Reseñas recientes de svenevil

If you are just interested in point and click adventures go here: The Adventure Library

Is this game a masterpiece? It is funny. It is impious. It uses foul-mouthed language. It is a little disgusting sometimes... especially the chocolate milkshake was brutal. Just my taste, but more sensible players might be offended by quite a few scenes for various reasons. It is not too difficult, although I could not win the dice-guessing game. There is a guy in the game who helps you with most of the more difficult puzzles, if you ask him. It has multiple endings, I am not sure I reached the best one. Actually, none of my endings were really good.

The visuals consist of (often crudely animated) cut-out parts from renaissance paintings. Various tracks from music from the time are played by different musicians. The story has nothing to do with what the original artists wanted to show on their paintings, though, but more what a completely uneducated but very imaginative person might see in them. If I wander through an art museum, I often think of similar things. The museum guides tell a different story, of course, but my versions are funnier - and so is the game, unless you have no humour and an art degree.

The story requires you to commit seven good deeds to inherit your dying father's kingdom. Help people get what they want, even if the wishes are often a bit strange. Is it long? Hm, as someone who has today finished Innocent Until Caught (Psygnosis, 1993) after over 30 years, I would say it is quite short. It kept me entertained for about 7 hours, though, so it is absolutely ok. It has missable achievements, I just finished with 19/20, but I obtained some that were not necessary to reach the end.

Conclusion:
Little point and click adventure in the style of Richardson's last two games. A little brutal, but quite good, actually.

Is this game a masterpiece? No, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is a roguelite, turn-based tactical role-playing game by Ocean Drive Studio from Korea, the developers of Lost Eidolons. It has now been released on Steam in Early Access, whereby all three acts are already available and can be played through. The plan is to release the game from Early Access in a year at the latest. More bosses are to be added, as well as additional types of battles and random travel events. There are also ideas for a new type of equipment (accessories), an item system for strategic use in tricky situations and a way to adjust the difficulty level.

Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is set in the same world as Lost Eidolons, which was released two years ago. However, it is not set in the same country - but on the island of Anareios, where we landed as castaways. We have no idea who we are, which is very practical because it allows us to customize our character at the beginning. Male/female, name, but that's it. The island (or just the place where we wake up?) doesn't seem to be a normal island, but a magical place that stands between reality and the world of the dead. At least that's what the witch we meet at the beginning (in a dream?) tells us. How do we get out of here? There is a letter in our clothes from a woman we don't know called Carmen - we are supposed to find Silvio before it's too late... what does that mean? And who is Silvio?

We are immediately attacked by zombie-like enemies who are under the control of a sorcerer in the service of the (supposedly defeated) Emperor Ludivictus. Fighting on our side is a magician who seems to know us well. Apparently only we have lost our memories. In any case, we haven't forgotten how to fight and we're still good with our sword. A crew member from our ship also supports us in the fight and we make short work of the zombies. The battles take place in the usual turn-based manner - moving units, attacking, switching between weapons, using abilities, casting spells. However, the frequent conversations during some of the battles are a bit unusual.

After the first battle, we reach the town of Pelikos, meet other characters and learn more about the island. The island is cut off from the outside world, there are no more ships in the harbor. The followers of the defeated emperor have fled to the island and are using their magic to bring the dead back to life in order to seize power. Bandits terrorize the land, monsters roam the fields. A hero is clearly needed here. And that hero is us, the other NPCs immediately accept us as their leader and we gain control of the town that becomes our base. It's time to explore the island.

A considerable part of the game time is spent talking. Equally important is the selection of the five characters for the next exploration mission. We take care of their equipment and training. And once we have put together our party, the journey begins. We move from point to point, always being able to see in advance what awaits us. A fight or another activity - just like in a typical roguelike game. During a run, we improve our party, find new equipment... and hardly keep any of it when all the characters are dead. The witch - actually an Eidolon - brings us and our party back to life and to Pelikos, of course, while also giving us a glimpse into our past with her magic mirror. Who we are, who Carmen and Silvio are, what our actual mission on the ship was... we learn all this in long sequences. We are always outnumbered in the battles. Although our characters are incredibly strong, they can be quickly overwhelmed. You have to use each unit according to its strengths and weaknesses. During battles, your party members gain experience that you can use to improve them. However, this is gone again when the run is over. However, there is an experience tree between runs where you can permanently improve your party members with certain passive skills.

Conclusion:
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is a mixture of several genres. (Relatively simply structured) turn-based battles are of course a core element, but assembling your party also takes a lot of time, as do many lengthy conversations with multiple-choice answers - just like in a visual novel. If you're willing to put up with it and don't have a problem with the many conversations, you'll get a fantasy story interspersed with intensive party management and regular turn-based battles in a roguelite scenario. Each run dices up the map and the enemies anew, and the upgrades that appear during the run are selected at random. Overall, the game is very special, but also interesting if you want all these components in one game. However, if you don't want even one part of it, then Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch is probably not for you.

Is this game a masterpiece? There are countless pirate games, but few have been able to capture the pirate feeling as authentically as Sid Meier's Pirates (Microprose, 1987) or Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (Ubisoft, 2013). With Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire, a new game is trying to follow in the footsteps of the great classics. We take control of a crew on board a ship that does not, however, cruise the seas in search of prey, but an airship that makes the skies above the world of Sky Oceans unsafe. In short - Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is a fantasy game, not a historical pirate simulation. The next big change to the classics are the battles - they don't require any skill with the gamepad, but are turn-based. Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is clearly inspired by the great JRPG classics. It reminded me in particular of the JRPG hit Skies of Arcadia (Overworks, 2000), which was originally released for the Sega Dreamcast.

The main role in the game is played by young Glenn Windwalker, who you also control directly. Actually, you were just a trainee pilot in the small town of Blossom Town who has just passed his final exam. But the night after your final exam, the troops of the mighty Alliance attack your peaceful town, which quickly surrenders. You escape, however, along with your mother... who's been carrying a few secrets since the death of her husband (=your father). It's funny that the Alliance is mainly interested in you... After a successful escape, you and a few other refugees from Blossom Town set up a base in a remote location, from where you set off on various missions with your carrier ship “Nimbus”. You run through the 3D world in search of quests, crew members or improvements for your ships. There are always useful items lying around in crates. A quest marker always shows you the way, making it difficult to get lost. You often have to explore the area in a primitive flight simulator - enemies are visible, but when it comes to combat, the game switches to turn-based battle mode.

On the one hand, you are responsible for selecting your crew. Up to three companions and their ship will accompany you on your adventure. You can also upgrade your ships with improved parts. The following areas of the ship can be customized: the armour, the ship's frame, the steering, the drive and, of course, the built-in cannon. However, this all costs money, which you can earn by winning aerial battles, among other things.

The battles take place between various flying companions (or defensive flying animals). They are turn-based, like in a typical JRPG. Move your ship, use your weapons and use special abilities to knock your opponents out of the sky. You command a small airship (airjet), usually with one to three allies in their airship (which you command just like Glenn). Typically, the character whose turn it is next is displayed at the top of the screen. You give him a command such as attacking, dodging, using special weapons or other equipment (e.g. repair kits), or even trying to escape, and then the next character (or opponent) takes his turn until all opponents are destroyed (or your airship crashes to the ground). After the battle, you will receive experience points, loot and money (crowns), and your aircraft will be repaired. Between battles, you explore the world, which is quite extensive. New lands, civilizations, NPCs - the game has a lot to offer.

Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire was released in October. Following its release, a large patch has already been published, which has removed countless teething problems. However, this does not mean that there are not still a few bugs. A few QoL improvements wouldn't do the game any harm either. The current version that I have been playing for the last few days is 1.0.1. Control with the gamepad works without any problems. Cloud saves are incomprehensibly not supported. Some of the cutscenes cannot be skipped. During the conversations, you can usually skip to the next sentence by pressing a button, but sometimes the conversations run automatically and the (non-voiced) texts disappear so quickly that nobody can read them that quickly. There are no log files in which you can view conversations again. Apparently there is also no way to watch the tutorial overlays again. So if you didn't pay attention the first time or missed something - bad luck.

