I both like and dislike Dark Reign 1 and 2 for different reasons and I'm pretty sure I know the reasons this series never really took off. Firstly, classic RTS style games got a bit oversaturated. Not really heavily so, but the supply was much higher than the demand and still is honestly. Which is damn shame considering how nice it feels to play this game compared to all the modern RTS games that just chase C&C or Starcraft's tail. Problems Actually clicking enemies is quite difficult. You have to sorta click on the enemy or the cell it's moving into or something. I could never really consistently figure it out. I always had to slow the game down to the point it wasn't fun to actually 'play' and was just a bit too slow and this is coming from someone who likes Myth TFL where you can slow the game down there too! Another reason is that the terrain is really unreadable. It's impossible to actually properly tell what parts of the terrain block what. Having a turret on the high ground isn't always an advantage. The complexity would be nice if it was like 2.5d view like Tiberian sun, but since it's not, it's too difficult to easily grasp. But it's also bad because you don't know the range of your turrets when you place them and sometimes they can get blocked by seemingly nothing, but it's just the terrain system. It leads to moments where an infantry will wander into a blind spot of your turret and it won't be able to shoot. As a result, it becomes 'slightly annoying' over and over again. I do quite like the unit designs and voice overs a lot! Also the unit balance is quite good. Surprisingly good in fact. Some of the base game missions aren't that fun, but I did enjoy most of the xpac missions (so far). I do really find the game quite fun and I wish more RTS games tried new things like this, but this game is just four stars. Great, not amazing.
It's not the worst game I've played, but certainly not the best. It can be fun to just kind of play it and go through the motions, but actually putting in effort tends to make you feel disappointed by the RNG even when it's in your favor. It just doesn't really feel balanced. You play it through one time and the enemies absolutely thrash you because of what you got. Then the next you get a comp that makes things extremely boring. I got an item one run which made my first team comp nearly unkillable because they would get healed for way too much when attacking. Sure the dice could've rolled in such a way that the enemies we went up against could kill them, but then it would feel really awful too since that was the most overpowered comp I had. It's just a little too reliant on RNG. Things swing too much in either direction. The inability to predict what's coming means sometimes you can just get screwed. But in other cases you might just accidentally have the perfect comp and then you still don't feel great because it wasn't your own planning and strategy. Usually I'm ok with games that completely remove RNG on attacks, but I'd prefer something that feels really straightforwardly satisfying towards your own tactics/strategy. Like Xcom where your tactical sense leads to a victory in spite of sometimes having to take risky shots. But I could be bothered to play more if I felt SOME kind of motivation to do so. I think the second biggest reason for the low star rating would be that the only character I even want to play with is locked behind DLC. I don't feel tempted to buy it either. If the base game had one good char that I was really happy with then I'd play with them and enjoy it and explore it further. And maybe I'd be tempted to get a DLC with more content to continue to do so and look at other characters. I'm sorry but I just can't get past these and I just don't feel any magnetism toward the game as a result.
A much worse version of Darkest Dungeon and I say that as someone who doesn't even really like Darkest Dungeon. Though my reasons for not liking Darkest Dungeon have more to do with it's grindiness, my issues with this game are all almost completely different. First and foremost, I have to take off a point because the game advises you of the 'weight' of some items you carry, but not 'all' of them. Usable items, for example, do not have a weight listed, but clearly have weight. Second I take off a point for the confusing map layouts. If you play enough, you'll find the pattern. But Darkest Dungeon just makes it completely clear by letting you just choose. This game is a shot in the dark until you 'learn' how it works. Bad design. Third, I take off a point because the game wants a story, but it's just bog standard crap. I don't like the main character and want to disband her. I don't like most of the characters. It's all standard trope crap. It annoys me that I have to have this character in my party at all times. I'd rather disband her and just have randoms. Speaking of, there doesn't seem to be any loyalty toward your randoms. It's a very 'if they die they die' attitude and you feel like you can just toss them out at any time. What's the point of telling me their name and giving me flavor if I'm just gonna toss them whenever I want someone else? Fourth, I take off another point due to sound design. Well no, I take off a point due to 'lack of' sound design. The music is good and fitting, but the sound real estate is EXTREMELY LACKING. I swear they use some really generic door opening sounds and it just irks me so hard. As someone who is a game dev and works very hard to get sound design right, I REALLY notice when it's off or bad. It's bad here. I would tack back on a point for the atmosphere which is pretty good, but because of all the bad forced story I'm not going to. Great premise that pulled me in, awful, terrible execution. The elves couldn't save it.
I know this game is pretty buggy and downright broken and unfinished and all that, but there are just some things in this game I love that keep me coming back to play it. Even if I am just soaking up some nostalgia. But it isn't all nostalgia. Even if you don't wanna buy or play this game, the music is incredible. Well, most of it anyway. (The town music and the Talamari guild music are peak) Also the colored lighting (when using Direct/3D) just does something pleasant to my brain. This and legacy of Kain : Blood Omen both have lighting systems which I love. As far as the actual game, it's really enjoyable to just explore and figure everything out. The game really isn't that hard and I really like first person slashers. Plus there's something odd about collecting and hoarding stuff to vendor. The very MMORPG inventory system mixed with actually being able to place items anywhere you want is strangely satisfying. I don't know how to explain it... but I want to replicate it one day in a modern game. The combat itself is not really that engaging. It has some depth, but not really a lot at all. It's certainly very smooth and works well for what it is and there's a great deal of variety in magic spells. So I do naturally enjoy it quite a bit. The quests and such are eh, and the main story is also kinda eh, but not bad. Just eh. The worst part is how glitchy the game can feel at times and maybe the old FMV style graphics. But another thing I LOVE about this game is that you go to several different worlds. It feels great to visit these strange places! My favorite is the underworld for sure, but the variety is awesome. I think the game would've benefitted from more of a Daggerfall approach and let the player create their character. Then focus more on the various dimensional exploration and the dimensions leaking into the world over time as the main plot. (Like Oblivion, but better) Copper is completely unnecessary to the plot when you think about it.
