I don't think I've ever played another game like this; the "figure out the linguistics" engine for each map is ingenious. Right from the beginning, the storyline is intriguing and engaging. "What is this world? What am I doing here? How did it get this way?" It's right up there with Myst/Riven/etc. as far as driving instant obsession until you finish it. The artwork is easy on the eyes and has a unique style. Each realm definitely has its own thematic "feel" to it, that makes the game feel very well thought-out. There was a game-breaking bug, as others have mentioned, in the bard maze, but the developer has posted a patch for it (check GoG forums), so this turned out to be a minor nuisance rather than a deal-breaker. (Hopefully this patch has been integrated with the GoG build by now.) There is a bit of tedium on each level, when you can't figure out your next move quickly, and have to iterate through all the places you've already been, but that's true in any world-exploring puzzle game. Overall this was absolutely worth my time, and my only regret is that once you've solved it, there's little replay value. Still, I'd recommend this game to anyone who likes a good story and engaging puzzles. It was memorable.
This game keeps me engaged and entertained. I find it highly replayable and I enjoy it every time. There are a couple of major game flaws that need to be stated: 1. The AI is absurd. Humans will simply keep doing what you last ordered them to do until they drop dead. They will NOT pause on their own to eat and sleep, and they will NOT warn you that they don't have enough energy to complete a task before dying, they will simply wander beyond the point of no return and die on you. So, the majority of this game is just about micro-managing these human automata to keep them alive. 2. The goal, or the way to get better endings, is not obvious and the game never tells you about the fact that there's another ending you could have achieved. For the amount of time a playthrought takes, this is just inconsiderate. The objectives should be well-defined, at least after your first playthrough. Note to devs: We're going to look it up on the Internet anyway, so, you might as well think ahead and design a way to convey the "ending" information into the actual game. It would have made you look more thoughtful and like better designers. Getting the most out of your game isn't supposed to be a trial-and-error secret. Having said all that, the game has a compelling, if slightly predictable/cliched story, and the fact that you can get different starting characters each time keeps it fresh between plays. The ability to quickly pause and change speeds keeps it from becoming too tedious, although if you have a bad run of luck with breaking equipment, you'll be ready to just walk away sometimes. Still, I've been playing it 5 years and I occasionally still get the hankering to reinstall it and play it again, so, that speaks well of the great job this team did, creating the right atmosphere for a time management/survival game.
What this game does really well is engage your imagination and your sense of foreboding. You really feel like the heir to this creepy mansion and its legacy, as you guide dozens of mix & match semi-disposable adventurers through the quests laid out for you in your uncle's logbook. Immediately obvious are the gorgeous, dark, Lovecraftian comic-book-style artwork, and the rich narration provided by our recently deceased mutual relative. Many familiar RPG elements are all here - a wide variety of classes; most have a single role, though a few can go hybrid. The unit customization is finite and not very complicated, so, you don't have to worry about choice paralysis or min/maxing. There are no gear choices, and only a few skill loadout choices to make. A dungeon run typically lasts 15-20 minutes. The only thing about this that is "roguelike" is that death is permanent. However, because of this, you are free to not stress about trying to make perfect choices or craft the perfect hero. Perfect is the enemy of good, and there is a whole lot of "good" here. The tactical combat is easy to grasp, as are the controls and dungeon mechanics. The quirks and traits make the heroes easy to differentiate from one another, as it gives them a custom pseudo-personality of sorts. Tack onto that the sanity-management system, and you find yourself scrabbling to make it home in one piece most of the time. The stakes in this feel real. It's not a cake walk. You never have quite enough resources to do what you want to do. You're fighting for every step forward and sometimes have to cope with a loss or a backslide. You can't always explore every room if you want to make it back alive with no sanity. It's a completionist's nightmare. And somehow, it just works. It's a memorable game that nails its aesthetic, and is very easy to pick up and put down and pick back up again after months. It's the swiss army knife of RPGs. Highly recommended.
Man, I REALLY wanted to love this game. Its story is compelling, and the characters and dialog in it feel natural-ish. But it has some very ugly spots that I've had a hard time reconciling with, every time I've given it another shot. Here they are in no particular order: 1. The inability to save without spending currency. Brutal! When dying is this easy, this is pretty much inexcusable. 2. Combat is too clunky. I don't feel like I have nearly good enough control over Henry to actually be an effective fighter. It's about as good as the combat in Thief 1. 3. The game allows you to miss opportunites WAY too easily with no knowledge you've missed them. 4. The game is rather poor at telling you what to do. Yeah yeah, I know you have goals you can view in your journal. But it's still very vague how you actually do the thing. For example "Obtain the Talmberg Armor". Where is it? In the chest up the ladder? In the chest at the bottom of the ladder? How do you open the chest? Oh, you needed to be an expert lock picker by now, to do it. Is that even possible this early in the game? What did I miss, that I've never picked a lock yet? Is it too late to get good at lockpicking? Why do lockpicks cost so much? Why can't I save a game right before I attempt to pick a lock? 5. I just picked herbs for about a half hour, leveled up my herbalism from 0 to 5, and then got two-hit killed by some madman at my parents' old churchyard. Does it restart me right before I died? Nope. Back to the beginning of when I entered town, 45 minutes ago. See my previous point about not letting you save whenever you want. Yup, this one wasted my time and ticked me off so I'm putting it in here twice. What a horrible system. OK, ok. Aside from all the awful QoL oversights, this game is really beautiful and engaging. If you really think you can put up with everything I just mentioned, then pick it up on sale and see for yourself. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