Conclusion:
Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire is an indie JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) that has some potential. It is heavily inspired by the classic Skies of Arcadia. You roam the towns on foot to talk to NPCs, visit stores and hire new people. However, you travel long distances across the land in your airship, and this is also where the turn-based battles take place. Give orders to your four party members to evade enemy fire with your airships and shoot down the enemy companions (or monsters). You upgrade your party members as well as your airship. If you like JRPGs, the combat, graphics (in typical Japanese Studio Ghibli style) and story will definitely appeal to you. Unfortunately, the current version of the game still has a lot of rough edges, which will hopefully be removed.

Is this game a masterpiece? The original certainly was. Little Big Adventure (in other parts of the world: Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure) was created in 1994 by French developers Adeline Software, having previously created the landmark Alone in the Dark (for Infogrames). It was a typically French game - difficult, emotional and set in a strange world. It is set in the world of Twinsun with its two suns, inhabited by four intelligent races - the Quetches, Spheros, Grobos and Rabbibunnies. Many gamers couldn't help but shed a few tears while playing the game - but usually because of the merciless controls and not because of the emotional and content-wise (but not graphically) brutal story. Nevertheless, the game sold well and was also released for the PlayStation 1 after the PC, as well as for Android/iOS around 10 years ago. The sequel Little Big Adventure 2 (another name: Twinsen's Odyssey) was released in 1997.

We play Twinsen, a young man (actually a Quetch, with a ponytail) who lives on a peaceful island with his annoying little sister Luna and his girlfriend Zoé. The story has been changed a little from the original - while in the original story we were looking for Zoé, now we are trying to rescue our little sister. But back to the start of the game - this is also new. While in the original we started directly in a high-security cell (ok, it wasn't that secure after all), the game now begins with a short prologue that starts a few years earlier and introduces us to the story (and controls). After power on Twinsun has been taken over by Dr. FunFrock and his army of clones, the playground on the island where Twinsen lives is replaced by a newly built insane asylum (called a nursing home by the government). However, it is not necessarily sick residents who end up there, but all those who oppose the regime. Many end up in the asylum - but no one ever gets out again. And after new and ever more restrictive laws are passed, a few years later Twinsen also ends up in the institution, because he wanted to help his sister, who did not abide by the new rules. This time jump of a few years is well portrayed - from a small, friendly provincial town full of cheerful inhabitants to a place full of barbed wire with tanks and soldiers patrolling everywhere, where people live in fear of the government and only talk to each other in whispers.

After Twinsen escapes from the asylum, Luna helps him to hide - for which she herself is arrested and taken to a remote island. Our goal now is to free our little sister. To do this, we have to explore the world of Twinsun (and unlock new locations and visit islands). Perhaps we can ultimately do much more than just rescue our sister... In any case, Dr. FunFrock soon declares us public enemy number one and his clones hunt us down wherever they see us. We become rebels and prophets in the fight against a dictatorship with a completely insane ruler - in a game with cartoon graphics suitable for children.

The controls have been greatly simplified compared to the original. There are no longer the four different behaviors that Twinsun can adopt, each of which offered different interaction options. Now we use the gamepad to walk or run, jump, strike and interact with hotspots. Sneaking (as in the original) no longer exists, but you can hide in various hotspots.

We use the shoulder buttons to throw our magic ball. This is a legacy from our father - and our weapon. It causes damage to enemies and always returns to us. Over the course of the game, it has several functions. We can throw it flat or in an arc, and it is also needed to solve puzzles in addition to fighting. However, fighting should be avoided if possible. Fights are of little use, even if killed opponents sometimes leave behind resources (money, life energy). However, the chance of taking damage yourself is high and Twinsen's life bar decreases quickly. Hidden remedies or money can be found in many places in the landscape. Killed enemies respawn as soon as you enter a building, for example. It is therefore not possible to make an area permanently enemy-free. In general, however, the level of difficulty is significantly lower than in the original. The controls still take some getting used to - but no comparison to 1994! With a little practice, you will soon be able to steer Twinsen through the world quite skillfully and win unavoidable battles easily. Most of your opponents aren't really bright. The clone soldiers as well as the big elephant people are really stupid - they can't see very far, are slow, often don't follow you for very long, get stuck on corners, have a problem with height differences, often don't even notice when they come under fire...

