XIII is well known game that is mainly praised for unique art. However, this could potentialy trick you into thinking that the gameplay is good as well, when in reallity, it is full of issues. Shooting feels very strange, save game feature is not working, enemy AI is very basic, mission design is not that great, stealth parts are not interesting, movement is not precise, levels look empty, and so on... You can still try the game, especially if you got it free on GOG, I'm glad I did in the end, but it is too boring for me to spend more than couple of hours playing it.
This game is interesting to play if you want to learn more about the culture, and if you have this goal, you will be fine. The game is very artistic with nice visuals, cool story and original setting. It is also perfect for younger players. However, it is very casual, a bit short, with gliches here and there. Most importantly, this is not a game for gamers and veterans of the genre looking for any meaningfull chalange.
As someone who played first TL and other ARPGs I was very interested in TL2, since this game received so many positive reviews, and it was created by a lot of ex Diablo developers, including my favorite composer. Some fans are saying that this is better game than Diablo 3. I’m personally not a big fan of D3, but I consider D2 best game I ever played. I thought that that must mean that I will like TL2, but I do not love this game. To me, this game was so boring, that 26 or so hours that I spent playing, seemed like eternity. Diablo 3 is class above. On the positive side, game runs fine with no annoying issues, gameplay is fluid, music and sounds are very cool. Item game was cool, as well as number of spells you can use. Animations are good. While graphics can be nice, it is not the style that I enjoy, as I do prefer “realistic” style. Of course, I knew this before I played the game, so this is not that important. Story is just uninteresting, and the world is not that interesting to me as well. Environments in particular were very dull, except some parts of act 3. Monsters are mostly large and colorful (not memorable), spell effect are exaggerated, you cannot really tell what is going when you have more than two on the screen. On normal difficulty, game is too easy. Too many items are dropping. These are all Diablo 3 traits as well, so I do not see why people call it Diablo 2 successor. One of the most annoying things for me is huge number of bosses, as that just diminishes the importance of the big fight. I think that players who enjoy mechanics, item hunts, playing with friends and farming could possibly find this game interesting, as these things seem to be on point. But if you want memorable experience, story, world, memorable monsters, cool item look, interesting characters, and to be honest, any innovation, this is probably not going to leave good impression. I would recommend anyone to try Hob from the same developer, it is more interesting and original.
Hob was on my wishlist for quite some time, and this is not only because it was made by Runic games, but also because it did look interesting. I thought that puzzle game where music is composed by Diablo 1 and 2 composer Matt Uelman has to be good. I loved the art, mystery and cool animations. I also enjoyed some of the world design, as well as overall ambient. However, this game was not exactly what I expected. It is not really a puzzle game, or platformer or action RPG, but a mix of elements from all genres mentioned. While the game is somewhat original, it is not really better in platforming than any platformer. Also, it does not have better puzzles than puzzle games and same can be said for combat and RPG elements as well. What kept me playing until the end of the game is not the story either, but a colorful world and lighthearted nature of the game. I played for 15 hours more or less, no major problems with game stability. I would like to recommend this game to younger people and the ones that want to take a break from larger and harder games.
This game is quite interesting and has a lot of positives, such as AI, graphics, music, art and original mechanics. It is most definitely worth your money and time if you like management and RTS games. While I’m a fan of Majesty 1 & 2, and I still prefer those games over Driftland, I still enjoyed playing. Player needs to be patient with this game somewhat, as tutorial is not that great, and I see a lot of people quitting very early. But game does become more enjoyable later. Campaign is long, and has some interesting missions, though you could find it to be a bit repetitive. It can be challenging, but not overly complex. I was not impressed by the story or the way it was presented. Graphically, the game is superb, but you will struggle to see the difference between buildings, so it can be improved. Music is fine, serves the gameplay well. Animations and sound are good enough. It was nice to play with different races, that all have unique twist. To conclude, this game has a lot of room for improvement in almost all areas, however, it is relaxing, fun and it has solid foundations. Some expansion or a sequel could build on core ideas even further. One important note is that game had no bugs, issues, crashes and it ran very smoothly for me.
Thank you for this game! This game is perfect representation of what I imagined fantasy game should be. You can find faults in any game, but the excitement I felt to play this game is not easy to create for someone that is gaming for almost 30 years.
