Probably the most interesting fantasy world I've seen in any game. Some of the quests at about the half-way point became very frustrating leading me to drop it. Magic in this game should be really cool but feels mostly just unintuitive even with Arx Liberatis installed.
Steam says I have 15.5 hour in this game and that's all one play-though. I wish I could remember specifically why I decided to just drop it after that long but last time I played it was about 8 months ago. I'd like to pick it up again one of these days.
Steam says I have 15.5 hour in this game and that's all one play-though. I wish I could remember specifically why I decided to just drop it after that long but last time I played it was about 8 months ago. I'd like to pick it up again one of these days.
I played this game because I wanted to see the first product of Arkane Studios, a company that I adore. I also heard that it's a good RPG in its own right. I've played plenty of RPGs in my life, but never tried anything dungeon-crawler-esque other than the Elder Scrolls: Arena. Below is a pros/cons list of my most important observations.
PROS
- Interesting underground setting, with 8 levels of mines that can be accessed pretty much whenever you wish. Exploring these levels will lead you to be very familiar with certain areas, which makes exploration of new areas very exciting.
- Well written story that seems cliche at times, but provides twists and interesting story arcs when you least expect it.
- The lore isn't fully fleshed out but is well written in what is explained. This leaves a sense of mystery for some things that contribute to the atmosphere of the game.
- Voice acting is surprisingly good.
- Very atmospheric, with a dark and creepy tone (however there is some humour in some notes and dialogue you encounter).
- Interactivity, such as picking up, throwing, and using items with other things.
- You have to have a very high attention to detail in this game. This could be a bad thing for some people, but I enjoyed making sure that I read every note, looked under every pillow, and talked to every NPC I could. The game rewards you for paying attention.
- Drawing runes is a really interesting concept, and is really satisfying when you get it right.
- Wide array of spells.
- Some clever puzzles and quests that make you feel real smart when doing it without help.
CONS
- Combat isn't great. It's pretty simple and there isn't much feedback when you hit an enemy.
- Horrendous user interface.
- Drawing runes was pretty unreliable (at least for me), especially during combat.
- Many puzzles and quests make me question how people could possibly play this without a walkthrough. The game expects you to know what to do and where to go next, despite there being absolutely no clues.
- The game throws some really tough enemies at you. I spent over an hour fighting a certain enemy that broke two of my swords. This was an encounter that I couldn't walk away from, as you can with most encounters. The fact that I was grateful that the final boss, who is supposed to be really hard, bugged out for me and didn't attack, is a sign that the combat system just isn't fun, and fighting enemies that are tough makes for great stress.
- You can only level up 10 times, which sucks because when starting the game, you will probably choose skills that you would in any other RPG, like stealth and ranged combat, yet are in reality quite useless. You have to know which skills are most useful, and be really careful in how you spend your XP, as you risk playing a weak character.
My overall takeaway from this game is that I'm super impressed that this is Arkane's first game, and how good it is for a really small team of devs. A modern return to this IP would truly be amazing, given how Arkane has excelled in creating immersive simulator games. Although this game is really rough around the edges, it features innovative design and an immersive experience.
PROS
- Interesting underground setting, with 8 levels of mines that can be accessed pretty much whenever you wish. Exploring these levels will lead you to be very familiar with certain areas, which makes exploration of new areas very exciting.
- Well written story that seems cliche at times, but provides twists and interesting story arcs when you least expect it.
- The lore isn't fully fleshed out but is well written in what is explained. This leaves a sense of mystery for some things that contribute to the atmosphere of the game.
- Voice acting is surprisingly good.
- Very atmospheric, with a dark and creepy tone (however there is some humour in some notes and dialogue you encounter).
- Interactivity, such as picking up, throwing, and using items with other things.
- You have to have a very high attention to detail in this game. This could be a bad thing for some people, but I enjoyed making sure that I read every note, looked under every pillow, and talked to every NPC I could. The game rewards you for paying attention.
- Drawing runes is a really interesting concept, and is really satisfying when you get it right.
- Wide array of spells.
- Some clever puzzles and quests that make you feel real smart when doing it without help.
CONS
- Combat isn't great. It's pretty simple and there isn't much feedback when you hit an enemy.
- Horrendous user interface.
- Drawing runes was pretty unreliable (at least for me), especially during combat.
- Many puzzles and quests make me question how people could possibly play this without a walkthrough. The game expects you to know what to do and where to go next, despite there being absolutely no clues.
- The game throws some really tough enemies at you. I spent over an hour fighting a certain enemy that broke two of my swords. This was an encounter that I couldn't walk away from, as you can with most encounters. The fact that I was grateful that the final boss, who is supposed to be really hard, bugged out for me and didn't attack, is a sign that the combat system just isn't fun, and fighting enemies that are tough makes for great stress.
- You can only level up 10 times, which sucks because when starting the game, you will probably choose skills that you would in any other RPG, like stealth and ranged combat, yet are in reality quite useless. You have to know which skills are most useful, and be really careful in how you spend your XP, as you risk playing a weak character.
My overall takeaway from this game is that I'm super impressed that this is Arkane's first game, and how good it is for a really small team of devs. A modern return to this IP would truly be amazing, given how Arkane has excelled in creating immersive simulator games. Although this game is really rough around the edges, it features innovative design and an immersive experience.