Conclusion:
Fantastic remake of a cult classic. Forgotten are the terrible controls of the original, what remains is the touching story of a young man in an oppressive dictatorship. Find allies and save your little sister in a colorful and wacky world that could only have come from the minds of French developers. Explore different islands, talk to the inhabitants, collect money lying around and avoid contact with the dictator's soldiers hunting you down. The design of the game dates back to 1994, but the controls now work without you having to regularly bite into the gamepad in frustration. This is what playable retro fun looks like!

Is this game a masterpiece? Hm, Rogue Waters is more or less the successor to the successful Hard West II. Steer Captain Cutter and his crew through a world full of enemies and sea monsters, always on the lookout for loot and improvements for your ship and crew. In one of your eyes is a glowing green crystal - actually a sea goddess called Shiv, who can talk to you. However, no one but you can hear her. Like you, she has a bone to pick with your former boss, Captain Blackbone. Your goal is to defeat the initially invincible Captain Blackbone.

At the beginning, you choose how quickly you want to die from four difficulty levels. The game doesn't work without dying - it's a roguelite. You fight your way through, get killed in battle and die. However, just like your crew, you are basically immortal and start the game all over again - albeit with improvements from your previous playthroughs. Use the money you have accumulated to keep improving your crew and your ship.

The most important game mechanics in Rogue Waters are the turn-based battles. As it should be, the battles are melee fights with sabres and muskets. However, the decisive melee battles are usually preceded by ship battles. Approach the enemy ship (or fortress) and give your opponents a good broadside. There are usually three ship combat rounds before you can board the enemy ship and the decisive close combat begins. You can fire on the enemy ship's cannons or aim directly at the enemy crew, which makes the subsequent close combat much easier. Or you can try to destroy certain improvements that will help your opponent in the ensuing battle. However, you will usually not be able to destroy everything - partly because the enemy will shoot back and you will also suffer losses.

In close combat, there are some situations that do not occur in the usual turn-based strategy games. Swing across the deck on ropes - just like pirates do. Push your opponent off the boat into the sea - and he's gone. Push an opponent onto another opponent - and both lose their balance and fall to the ground. If you attack and your opponent cannot dodge backwards, he will take more damage. If he dodges backwards and bumps into an unexpected object or catches fire, he will also take additional damage. Your team often fights against opponents who are far superior in numbers. During each round, you give orders to each of your units, and when all your pirates and the opponents have had their turn, the next round begins. You can move your men and give them an attack order, which normally ends the turn. In addition to special abilities, your men can also simply stand back and heal part of their life energy (if they were injured). In battle you command up to four pirates, but if one dies you can send a new man into battle in the next round - at least if you still have some in reserve. And then, of course, there are the sea monsters. Rescue sea monsters and you can make use of their overpowered abilities in battles; without their help, some battles are almost impossible to win. During battles, you can zoom in and view the map from all sides. Battles end when you have eliminated all your opponents. Or when you bite the dust yourself.

After each raid, whether successful or not, you land in your pirate's lair (the hub). In this base we can hire new pirates in the tavern. Once you have collected enough experience points, you can train your pirates in the lodgings and assemble your crew for the next raid, while you can improve your ship in the workshop and teach your sea monsters new tricks. Provided you always have enough money (better: glass, a magical material that is even more valuable than gold), of course. Special items improve your pirates - but these can only be used by your heroes, normal crew members cannot use these powerful things. In the shipyard, you can equip your ship with cannons and additional improvements (such as a reinforced foredeck). The map is always created from scratch at the start of each game.

