So after doing some research, watching some let's plays, and comparing, I decided to buy AoD. Being a huge fan of RPGs, turn based games, and anything tactical, I booted it up ready for an adventure!

I made my mercenary, skilled him with what I thought was pretty conservative (High sword skill, some block, some crit, crafting, and streetwise) and got ready to rain destruction on the land. 5 minutes later, after wildly swinging a sword, I found myself lying in a pool of my own blood, wondering how I ended up here. I never got to finish that thought as I faded into the blackness of death.

Round 2! Some skill adjustments and deciding to let the assassin walk this time. 15 minutes later, surrounded by some generally tough (albeit poisoned) warriors, I pulled a sword out of my liver and once again drifted into the nether.

AoD is tough. What seems like a perfectly normal reaction in an RPG usually ends up with you on the floor, bleeding profusely, moments away from a tragic early death. And while many find this infuriating and way too hard to be fun; I love it!

It is a little infuriating, I'll admit, but the blow is softened by the usually humorous tale of how you end up dying afterword. Often blatently pointing out how taking on 4 armoured professional killers wasn't the smartest idea, and how there were OBVIOUSLY better options which you foolishy decided to ignore investigating. Then you end up nailed to a wall and used for target practice by some less than accurate thugs.

So why do I love it? Because it's real. You aren't Killzor, Conqueror of Boars, Finder of Magical Maces, Scourge of Evil. You're Bob; Brash young man deciding to pick up a sword and try your hand at mercenary work. You understand the pointy end is supposed to go into the bad guy, and that shields are most effective when raised, but that's about it.

This game ditches the standard formula of an easy beginning where the first few fights are against half blind, deaf, one armed bandits trained in accuracy by Imperial Stormtroopers. No, you are against an actual bandit. A man trained to kill, practiced in the art of killing and raiding, and obviously been "on the job" for longer than you've been playing swordsman. And that is real. Not everyone you meet in life is going to be inferior to you, and this game makes that pretty obvious from the get go.

So stop hating the difficulty. Realize that an assassin, even 5 minutes into the game, isn't going to realistically be a push-over. He's trained to kill, and trained to deliver precise blows to your relatively important, squishy, vital organs. The assassin's guild isn't going to send Joe-Bob One Arm to take you out, they're going to send Alistair "100% Critical" Surestab to end your miserable life. And be assured, he will.

So here is your amazing, game winning, free secret tip: Stop making decisions like your ZeusThor, God of Pwnage. Start making decisions like the highly unskilled, lowly trained, combat inept turkey you are. See 3 higly armed bandits, one of which has a crossbow with an bolt big enough to take down a mammoth ready to fire? Maybe you should avoid that fight. Trader offers you a sweet deal if you'll venture with him out into a forest? Maybe that's a little too far from screaming distance to be considered a good idea.

In AoD, you aren't awesome. Even when you choose to be the awesome guy, you are only awesomely geared, and awesomely inexperienced. You're not born a hero, and you aren't going to die like one. You are _______, new adventurer, about as skilled with a sword as you are with a pool noodle in a fight. Expect no mercy, give none in reurn, and never, ever, trust anyone closer than a spear length.

---Edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes---