I bought this game after playing Diablo 3 on Xbox 360. While there is nothing wrong with Grim Dawn per se, I do not think that it pushes the action RPG genre ahead in any meaningful way. It is very similar to the Diablo games with its point-and-click style, loot drops, and leveling dynamics. The story line is not particularly interesting, and quests are your typical kill, retrieve, escort, etc. Again, there's nothing wrong with the game if you like these core mechanics. However, I found it no more memorable than Diablo 3 was. I found both games tediously repetitious after a few hours and had to force myself to continue playing. Not a good sign.
The first Master of Orion game is a top-10 favorite of mine. So I was excited to learn about this new version. Overall, it's a good game, with many of the features that made the first 2 games great. This version seems much more slowly paced (at least on normal difficulty), which makes a full game a bit exhausting (up to 500 turns). However, it gets most things right. The game has a lot of research options and colony-construction options, which allow for different playing styles. Also there are different win conditions, such as conquest, economic, etc. The diplomacy part of the game is done especially well, but the combat is uninspired (I did auto-resolve almost every fight). The visuals, sound effects, and voice acting are all quite acceptable. You can customize a number of things about the game (such as difficulty, galaxy size, research paths, etc.). One thing that's new is the warp lanes that keep you from traveling anywhere you'd like, at least until you get some advanced research late in the game. I personally didn't mind this, since it allows you to play defensively by fortifying and defending choke points. Overall, a perfectly acceptable remake of a great game that should have some longevity for fans of the series and other fans of turn-based strategy games. I did not encounter in technical issues or show-stopping bug, except one that caused the game to hang if you tried to use a technology that supposedly makes a previously uninhabitable (toxic) planet amenable to colonization. Anyhow, I would recommend this game, but try to buy it and the DLCs on sale. 4/5
I love the concept of this game and the storyline structure. But it is fatally flawed and will only be tolerable to a small minority of people who don't mind long grinding games and repetitious restarts. As others have mentioned, the game lacks balance. It is way too easy to die; actually dying (a lot) is a core gameplay mechanic. However, if you are willing to either install mods or to tweak some game files yourself, this game can be somewhat enjoyable. I really can't recommend the game unless you are prepared to mod it in order to reduce the frustrating grinding. The game has a rather interesting storyline and structure, You are called upon to clear out the monster-infested estate of your family and to find the source of the evil. As you crawl through various dungeons with your four adventures, you get loot and other items that can be used to upgrade the local town. Your adventurers come from several classes and can be upgraded and leveled up by going into dungeons. These mechanics can get quite repetitious; however, the whole stress dynamic keeps things interesting. Fighting monsters can give your heroes all sorts of mental and physical ailments that can only be fixed in the town. Certain items (trinkets) that you find while adventuring, along with some stress-reducing character skills, can address problems related to stress, but the town has the best fixes, along with places for upgrading equipment, recruiting new heroes, buying provisions, and so forth. It all works well enough to keep things interesting, but again, can get quite repetitious and laborious over time. The ending of the game is a bit silly and anticlimactic, but whatever. The most fun is to be had in close fights when your heroes are well matched against a group of enemies. The narration and writing are top notch, and the sound effects and music create a dreary atmosphere. I like the simple art style, which is appropriate to the setting and story. Darkest Dungeon is worth a try for fans of RPGs and D&D type games. However, for most people, it will not be worth the bother in its default state--you'll die all the time, will never become attached to your fragile heroes, and will not make much progress in the game, even with all of the grinding.
I really wanted to like this game, based on all of the praise it has received. After having played the Baldur's Gate series and thoroughly enjoying it (several playthroughs of BG2), I thought that this would be more of the same immersive fantasy-based gaming. On some levels, this game is successful in creating an interesting world to explore with some fascinating people to meet and things to do. The story itself is quite intriguing and well-written. The problem is that the game is slowly paced for the first several hours and is tedious throughout. In terms of gameplay, the controls are fairly simple and should be familiar to anyone who has played Baldur's Gate and similar RPG titles. Your character is an immortal amnesiac who must find out who he is and how to resolve his curse of immortality. The character creation options seem flexible at first, but they really aren't. While you can change classes during the game, you had best learn how to do one thing well, or there will likely be problems later. Also, your alignment (moral view) may change based on your actions, but many of the game's quests (including the main one) are scripted for "right" answers that might force your character to play out of character. Also, there are some unreasonable limits placed on combat. In 30 hours of gameplay, I didn't come across one projectile weapon, which meant that all fights were melee skirmishes. Moreover, you can't tell how wounded your opponents are until they actually kill over. Planescape: Torment is a very text-heavy game, which is both its strength and greatest weakness. Whoever wrote the dialogue and story is a talented writer, and this would have actually made a decent novel. However, much of the dialogue gets in the way of the gameplay in ways that are truly annoying. You'll find yourself running back and forth between people, going through their entire dialogue trees looking for clues (several times). Sometimes those clues will not be found unless you know exactly who to talk to, when, and about what topic. Even then you might not get what you are looking for. Some of the quests are very imaginative, but others are greatly hindered by this ask-everybody-everything-everytime approach. The dialogue issue would not be such a problem if it did not plague the main quest, but it does. I hate to consult walkthrough guides, but you will probably have to in order to get pass a few of the several places where you simply won't know what to do next, who to talk to, or what item you need. There is an in-game journal that can be useful, but even it won't point you in the right direction on some occasions (and "completed" quests are not always taken out of the "assigned quests" category). Actually, this is the first computer RPG that I have played that could not hold my interest until the end. This was largely due to the tedious nature of the gameplay. I knew that it was time to quit when I defeated the main boss, just to get a message afterward that said that, in effect, I had not chosen the correct specific dialogue options before defeating this enemy. What??? Ridiculous, and very frustrating. Based on my experience, it's hard to recommend this game to anyone except very patient and/or hardcore roleplaying gamers. For everyone else, there are many computer RPGs available now that are clearly superior to the gameplay, story line, and graphics of Planescape: Torment. If you want to play a truly excellent, classic RPG of a similar kind, check out the Baldur's Gate series or Dragon Age: Origins. Though it has a good story, my suspicion is that Planescape: Torment largely appeals to a specific niche of the computer roleplaying market, which does not mind its tedious dialogue system, linear questing, and bizarre story.
This is a great arcade-style game with a lot of random elements that keep it interesting for a while. It is patterned after a game show where your character fights short battles in a number of arenas, advancing and getting gold to buy cards. The cards system is my favorite part of the game, since it shapes the battles. For example, you can get additional health, more damage, extra attacks, etc. Each of the battles contain 8 arenas, with the last one including a boss fight. The fights are short and intense, and the randomization keeps it fresh. The game does have a few drawbacks. There is not much variety in the bosses, and each will appear several times over the course of the three campaigns. Also, the game, mostly due to the random elements, can have spikes in difficulty, especially toward the end. Some battles will have to be fought multiple times, which can be both frustrating and monotonous. Finally, the game does not have a proper game-saving system, which is a big problem. It does not even autosave properly until the end of a campaign, which requires you to win dozens of arena fights in a row. You can get around this by making a copy of your "Profile" file after each battle, but this gets tiresome overtime. Overall, Forced Showdown was fun for the week that I played it. I gave up on the final boss fight, so I' m not sure what final victory is like. However, I could see playing the game again with another character (there are four). It's worth $10 or so, but might not appeal to people who might not like doing a battle over many times before advancing. Fortunately, the fights are short, and the randomized elements will eventually turn in your favor.
A very cute, well-made tower defense game. It blends in some role-playing elements and a decent story line as well. Graphics are merely serviceable, but the music is great, especially the mellow tunes. I liked the characters, too. Defense Grid is still the gold standard for tower defense games (now why is it not here at GoG?), but this is a nice entry in the genre.
Great game. I played the Majesty 2 demo a number of years ago and did not like it. I had not played the first game and just assumed that it was as weak as Majesty 2. Recently, I picked up Majesty Gold HD here at GOG during a sale after playing its demo. This game has seized my attention for the past several days, and I'm going to play some random maps as soon as I finish this review! The game is a refreshingly deep, but light-hearted fantasy adventure/city-building simulator. Your role is "the sovereign" who puts together towns that produce heroes, goods, and services to conquer the evil world around you. There is a broad array of classes that you can recruit, along with a good number of spells and abilities that they can learn. You cannot outright control your units, but you can "motivate" their behavior and routines though monetary rewards. There are about 30 scenarios, ranging from "kill the evil lich queen" to "beat back the waves of monstrous invaders." Except for 4-5 ridiculously hard maps, most of the scenarios are fun and challenging. The game has a good sense of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously. The HD graphics update makes it tolerable to look at, though the buildings look better than the units or the terrain. The audio largely consist of a hilarious narrator, unit soundbites, and a decent set of orchestral tracks. It all comes together as a solid, entertaining package. Shortcomings are few. Although there is a good random map generator that comes with the game, this is a game that really should have come with a scenario editor and other modding tools. It seems that the developer purposefully made the game difficult or impossible to mod. Also, guard towers come down a little too easily given their cost, and the game suffers from the base sprawl that plagued the last generation of RTS games. Anyhow, this is a fantastic game for anyone interested in a casual, but often challenging fantasy world simulator. (8.5/10)
After thoroughly enjoying AoW:Shadow Magic, I have found a lot to like with AoW3. The gameplay is really well thought out, including the spells, races, win conditions, classes, and so forth. The AI plays decently, and there are various difficulty settings that can enhance the challenge. I have never been a fan of AoW campaigns, and I got tired of the ones in AoW3 too. However, the random maps are great, and replayability is high. I recommend the AoW 3 expansions as well.
I had quite a bit of fun with this game. It is a kind of tower-defense game, but with an interesting twist. You play as an cosmic delivery man taking various kinds of cargo to destinations on behalf of clients. In a nutshell, you have to configure the cargo on board, load-out the right weapons at the right time, and get to your destination as quickly as possible. There is a rock-paper-scissor quality to the fighting, and you'll quickly learn which weapons to build in respond to which threats. There are 30 missions in all, and some of the later missions can be a bit tough, but not too frustrating. Your pilot doesn't really level-up in a RPG sort of way, but instead earns credits to pay for better weapons, shields, etc. There's a real feeling of achievement in navigating your ship safely to its destination, especially if all of the cargo is intact and you arrive early. There aren't many flaws in the game, but there are a few. Some of the missions will require quite a few tries to complete, especially if you are shooting for 4 or 5 stars. Also, there is not much room for error in load-outs, since some weapons are simply not effective against some enemies. Unfortunately, there is little replay value here, but the 30 missions do offer a good deal of value. The graphics are okay for this type of game, and the characters can be humorous. This is easily worth $10 or so for those interested in a tower-defense game with a unique twist.
A cute tower-defense game with some engaging gameplay dynamics. There's a short campaign and a number of other maps that get unlocked afterward. The upgrade system and selectable heroes adds a bit of flavor to the waves of enemies that you fight against. The biggest flow of the game is the difficult level (even on casual) that ramps up to a rather ridiculous extent about half way through. If you don't have the patience to do trial-and-error 2 to 20+ times on the same map, then skip this one. I've played through a little over half of the maps, and the difficulty is such that I may not be able to finish the game. Anyhow, it's worth $5 or so, but uneven pacing, elementary graphics, and simplistic gameplay don't justify paying any more than that.
