Recent reviews by tony_hug

Ive put in about 8 hours -- and havent done much i must admit -- got through the intro -- those kangajabbawockywabbits are horrible to get through (on extreme) but found a strategy-- then promptly decided to build an estate long way from my initial s[awn point (piggies of doom).... but yeah - the worlds are trully beutiful and have no complaints so far... way way nicer worlds than recent AAA games. worth the money -- yeah definitely at this stage.

The game is a Masterpiece, there's hidden detail everywhere (more so than any other game i've played or seen) - there are little puzzles everywhere, and the way theyve integrated the magic lessons is genius - theres no break in immersion. You can fly , walk , swim, and even dive in places - there's nothing extra i could even wish to do. And to HP fans - Hogsmede is perfect, as is the entire layout/world balance with hamlets, broken castles and deep forest.

If you get tired of combat - explore a bit, do flying challenges - do puzzle challenges - or collect filed guide pages or other quest stuff till you want to do more combat.

It runs very well on high settings for me (they recommended low) - i've got an old GTX970 graphics card (though processor is a 12600k and i have M2 ssd , might make a difference),havent tried with harder settings yet.

Its a very solid game - yup nothing particularly new, but it doesnt need it, how many Good RPGs have there been the last few years, i can only think of 2 or 3 without struggling (and Nothing recent). And theres ALWAYS something new to play with as new mechanics are doled out with the storyline, which keeps this fresh. In tone think of Fable 1.

As for Combat - i have on hard - and it is very hard (for me ) i have to lower it occasionaly in story quests, the combat is very hard for me, and i just cant get the blocking co-ordination or timing - way too consoley to me -- BUT i can compensate with plant use and potion use and stealth, so not stuck.

12 hours in and totally stuck.
cant complete talisman quest -- need 7 strength, trainer only goes upto 5, and while there seem to be 2 potions to find
in world, like any gamer i used them immediately -- so cant progress. on anything else .. (think completion is trigger for main quest continuation - and done every other quest i can find)
Also limited healing from food and potions in world --- i've used just about everything in the valley so again
cant push through the more the undead, or few monsters left cause i cant heal any more.
it is gothic level play (20 years out of date) and i had forgotten how awful the gothic series was.

positives
=======
you seem to be able to move around ok
graphically ok
i didnt get any crashes
number and models of creatures so far ok
weight limit not implemented (so far) - thats really really good since nowhere to sell or offload/store anything anyway
Lack of handholdeing is admirable - but only valid if game actually works (or has way round if totally stuck)
(currently for instance hae no way of knowing if stuck cause of bug (as ibdicated by steam discussion) or own stupidity


neagatives
=========
Why oh why for a Spellmaster saga is the main mana regen got from HITTING things... making magic mostly strategic definitely not main weapon -- FOR A MAGE! (yes there are rareish alchohol + potions -- but very limited supply in game)
Poison immunity potion doesnt work (sketelons spiders poison you)
i have loads of upgrade points but cant spend them (see above)
(2 trainers - one useless .. see above, one for stave training - when only decent weapon is a sword (2 x hit points of anything else)
Really not sure block mechanic actually works (? need hogher skill levels)
Plants/healing stuff in valley seems hard limited (see above)
Agency limited -- Feels like a Tutorial level.
Agency limited -- hate system where i cant upgrade anythng - have 40 skill points from levelling - but whats the point cant use them ( well could train up staves for 10 - but have 25-28 ish hit sword, and 10-12 ish hit staves so no point)
You cant even use the storekeeper (maybe later) to offload loot
assignment of items to backpack slots really clunky way too many keyclicks.
Only 2 spells -- no indication of range value or damage value of spells
No numerical indication of health/mana - when heal items add points (you have to guess amount)
Out of combat no Healthy.mana bar unless go into Inventory menu (thats minor - but just annoying as constantly having to top off health)

From stuff i've read (now) on steam basically seems like just Demo level
AND no hint of that in either steam blurb or price..

Conclusion....
==========
keep away - well at least until there is content -- and yes i annoyed if true this is only effectiveky demo length game due to lack of indication in steam description -- as you caan tell i cant tell since stuck - only from what i can see reading steam discussions on this.

Its a good game - very underated
in general i loved it and it was refreshing to play
Positives:
Great Immediate/responsive combat
Interesting Spells (though i did not manage to collect all of them somehow)
Great Integration of spell and swordwork - makes you feel a real person
And despite other reviews the voice stuff is perfectly adequate - not perfect but functional
Loved the fact that i could build the character as i wanted
Loved the loot stacking to get better weapons
Loved the huge array of monsters in the different biomes
Negatives:
I think they ran out of money before finishing it - the single japanese style city makes no sense whatsoever (why only one) - and their merchants didn't even sell katanas (one of the best swords in the game)
the 'bad?' ending was incomprehensible and sudden
i kind of felt guilty for the orcicide i engaged in
Did spend an inordinate amount of time teleporting back and forth from the merchant

The game is amazingly wonderfully complex (and addictive)
Virtually All concepts from xanxia novels seem to have been implemented
I am really really impressed, 18 hours and i'm not even close to bored (rare nowadays)
and yeah its difficult and there is complexity i have not even touched on yet in 18 hours (or probably months)
buts looks now as there is lots and lots of replayability very well worth the price
i died in my 1st game - 2nd game i'm holding on by my teeth -- yup - i'm totally addicted.

still playing after 740 hours!

mostly positive - one major gripe

love the game
its challenging you really will get to hate goblins
(oh and panthers)
so the challenge has offset minor gripes
(mainly largscale land claiming by players near cities with single blocks.)
graphics gorgeous
relative character and creature sizes good
good camera following
game response not paticullaly well optimised yet..

However what is killing it for me is th developers insistence
on a 72 hour house decay - i know its alpha play, however as
a single player it becomes impossible to progress in a survival game
when the things you build up to help you survive get destroyed if you
miss the login deadline and the game ends up pretty much a wood chopping
simulator punctuated by being cornered and beat up by the goblins that have
sneaked up on you to steal all your clothing.

Lack of a map is also an issue to me -- makes the game seem huge
(i have no sense of direction) so i can understand why one is not implemented
yet - however again exploration always ends in death for me due to getting lost
which could be mitigated with base and respawn point building, again the 72 hour
rule prevents this.since havent completed one base w/o it being wiped yet.

if they sort that gripe out - its definitely worth a look