Recent reviews by Hexorcist

Let's go back for a moment, 1 year ago, to remember what was arguably the worst ever mmo game launch when considering the pre-launch promises made by the former dev team.
I do not recall any other game failing on so many points as this game did on its initial launch.
To this day the former Discord channel remains firmly etched in my memory as the most vicariously entertaining that I have ever witnessed and it quickly became a 'digital arena' for verbal PvP between the dev team promising fixes and patches that never materialised and the angry horde of gamers some of whom had pre-paid lifetime subs and everyone else had paid a monthly sub (even a double sub lol).
If ever the titles 'Copium' or 'Crash & Burn'were deserved.... it was with this games initial launch.
..........
Now, here we are, 1 year later and this game has a completely new dev team (sourced from original backers of the game) and I received a 'tip-off' from a gaming friend that I really should pop back to this game now.
I am now 150 hours played and the current state of the game is very enjoyable, extremely promising and has daily updates from the very busy dev team working on improvements and suggestions from the ingame community.
I have never witnessed so much passion and determination in a games development as this, particularly when you consider this game was technically dead in the water just a few months after launch.
One dev called Ryan goes out of his way gathering info from the playerbase and applies fixes and updates as swift as is possible.
If you are a returning player from those chaotic launch days, then contact Ryan on the games Discord to get as much as is possible restored from your former account. I lost a vaultload of mats and items from my former days but I did get all of my levels restored including most of my professions and that has been a superb assistance to me.
The ingame run speed was almost as painful as walking on Lego bricks...... that has been altered to a much more acceptable general speed plus a big increase when walking on roads and pathways.
Mounts are very close to being released ingame and this will improve the travel speed immensely.
Quests that were once broken now actually work fine.
Resource nodes are much more abundant and better respawn rates.
The mainland now has numerous mob spawn locations and the devs listen regularly to player feedback to adjust where necessary.
Exploration is now fun due to the above changes.
Many group encounters such as dungeons and world bosses.
Teleportal system ingame is now improved and there is also an acceptable 1hr cooldown recall option.
Large variety of classes and I have been informed that m,any of the previously broken ones have received much love and attention...my preffered class 'Warden' has been nerfed slightly, and rightly so, as the previous duel weapon buff no longer applies but it is now possible to craft the correct stat boosted armours for warden..wahay!
The community ingame and on the discord is a complete 'reboot' from previous as all the toxicity has now gone.
Very, very helpful community.
There is still a PvP area in the game but unlike previously it is now possible to get the rarer harvest nodes outside of the PvP areas thus there is no real need to venture into the 'Wildlands' unless you like that kind of buzz from a full drop loot experience.
.........
tl/dr:
What was once the biggest launch fail has now transformed into a game with a very promising future and great community.
Completely F2P now and if you ever had a character before then contact the dev Ryan to get a restoration.
For anyone that has never played I implore you to read the negative reviews as literally a history lesson on how not to release a game, the negative reviews have no application now to the games superb current standard.
Lots of work left to do with this game, there can never be enough polish, but after witnessing this game over the last 2 weeks I am confident this game has a really great future.
....
Devs, I salute you !

10/10 I would post a clown emoji again

I am now 50 hours played of this game and can say honestly that I just do not have as much time available as I really want for this awesome ARPG.
It has a mob density that I can only describe as being like a 3rd person 'bullet hell' game.
Imagine the most chaotic moments when the screen is full of mobs in PoE but not just in timed swarms but as a perma spawn rate and you will be close to how it is in Dwarven Realms.
The game description states 'chaotic' and 'mayhem', yep, those words should really be in bold and underlined font.
The game community have already delivered many 'cookie cutter' as well as meta builds but as this is still in EA everything is liable to change.
The game has monthly seasons/ladders that allows for many changes (necessary or suggested) to be implemented by the dev team.
This game is tripping so many dopamine switches for me I am pleasantly surprised as I never really give much care for seasons or ladders but just moving up or down a spot on the ladder in this game is rather a compelling force to 'git gud'.
Performance? I have had absolutely no issue with anything performance related. Thumbs up from me.
Gfx? Lol, nothing should stay alive long enough to care. Thumbs up from me.
Value for money? Outstanding and is up there as contender for the best fiver you could spend an a game. Absolute bargain at £5.
The dev team are just 2 brothers and they remain active in the discord as any good dev team should. Constantly working on the game.
IMO this game with its great devs and solid community has a great future ahead and I expect to be playing this often over the next year at least.

10/10 Would ride a chicken mount into battle again

This game came to my attention when it was announced in a gaming discord that the business model was going F2P.
A simple 1 line review would be to describe it as 'Rust with Dwarfs'.
In all honesty that would be a just review.
With the above in mind this game will clearly appeal to the Rust fans.
It will also appeal to fans of naked male Dwarfs (are there any? lol)
The games discord is very lively and helpful.
My initial start up of the game was delayed due to the game hanging for minutes after the Unity boot screen, however this was due to my installation on HDD rather than SDD. A discord member suggested the switching of install locations and the game loaded very quickly after that.
Premade servers exist for US, EU and Asia.
Custom player hosted servers are also available although at my time of playing they had not updated their servers to the current release build.
Upon arrival in the game you will start at a random underground mine and need to head up and out to commence gathering resources for crafting essentials and establishing a base camp.
Checking my equipment will reveal nothing except the large weapon between the naked Dwarfs legs !! I kid you not. The Devs appear to be underlining the old saying that 'Size does not matter'. LoL
Believe me when you see your first attacker butt naked swinging a basic wood axe at you it will leave an indelible image :)
If your first attacker is not naked and has any armour as such then the chances are you are about to return to the respawn location :P

The game has very limited instructions within and is arranged in such a way that it assumes you are familiar with such games as Rust etc.
However, I am not a big fan of Rust and only a few hours experience but I had no issue in determining the UI and game controls as well as the crafting system.
I managed to build many bases of varying resilience throughout my day online.
I also managed to lose many bases of varying resilience.
I was ganked many, many times.
I had challenges and taunts issued to me via the ingame vox.
I also raided several small bases but never managed to gank anyone.
The excitement was there for sure, I am not a fan of Rust but this game kept me hooked for nearly 9 hours yesterday so that has to say something.
The graphics are fine and biomes and textures similar to Albion Online, this is fine for me as I really could not care less how many blades of grass are moving with the wind breeze and slowing down my system to the point that I switch them off anyways.
Servers went off several times as I would expect on the release of the F2P model but were always restored quickly.
The dev team are still tweaking the server reset conditions based from the playerbase feedback.
Currently the reset of the main official servers is every 2 weeks.
That means a total wipe each 2 weeks.
After playing for 9 hours yesterday I can understand the need for the reset,
For me though, with just a couple of hours available each evening to play, it severely limits my chance of any progression and survival in the game.
Absolutely each respawn after getting raided/ganked makes you wiser and more aware but you will need to start again on the gather/craft/build cycle and that requires a tad more time than I personally have to survive.
Knowing that the server wipes every 2 weeks may put some off.
If the dev team consider creating a PvE with consensual PvP then I will be signing back up to this game straight away.

tl/dr: Great theme, suitable gfx, immediate action, hardcore full drop PvP, Rust with dwarfs.

10/10 Would flash my Dwarf 'weapon' again

I have been a fan of idlers and clickers for years now and have played most if not all of the well known ones out there.
This game is surprisingly addictive in watching the numbers go up↑... Up↑↑ ... UP↑↑↑
The discord has many number gaining addicts and they will always offer advice on optimising the builds.
A very active Dev that is clearly passionate about his game. The Updates have been often in the 3 weeks that I have been ingame and I am certain that there will be many more updates and additional elements added in the coming months.
Over a 100 online active hours now played on my account and any Free game that can keep me interested for more than that deserves at least a pat on the back and a review.
For me this game deserves a positive review.
I have the game running on a separate monitor whilst I play other games on another monitor and attend to it as required whilst it crunches numbers relentlessly.
I recommend to any fan of idlers/clickers to give this game a go.
Do not avoid the game based on the low activity steam discussion page, the game's discord is where the snappy chat takes place, head to the discord to see helpful chat, advice and game discussion with many regular contributors including the Dev.