Conclusion:
Rogue Waters is a well-made turn-based roguelite game. You control a cursed pirate ship and its crew. Plunder ships, tame sea monsters, hire new crew members, improve your heroes and the pirate ship with countless upgrades, and find powerful items. First you weaken your opponents with your ship's cannons, then you board the enemy ship in close combat, where every battle is ultimately decided. In some missions you advance the story, in others you just grind upgrades. The scenario is unique - at least for a turn-based roguelite. If you like the genre, the game is an exciting addition to your library.

A new adventure? Bring it on! Unfortunately, there haven't been many decent adventure games released recently, so let's see what Neon Blood can do. “A Neon Noir Cyberpunk Adventure” sounds great - I love good noir thrillers (Discworld Noir by Perfect Entertainment, anyone?), I've loved cyberpunk since William Gibson's novel Neuromancer (and its adaptation by Interplay), so the basic requirements are already right. The first screenshots also look promising, so let's get started with the game!

The setting options are not exactly diverse. It may be that the many dozens of setting options in current AAA games are a bit overkill and too much of a good thing, but in Neon Blood there is only one setting apart from the volume and language selection: the size of the font. An important setting for people who play on the TV and visually impaired grandpas like me, but still...

After the Third World War, there is not much left of humanity. Those who are still alive live in the city of Viridis. It consists of two parts - the luxurious Bright City and the dystopian Blind City. Of course, we live and work in the Blind City - we play the drug-addicted, unsympathetic and depressed police detective Axel McCoin, who is called to a murder in a hotel. There lies a dismembered employee of a high-tech company, and we have a problem finding all the body parts because our scanning implant is defective... due to our drug use. Our boss gives us money to fix it, and we buy drugs... and shortly afterwards we're desperately looking for a bungler to fix the defective implants with the few pennies we have left. To do this, we have to find our friend, who then tells us in a drug frenzy that we should help a boy to get more drugs for him. We help the kid, who tells us where an illegal doctor is hiding, who then repairs our implants after we have pacified his last dissatisfied customer. If this all sounds like a long puzzle chain - in reality we just run from point to point and press “interact with the hotspot” in the right place - that's it. The puzzles consist of finding the next point, because hotspots are usually only unlocked (or lead to the desired result) when the precondition is fulfilled. The fun consists of exploring the surroundings, having (mini) conversations with non-relevant people and looking at objects.

And then there are battles, although these are very primitive. You face your opponent and can choose between four options (attack, defend, use object or special ability), then it's your opponent's turn - until either your opponent or you have no more health points. The graphics show you shooting at your opponent with your service pistol (and possibly even using the powerful special ability headshot), while in the story you only beat up an aggressive bully, for example, and then arrest him. This is a certain ludonarrative dissonance. Then there are a few QTEs in boss fights. You are completely healed after each fight. It plays like a JRPG-light. VERY light.

The story develops rapidly. You discover the conspiracy of a rich industrialist from the upper town and your actions can help change things in the town. The whole thing is extremely clichéd and is presented with a wooden hammer - a run-down police force (after the city's bankruptcy) bought by business (in the person of a CEO), citizens influenced by propaganda and the lone hero who fights back against this situation. This would all be completely absurd if reality didn't show that nothing is absurd in the real world either. Maybe you'll get to grips with your own problems in the game. In any case, your memory lapses don't just seem to be due to drug abuse...

Technically, I didn't encounter any major bugs, even if sometimes interaction options (such as Press E to talk) simply don't lead to any reaction. You control your character using the WASD keys, you start interactions with the E key. You can run (if walking around is too slow for you... so almost always) or search the immediate surroundings with your scan implant. Incidentally, there is no inventory, even if your hero sometimes picks up items that are then used in the right place. Using a controller to control the game works without any problems. The graphics consist of a mixture of roughly pixelated characters (where you often don't even recognize what they are supposed to represent) and neon-drenched backgrounds in higher resolution. I didn't particularly like this mixture in Between Horizons, but that's a matter of taste. There is no voice output. The game saves automatically (not just every chapter, but you often still have to play through some of it again if you continue playing the next day), cloud saves are not supported. There is only one savegame - if you start a new game, the old savegame will be overwritten. Some cheavos are missable, I finished with 24/25.

