So... with my
pink nostalgia glasses on, I (re)bought LOL1+2 on GOG (because I only had the CD version) and tried to give Lands of Lore 1 a run again.
As in my previous post hinted, I tried to make a Solo-Run with Kieran. Solo-Run means, that I just leave Baccata and Paulson dead all the time. I also tried to focus on being a Rogue and mostly use Ranged Weapons. I played until the City of Yvel and then stopped.
Not motivated anymore... because of reasons...
=> First of all, I am really annoyed by all these weapons which have special names. When they have special names, you automatically think that this name must indicate something special. There must be a special effect, some cool feature, something awesome - - - But there is nothing! Nothing awesome about them! No special effect! No cool feature! No observable effects! No nothing at all! So you have these 100 weapons with different names, and then you eventually find out, that they mean nothing at all! The only thing which matter is how much points it adds to "Might". Everything else you can ignore. Well almost. There are maybe 10 weapons in the game which actually make a difference, such as the Valkyrie Crossbow (which shoots fireballs) or the Emerald Blade (big bonus against ghosts). But all these other weapons...? Nothing! It doesn't make a fucking difference! They should have called these weapons "generic weapon 1", "generic weapon 2", "generic weapon 3". This would have been better. Seriously.
=> Examples:
So there's this "Stealth Shield"... I thought this is the same as the one in Lands of Lore 2 which makes you invisible - but no - everyone sees you. It's just another weak shield. Maybe the "Whisper Cloak" makes you stealthy then? Nope - just another weak jacket.
So there's this Bow "Scout", which I thought is a bow that shoots a projectile the attack which hurts the enemy most. In Lands of Lore 2 this bow shot arrows, ice bolts, fireballs depending on the enemy. But here? Nothing! Just another weak bow only shooting arrows.
So there's this Axe "Dominance" with 5% killing chance? I thought with Kieran's faster attack rating I'm more lucky to get instant kills - but no - I'venever seen an instant kill. And because it's also so weak, it would be stupid to keep it in hope that 1 in 20 attacks would kill the enemy. No fucking enemy even lives that long! Absolutely useless.
So there's this Warhammer "Thunder Maul" (or whatever it's called) which has a 25% to produce a thunderstorm. Sometimes I heard a noise like a thunder, but nothing really happened. Not even a blood spatter on the enemy. I mean... WTF? I thought this sword should be similar to the enchanted "Thohans Great Sword" in Lands of Lore 2. In LOL2 it actually made a difference in impact and visually - but not in LOl1.
So there's this bow "Gemini", which shoots 2 arrows. Finally a weapon where you can actually see the special effect! And you think it must be good - but no - these 2 arrows are so weak, that it's worse than the Valkyrie and other single-shot-crossbows which you get at the same time.
And then there's this "Sword Entropy", "Sword Protector", "Jeweled Dagger", "Dagger Assassin", "Throwing Star Vega", blahblahblah.... come on! Don't name this shit special if it doesn't change shit! Fuck this shit! It doesn't matter!
This was better solved in Lands of Lore 2+3. There you could at least see and experience some additional effects. Although in Lands of Lore 2 you often had to "seek" for the special effect in order to experience it. It was more obvious in Lands of Lore 3.
Anyways... using and applying the special effect of all these "wondrous" weapons with their "wondrous" names was actually one of the main motivators to start this playthrough. Now that I found out that at least 90% of these "wondrous" names mean nothing at all, this motivation is gone.
=> About the attack rating:
Contrary to what I've read in the megathread, I don't see a change in attack speed when reaching Rogue level 4. The attack speed is the same as always. Maybe the Rogue level changes the ranged attack damage, or maybe only lockpicking? I don't know.
Attack speed of Kieran at Rogue level 6 is the same as in the beginning: exactly 2 seconds (my full stats at this point in the game were Fight: 5, Rogue: 6, Magic: 3)
Attack speed of other characters: default attack speed is exactly 3 seconds. I don't know if it changes for them when they train Rogue, but it didn't change for Kieran.
The idea to get a faster Attack Rating per Rogue level was also one of my main motivators to start this playthrough. Now that I found out that the Rogue level doesn't seem to change the Attack Rating at all, this motivation is also gone.
=> About levelling up and level limits:
I thought by using one character only, his level-ups would be so fast, that I would be close to the maximum Level in the midgame already (at least for 1 skill). Didn't work. The solo-character did level up faster at the beginning, but at Level 4 onwards it became very slow, and finally got stuck. Which means there is a limit on how much you can level up per area. In the Urbish Mines I didn't gain any experience anymore when I reached Rogue level 4. I had to move to the next area to gain new experience again. This is not necessarily bad, but it destroyed my attempt to reach maximum level at the midgame.
And I'm still far from it. That "Rogue Level 6" is only because of the Jade Necklace, otherwise I'm still Level 5. And even when I entered new areas, the experience gain became very slow. It became so slow, that I don't even know if it's possible to reach the maximum Rogue level at the endgame. There are only 3 areas left (Catwalk Cave, Xeob Dungeon, Cimmeria).
The idea to level up quickly and max out a specific skill very early was also one of my main motivators to start this playthrough. Now that I found out that game limits it in a way that makes it very slow to impossible, this motivation is also gone.
It's time to put off the
pink nostalgia glasses.
When I tried to replay the game (after 20 years), I perceived the clicking very stressful. So stressful I had to stop entirely. And I'm saying this despite LOL introduced me to RPGs. No amount of nostalgia can compensate that. Just not my type of game anymore. I wished it were a turn-based-blobber.
, so don't go accusing me of lying to you. With that said I think it's a fun game.
