Great writing, great mechanics, super combination of rpg and rts but 3 issues:
1. Loading screens: that takes forever this must be adressed pronto- big big minus
2. Playability: after getting killed like 20 times in one encounter, i changed everything to super easy only realm
mangement is still on normal mode
3. Change the speed: let the player accelerate the movement double speed / triple speed- on the world map
AND during the encounters. That should be easy to fix.
my 2 cents: The unity platform, on which this game is built, is for one reason: that it can run on different platforms. There is a HUGE software bottleneck, and that can only be adressed by the owner of the unity platform. If they ONLY had opted for the cry engine instead.
Areas that crash the game
Swarm of spiders early game that you cannot kill unless you see a dev post or a youtube video on how to get by them.
The game gives all the early kingdom quests to a single advisor and one of those locks him for 60 days which means you fail all the other quests because he is the only one you can select for them
Main storyline quest "Ancient Curse" has a timer and hidden requirement that requires you hunt IRL forums for an obscure dev post on what you have to do, miss it and you're completely screwed. Enjoy watching the Eight-Legged Plague destroy your kingdom 2 days at a time and there is nothing you can do about it.
I really wanted to like this game but this game makes it so hard. It's not fun running into game breaking bugs, bad design choices, and quests with hidden conditions that require you to hunt dev posts on forums to figure out what needs to be done.
Avoid this game
Truly a great game ... in my opinion better than PoE. Well-characterized characters, excellent setting, very customizable gameplay (skill, class, and level of difficulty).
- The Good:
Storytelling and characters
Deep and very customizable gameplay
artistic style
- The Bad:
(Spoiler Alert): I do not agree with the choice of inserting a "time limit" to complete the main quest
It is not possible to speed up the game like in PoE
Graphically it is not the best
This game is above my initial expectation. It plays like Baldur's Gate + Neverwinter Nights. The thing is, there are many bugs and glitches for now, but developers are aware of that. They are releasing a patch a day, and each patch (hotfixes so far) really improve aspects of gameplay.
I played like 10 hours and progressed to Stag Lord battle. The gameplay volume is great. Difficulty is hard and min-maxing is required to survive (almost BG1 level). Difference of 1~2 AC for main tanker is vital.
If developers can fix the problems and enhance gameplay details and QoL improvements, this will be one of masterpieces.
Review of: Patch 1.02
This is a true CRPG for traditional and pen&paper RPG enthusiasts.
Graphics are top notch and the artwork is gorgeous, but beyond nice visuals, the game's systems promote traditional RPG gameplay elements such as long term management of your party (no instant regen of health and spells after each fight!) and the game gives you in-game motivations to press onward and avoid rest spam. Many factors combine to provide a feeling of being on a real adventure where you are responsible for your own fate, rather than the "guided tour" experience of many modern CRPGs.
I am playing on Challenging level, and it has certainly been challenging... but in a good way. The game gives you in-world hints about which encounters are the most difficult, and if you mindlessly storm ahead and ignore them you are in for a rough ride. However if you pay careful attention to the world and the subtle clues it contains, and if you use appropriate tactics to fight an enemies weaknesses with your strengths, you can prevail. The difficulty levels in this game mean what they say on the tin though, so don't reflexively crank it up to "Unfair" mode or you will end up frustrated. Many modern CRPGs make their top difficulty levels fairly easy, but this isn't one of those.
There are a few clunky things in the game: switching weapon sets requires more clicking than you'd want, and I didn't see any key binding for that. Maybe some of those things will be addressed in patches.
So far the game has been stable, no crashes yet, crazy-good fun, and doesn't abandon traditional RPG elements to chase a mass market. If you like your RPGs with some meat on the bones, this is your game. If you want a game that just guides you through a story and doesn't challenge you, you might want to give this one a pass.
5 stars from me. The CRPG strengths of this game are more than enough to overcome some slightly klunky interface issues.