Conclusion:
Neon Blood is more of an (isometric) walking simulator than a point and click adventure or role-playing game. The puzzles are few and far between, most of the time you just walk around until you reach (and interact with) the point that advances the story. Your character gets stronger over the course of the game, but there is no serious character development like in a role-playing game. There are some turn-based battles, but these are more annoying than exciting. Nevertheless, it is fun to look at the detailed town and its strange inhabitants and to read the (rather short) texts. The texts are not of a particularly high quality, but the depiction of life in a near cyberpunk future has a certain charm, and the - rather short - story is ultimately quite entertaining. Your washed-up character, who mobs virtually everyone who crosses his path, is perhaps not a really likeable character, but at least you learn a few things in the course of the game that make some of his character traits a little more understandable. Recommended if you like the cyberpunk setting and have no problem with this mixture of simple adventure game and primitive JRPG. A masterpiece? By far not.

Is this game a masterpiece? Certainly not yet, it is still Early Access with much of its content missing and a bit unpolished even in the areas that are already accessible. It has potential to become a fantastic RPG, though. The new work by Ukrainian developers Dreamate is based on various classics - but above all on Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (Troika Games, 2001), one of my all-time favorites. Back then, it depicted a world that was full of magic on the one hand and technical (steampunk) wonders on the other. And it is precisely this scenario that New Arc Line takes up. On the one hand there is magic, but on the other hand there is the technological revolution that is upsetting people's lives (and jobs). The New World is experiencing a tremendous boom - new technology is making it possible. Life is getting better for everyone - or perhaps not everyone is benefiting after all?

At the start of the game, you create your character. You do not have many options - male/female, human/elf, Voodoo Shaman (mage) or Diesel Engineer (technician), whereby you can choose specializations for both classes. Then 12 points are allocated to your attributes (strength, dexterity, constitution, etc.) and a further 40 points to your abilities (charm, intimidation, attention, etc.). Skipping to start with a deliberately weaker character is not possible, you have to allocate the points. Then quickly select the game style (normal role-playing game or an adventure mode with much simpler battles) and the game begins.

We play an immigrant who has traveled with hundreds of other immigrants from a continent plagued by the plague to New Arc in the New World to start a new life there. The scenario is reminiscent of the great wave of immigration to the USA in the century before last. After the (brief) immigration formalities, we are already standing on the pier in New Arc, surrounded by hundreds of other people going about their work. Including many immigrants (like us) looking for their luggage, or various business people trying to rip off the immigrants. We find our contact, a drug-addicted wrestler, who immediately loses a fight because of us. After we have compensated him (or rather his bookmaker), he joins us as our first party member and we can continue our search for our lost luggage. To do this, we have to help a completely drunk dwarf. Along the way, we can pursue various activities, talk to people, take on small side quests, act as pickpockets and loot the luggage of other travelers lying around. If we get caught, it's time for a fight... and, um, we have the ability of a death grip. It works 100% of the time and lets every opponent die in a small explosion of blood. A little bit overpowered. As we explore the city, passive abilities are repeatedly used (diced) and we notice certain things - or not. For many of the activities we initiate, the dice are also rolled to determine whether they are successful or not. Will we manage to hit the target with the rifle at the shooting range or not? This is somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant Disco Elysium, although the texts are nowhere near as good.

We move our party through the area by clicking the mouse, zooming in and out and viewing the playing field from all directions. While movement through the various locations in the game takes place in real time, the game switches to turn-based combat mode during battles. Each character can move, attack, dodge and use special abilities. The conversations are not voiced and are multiple choice. Reminds me a lot of the old Bioware classics like Baldur's Gate. However, there is often a description in the conversations that doesn't match the graphics - for example, a man falls to his knees in front of me (but the graphics still show him standing upright) or an injured person dies despite my help and the dead body lies still (but the graphics of the injured person still move). There is definitely room for improvement here. Your quests are automatically recorded in the quest log and a map is also drawn. The monsters you encounter are also described in the notebook.

