I’m after the Sneak Temple, all my characters have reached their first promotion. My current party:
-dwarf, warrior 6 -> barbarian 9
-human, warrior 6 -> paladin 8
-cat-man, warrior 6 -> ranger 8
-gnome, thief 9 -> bard 2
-elephant, cleric 10 -> monk 1
-elf, wizard 6 -> warlock 9
Some comments:
-The monk quest was especially annoying (you have to spend 2 in-game days without any armor nor weapon). I mean: my elephant did not have any equipped items during whole Serpent Temple adventure (I think it took me about 2 game days?) and the promotion quest did not succeed. So I just removed everything from her inventory and backpack, I left whole party near the town gates for 3 hours (real time…) and only after that I have reached the promotion. I do not know what was the reason of my first failure (too short time? Or maybe items in a backpack count in this quest?)
-The fact that most of the guild quests send us to the same locations, related to the main plot, is a bit disappointing. I had to visit the Crypt three times in a row. I also don't like side quests that are done by the way anyway (like killing Naga in the temple). It irritates that if a task is completed ahead of time, it is gone (I lost one promotion of my magician because I had killed the slime man before I received the task). Game is a bit too linear, without much of side locations, which is a shame.
-The Serpent Temple was a brilliant dungeon, even better than the Crypt. Really – the art of dungeon-building is now forgotten. Those two dungeons were vast, and in the same time very hand-crafted. They are much better than anything in Wizardry 8 or Might&Magic 6, not to mention shit modern games ala Skyrim. I like their size – big enough to feel lost, but not as huge to get bored. Both dungeons have a lot of content and features, they have enough specific places to treat them like real fantasy places (libraries, altars, warehouses, prisons etc.) – their design is logical, but in the same time there are enough “gaming” elements to have fun (traps, hidden chambers, elevators, puzzles). In general the exploration is a pleasure. Maybe puzzles are a bit too easy, but the whole design makes a good impression. I also like the atmosphere of those places – especially the Serpent Temple which invokes some memories of Conan’s adventures (from books and movies).
- I like the whole style and atmosphere of this game. It feels like a great classical adventure against the Dark Lord. I did not realize how I missed this well-worn them. It was so common in the eighties and nineties, but now it is oddly rare (what was the last campaign of this style? Dragon Age: Origins?). I can feel like a character from Dragon Lance novels or other power metal story (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUuoXWTYVHs), yeee! Probably many players do not like such a cheesy scheme anymore, but I do not demand anything more from a fantasy cRPG. Here we have everything: dark prophecy, magical swords, crying angels, dragons, a long forgotten battle of gods…
-Moreover: it is one of a few video games which can awake my imagination. It was so good to sail up the river on a raft to reach the weird frog-man village. The game provides a perfect illusion of a long journey through a fantasy land. Everything is interesting and mysterious. I also like the “dungeon master” comments here and there, in general this game greatly simulates typical PnP adventure. You could just feel like a party of chosen champions traveling through magical forests, unconquered mountains and ancient tunnels on a quest for glory! The world looks ancient and fantastic, not like those new universes full of modern deviants dressed up in medieval costumes.
-Menu-towns do not bother me. They look nice and gracefully – something like town screens from Heroes of Might and Magic.
-Art-style, although a bit too simplistic, is very imaginative. I like equipment icons, weapon and armor design, dungeon decorations (those giant serpent jaws...), enemies look (rat-man bandits!). Visuals are very similar to old D&D illustrations, which is a great plus of this game.
-Characters development is very, very good and rewarding. It is always new class to unlock, new trait to learn. Our development depends on 3 elements: exp grinding, guild advancement and gold resources – it is much more interesting than simple leveling from quest to quest. Gold, for now, is still useful. I have the impression that only games that require money to develop characters can keep the gold's usefulness for the most part of the gameplay (like this or M&M). It should be a rule to pay for spells, training etc.
All in all it could be one of my favorite blobbers (if it can keep a quality to the end). The game is definitely rough, but to a lesser extent than typical “great but…” title. If only the battle-system could be better, truly turn-based…
Really guys – play this title. It is so much better than watching endless cutscenes in Witcher 3 or raping armies of sprites in M&M6.