New RPGs of this style always interest me so I gave it a try but am sad to say the game in it's current state is not worth your time. The gameplay is extremely poor and repetitive, imitating Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim a little too much for my taste while at the same time (somehow) making it worse. The combat is trying to go for parry and dodge mechanics while keeping the same hold button for heavy attack thing but it is just a horrible experience. It's clunky, there is no feel for the hits you do, you shoot someone in the head and they just keep running at you as if nothing happened, stab them with a sword or cave their head in with a mace, it's like it doesn't even register (not talking about damage values here, but the impact itself of combat is non-existant). The world is also extremely dark. I get it, you want to make it a "dark and gritty" atmosphere with skeletons and skulls ooohhh spooky but it's so overdone that honestly it just feels kind of childish. In the practical sense, it's just a very dark scenario where things are hard to see and everything feels dull. I was also under the impression that things like jump to increase your agility and run for more athletics was a thing of the past but this game proved me wrong... Movement itself of the character also feels extremely clunky and awkward. This also makes combat even worse. Overall, this feels like a copy of an Elder Scrolls RPG (e.g. Morrowing, Oblivion, Skyrim) with a very generic feel to it, an extremely dark and dull world setting with poor movement, obsolete game mechanics and horrible combat gameplay.
I enjoy Solasta quite a lot. The core of the game is really well done and I think it is its saving grace. The D&D ruleset is fun to play with, I thoroughly enjoy the races, classes and spells and the combat is well done. The UI is very clean and very familiar which makes for a smooth experience without needing to fumble for controls. It was enjoyable in the original campaign and it is enjoyable in this DLC. Lost Valley specifics: Pros: - More subclasses to play around with - More enemy variety with some pretty cool enemies - Cool areas to explore Cons: - Questing is a mess. You receive too many quests all at once from different factions which can cancel each other out, make you lose track of what you are doing or just completely cut you off from other factions and quests. - The factions are poorly done with dubious animosity between a couple of them. There are times where simply talking to an NPC kills all your reputation with other factions and automatically fails any quest you might have had related to them. - Quests to capture outposts that just make you feel like you're playing Far Cry (and not the good bits). These result in extremely tedious fights in areas that don't even differ from each other, even the enemies are exactly the same. - Too many underwhelming and tedious fights against numerous opponents who are just fodder. - Main story is very weak and the finale just felt like a fight in a random encounter vs bandits and then the game just ends. Very underwhelming. - Difficulty is very poorly implemented. The difficulty slider only adds artificial difficulty by buffing enemy HP, damage, saves and attack bonus. Does nothing for the AI which is very dumb. Spellcasters spend 99% of their time casting level 2 spells or cantrips (yes, I play with the Deadly AI on) and fighter types just focus on your tank. tl;dr: Can be fun if you are someone who loves Solasta and want more Solasta combat gameplay. Anything else other than that, don't bother.
I consider Arx Fatalis to be one of my all time favourite games. It seems as if it is still vastly underrated as most people I talk to about it aren't even aware of its existence. This game has an amazing setting and lore, the exploration of the various levels is fun and engaging, each level is its own thing and with its own environment and inhabitants. It has cool combat, using magic is amazing with all the different options available to you and the versatility of the spells themselves and even casting them is unique and immersive (another great thing about magic is that it exists not only for combat, it is also sometimes the key to figuring out a puzzle). Progressing through the game isn't simply moving forward and killing enemies but instead you are constantly challenged by the layout of the level itself, making you need to find different approaches to reach certain places and by puzzles which are very well made and always keep you interested in finding out more. Extra bonus points for the cooking system as though it may not be the most complex thing ever, the way it works just makes me feel all warm and cozy watching my fishy cook by the fire. If you are an RPG fan, and especially if you appreciate underground settings of caves and mines and the like, do yourself a favour and play this game.
