Book of Demons repsects the player's time and it's Flexiscope is one of the best ideas in gaming I've seen in a while and it's implementation is brilliant - you can dip your toe or plunge into the deep end when deciding to start a run. Game devs: learn from this please (casual is not a dirty word and we are not all students with acres of time to spare waiting for the next World of Sodding Warcraft update to avoid progression into adulthood). I played as mage and after getting over the initial jarring movement of the main player I found the combat excellent and pacing and difficulty just right. The bosses and mini-bosses were challenging but never in an unfair way. I like the three main dungeon styles and the corresponding enemies within as it helps to keep gameplay fresh. I'm giving this game 4 stars instad of 5 because I have a shameless prejudice against card-style mechanics in video games. Although the skill-on-a-card idea makes sense, is done well, and within the mage class there is ample room for lots of playing styles (including the decisions to choose skills that lock off part of your mana), I cannot shake the disappointment of the laziness of opting for cards. I mean call them something else or conceptualise them differently. Given the beautiful folding paper art style it's a shame just to have flat bloody cards. If this is not a problem for you, add the star back on my score.
Even the most maneuverable space craft are cludgy and slow - the entire game feels like space isn't empty but actually filled with thickest treacle. It just doesn't work conceptually either because the human race has advanced where space travel and system jumps are the norm yet the sub-light engines have the horsepower of an early Ford motor car. In a game where the overwhelming majority of the game play is in space this game is therefore a failure (even at £7 when I bought it).
From the moment you seek the man smacking his head against the wall constantly you know you've left normal gaming and gone into creepy land. Adult creep land that is where it's less about jump scares and loud music and more about listening to other peoples "reasoning" and stories and trying not to feel as though your pet is looking at you in a weird way later that day. Some of the walking and clicking around did get a bit janky at times and I can't tell if that's the original game, or the original game fighting with a modern computer.
You own a castle, can play Arcomage, fly, cheese the mountains with the invisibility spell to access the experience fountain way sooner than you should and still have plenty of time to duel the arena, kill more rats and steal shit from the snotty Evles.
The class structure of Britain and the humour around it is what make this game appealing as every one from the Foreman to the Sloanes get's their fair share of charm and daftness. It can be really tough at times and in 4 player mode against the computer(s) you will tense up and cry, sometimes separately, but always with a happy feeling.
Conceptually this game wasn't all there when first released and at times it beggers belief why some ideas went all in (such as the dumb Eco Warriors) and other ideas never really left the working but naff stage (Public Works). As 4X games go it's initial appeal quickly sags into a little bit of repetativeness that even war couldn't liven up. What's worse is the current version, for whatever reason, has sluggish mouse control that's more sluggish than the bastard offspring of a slug and mouse that's trying to operate a cheap analogue mouse with lots of pet hair jammed into it.