10/10 would ascend again

I purchased this game a few months ago when it was £20 and with the knowledge that it was Early Access and a full wipe would occur before the final release.
I could not motivate myself to deal with the many bugs back then and i withdrew from the EA.
I returned with this final release last week, missing the launch day, but played over the weekend.
The price to purchase has now been reduced greatly to £12.
I have played a solid 20+ hours over the weekend and for me i feel that is more than enough value for money.
I am admittedly addicted to all MMO/MMORPG/ARPG games out there and I purchase nearly every single one of them, including premium packs on F2P games.
Many of the reviews mention the business model of this game as being the wrong choice, ultimately this is the devs business decision and not ours, I do feel though that the initially high pricing back in June created a tsunami of negative feedback and opinion and it may be too little to late with the price drop.
The price now is fine but may not be enough to regain previously interested players due to the negative reviews.

The population is very low and this will need improving if the games mechanics (planned and current) are to be realised.
World Boss encounters require group, Boss encounters ideally require groups, PvP requires many players, Sieges require many Pvpers etc etc.

The graphical theme of player avatars and the map scenery is incredibly cutesy.
I dislike cute lol....but this works really well in Cinderstone.
The camera is actually fine as well once you get used to it via practice.
The dodge mechanic is reasonable and is a staple ingredient of most encounters.

Questlines and grindy moments as per standard mmo releases.
I have yet to get started on the crafting and gathering aspects of the game that open up around lev 20 with a device that automatically gathers resources. Looking forward to tinkering with this.

If you have gotten this far reading the above you may now be asking 'so why has Hexorcist given a positive review?'
Quite simply because I have really enjoyed my time ingame so far and I believe this game has potential providing the population is improved.
During my time over the weekend I watched the solo dev work tirelessly on bugs and issues that were being reported via discord.
I witnessed many bugs and issues being resolved, some were ones that had been bothering the team for a long time but with the community feedback and dev diligence these were squashed in the last couple of days.
For me the discord and dev activity is a good sign.

Let's be honest, it is increasingly difficult for veteran gamers such as myself to find that outstanding new game that keeps us interested for more than 3 months.
So many of the releases in the last 5 years have been very disappointing and i am not certain I will ever find a game that I will call my 'forever game' but in an effort to have fun gaming I shall give every release that shows potential, a chance to shine.

In summary, this game has great potential and is a lot of fun.
I have enjoyed myself so far and it would be unjust of me to slap a negative review on it.
At the current price of £12 it is well worth trying out.
I wish the dev and his team all the best for the next few months and I hope the population grows.

I usually wait till I have played a game for a couple of days (not hours) before I post a positive review.
However, I am so pleased that I found this game today and became so quickly consumed in the game loop that I wanted to share this ‘hidden gem’ of a game immediately.
This is a mercenary exploration game, rpg story driven and semi auto combat scenarios.
You can pause the auto combat to initiate certain consumable items and a major key to success in the combat is your placement of the team on the hex grid. Fans of combat synergy and holistic statuses will absolutely love this combat.
One does not simply choose ‘my faves’ and steam roll through, combat here takes dilligence and pre-start planning.
The story line and voice acting, artwork and overall atmosphere are superb, lots of work put into the atmosphere of the game.
This game came out of nowhere for me and im so pleased to have found it.
Looking at the steam discussions and discord I can see the dev team are still working hard at quickly thrashing out any bugs that may have occurred (i have had none)
The game difficulty increments as you progress but you can drop it down a notch if it becomes to difficult… lets face it, we all love a challenge though eh?..
pro-tip: The rewards for completion of each quest battle increment as much as the hardness does so maybe stick with it?

For me this game is more than worth the full price and an absolutely ‘must buy’ if its on a discount.
Great game, really great product.

