes, I hate cliffhangers. I also didn't like Ivo's naivete very much, that wasn't there in the first game. And well, at times the social commentary is a bit heavy. But I like it. Not as much as the first part, which is in my Top 10 adventures of all time, but it very much has its moments (I especially liked the Dark Wood chapter and the time travel for the flair). It is way darker than the first game and I really want a third game to conclude the story, although the chances are very slim (the last time I have felt that sad about an ending was with A Vampyre Story) ... but, nonetheless I'd play it again. There definitely is better world building out there, and some jokes are just ... not good, but I do care about the lives of Ivo, Wilbur, Nate and the other characters. What more can an adventure ask for than players who play them more than once?
I really hated that items were hidden so well and there were no hotspots when I first played this game. But I did like the characters and the overall story. The second game nearly completely lost me, but I've just played this one and the third game and ... yes, they are flawed. But I don't regret buying them. They are not in my Top 10 adventures, but I've played both of the twice - more than some other adventures I own.
It must have been nearly 20 years ago that I played Desperados 1 ... and I fell in love with the Quickload-game-experience. The colourful characters, the very different levels, the general atmosphere and the dark glee when you have found a tactic that works - I've played it three times and it was worth it every time. Since I didn't like the second part very much, Shadow Tactics was a godsend. It took all the things I described above and put it into a setting that you hardly ever see in video games. I would definitely buy a sequel, and I'd even buy story DLCs (something I hardly ever do). I can't wait to try Desperados 3 from the same publisher, but until then I'll try new tactics in another Shadow Tactics run.
I have already played 500 hours and started using mod classes 100 hours ago. Does it anything different than other ARPGs? Not really. But for some reason I can start the first level over and over again with different characters and I've not become bored yet. The thing that bothers me the most is the presentation of the story - two short cutscenes and the rest in text is ... well, okay, but not more. On the other end it is a long game if you do all sidequests - a nice thing nowadays. The speakers are good, the sidequests nice, the monster variety what I expect in an ARPG. Since I was disappointed with Diablo 3 and Wolcen, I'll probably still be playing this for a while. I'm not complaining.
I love BoUT more than most adventures I've played (and that's my favourite genre) and this one is okay. It's not essential to play it (missing Ivo and Wilbur), and I'd very much rather have a third part to complete the overall story, but I don't regret playing it. The Wizard's Tower is definitely the highlight of the game.