I had my eye on this for a few weeks prior to release date.
I saw the mixed reviews on the first day and was not sure if to press the purchase button or not.
What swayed my decision was that a common theme with all the positive reviews was that within a very quick timeframe the Dev (solo dev btw) was already fixing the issue reported in the negative reviews.
I have always loved helping dev teams bug hunting and stress testing etc so I was really pleased to see that the positive reviews all mentioned a responsive and reactive dev.
It may seem a steep price for a release that many are comparing to an early access model and I get that but as a gamer that has been stung in the last year by 3 well known releases from AAA funded teams, I am more than happy to cut hard working indie devs some slack.
Taking the positive reviews into consideration I made the purchase.
I have no regrets at all and knew within 30 minutes I would not be refunding.
The dev has been active for what seems every hour since the release a few days ago and has a great communicative skill on the discord with the games playerbase. (Do devs even sleep? 'cos this one doesn't seem to)
The list of fixes and performance tweaks I have witnessed in the last day are too many to mention and demonstrate how passionate this dev is in ensuring his 'baby' grows into a game appreciated by many.
So many updates released throughout the days since release, so much more responsive than others in rushing out the fixes.
I can assure you that the majority of the big issues reported on the initial negative reviews have been attended to and resolved...within 48 hours of reporting is a damn fine job for a single dev.
There are still glitches and minor bugs but these are being fixed almost as quick as they are being discovered.
This game is as indie as it gets and the dev has clearly worked hard on this and is not showing any sign of easing up.
This is a a really good output for just 3 years from solo dev.
If you like these type of solo survival type games then give it a go.
If you like to support indie games then give it a go.
If you wanna be at the start of a great game and watch it develop then give it a go.

PROS:
Infinite ammo for bows
No hunger/thirst mechanics
Superb ambient sounds
No class/race restrictions
All resources returned if construction is disassembled

CONS:
No tilt/pan camera angle
Boat travel is monotonous (needs speeding up)
Hit boxes on mobs have been tweaked, but still some work to do
No co-op function at present and unlikely for future as solo dev workload is already at max capacity.

10/10 Would kite Slimes again with a beginner bow

Black screen on SEA version months ago... Black screen on Steam EU version.
I previously tried playing the SEA version a few months ago but could never shift the black screen locked.
I gave up and waited for the global release and the steam EU/NA release.
15th July GROUNDHOG DAY
Same old black screen locked when trying to play the game.
Adios amigos.
I am done with this.

I tried to give this game a good go but constantly being PK'ed by the handful of other players ingame as soon as I step outside of the few 'safe' areas is definitely not fun..
The ingame population being so low results in 'newbies' to the game being constantly killed by the handful of other long term established players to increase their PK kill count.
Reviving at your corpse just results in being killed yet again by the spawn camping players.
No minimum PK safety level applied to the new players.... quite simply log in and as you attempt to get to grips with the game the first thing you learn is how to 'revive' and be killed yet again.
3 hours of this constant 'killed by ******* - revive - killed by *******' is not my idea of fun at all.
Now I realise why the game has so few players.
Good luck with this one should you wish to try it out.

This game is an absolute gem.
Developed by a seasoned mmorpg gamer and clearly influenced by the classic Everquest nostalgia this game will appeal to many ‘classic’ gamers as well as younger gamers.
Whilst the gameplay is a dungeon crawler rather than open world rpg it still has the classic rpg ingredients of classes, spells & ability synergies, level locked skill progressions, equipment set bonuses and of course lashings of RNG.
Playing the game solo is still an addictive, sometimes infuriating, experience but when playing as a group the game really shines.
In a group your class abilities combined with different classes can often demolish previous brick walls.
Combat when in a group is in real time and not turn based. It really is great fun in a group.
This game is clearly a labour of love from the very discord sociable dev and he has listened to the feedback of countless testers from the ‘EQ Project ‘99’ community in forging this wonderful game.
For any gamer that appreciates ‘classic’ rpg themes and loves a dungeon crawl then this game is a ‘must buy’ for your collection.
Even the name of the game is classic gamer irony 😎
A really good job by the dev in creating this addictive time thief of a game.