Caution - the game is still far from complete. The Early Access version is at least a year away from completion. There are two playable races (human and elf), two classes (voodoo shaman and dieselpunk engineer) and around the first 25% of the main storyline included. The developers currently expect the game to take around 10 hours to complete. There are plans to significantly expand the scope of the game, including new areas, quests, equipment, companions and playable classes and races, as well as new mechanics (such as the subclass system) and new abilities and spells. A translation into other languages is also planned, currently only English texts are available.

Conclusion:
New Arc Line is a potentially great role-playing game in a world full of steampunk and magic. Countless side quests quickly distract you from the main story, some of the levels are extremely detailed - there are not ten NPCs standing around somewhere, but dozens of NPCs going about their daily business. Everything is fully animated and with background noises, even if the conversations are not dubbed. Really impressive, but also a little confusing. You'll find tons of items, your character has a variety of character stats and traits, there's always a dice roll - but the game currently only has about a third of its planned story content, and it doesn't continue after the arrival town for the time being. It remains to be seen whether the developers can complete it as planned into a highly complex role-playing game like its role model Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

Is this game a masterpiece? Yes, but you need to know what to expect. The game is certainly not for everyone, especially if you are allergic to some really embrassing dialogues which I woud have prefered not to hear in a AD&D role-playing game.

First, we can create our character, and the options here are extremely extensive. I have rarely seen an editor in which so many visual details of our character can be changed. You can spend hours on the hairstyle alone... if you're into that sort of thing. I don't really care (at least on my first playthrough) - human warrior, male, any backstory and normal difficulty (six to choose from), and off you go!

The game is an action role-playing game. In contrast to the old Dragon Age titles, there are no pausable battles, instead everything takes place in real time - more or less. Combat is paused while you give orders to party members. You control a character with the nickname Rook, while your companions are taken over by the computer. Multiplayer is not possible. You run through the beautifully designed world like in an MMORPG. And by “wonderfully designed” I mean absolutely stunning - water, rain, fire, reflections, shadows, animations... absolutely fantastic. You run ahead, always following the current quest marker (so getting lost is almost impossible), and your party runs after you, no matter where you're running to. Your party members have a lot to say and comment on the sourroundings and the situation (with great voice acting), so who needs human players? There are always crates lying around that you loot, or other valuable items such as gold that you take. The battles are also reminiscent of an MMORPG; you hammer on the attack buttons while dodging your opponents' attacks. Light attack, heavy attack, ranged weapon, spell, jump, dodge - it can get quite hectic.

The story begins with us trying to stop Solas, an extremely powerful mage, from performing a ritual that will tear the veil and allow countless demons to enter our world. We are successful with our action... more or less. The ritual is aborted, but one member of our party is seriously injured, and we find ourselves in Sola's floating fortress in an intermediate world - with a portal back to the “real” world. This fortress (The Lighthouse) becomes our base. What's even worse is that the broken ritual seems to have released two ancient, extremely evil gods, who of course have nothing else in mind but to destroy the world. Our task now is to eliminate this problem and defeat the two gods. Nothing could be easier.

Soon we have to make the first difficult decision. The mayor of a small town is being devoured by a disgusting flesh-like mass - very slowly. Do we free him or leave him to his fate? After all, he sold his town to the enemy for money... of course I'm not going to help a guy like that, which my female comrades-in-arms don't think is so great. Sissies.

I haven't played a game in a long time where I felt so extremely like I was in the middle of an AD&D adventure. I grew up with the Gold Box games, then read some of the AD&D novels (like Pool of Radiance or Curse of the Azure Bonds) - and that's exactly the feeling I get when I play Dragon Age: The Veilguard today. Baldur's Gate 3 was an inhumanly good game, but its scenario and gameplay somehow didn't remind me of the old AD&D days. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, however, is like an adaptation of one of those old novels - we traverse the fantasy world full of magic with our party of different arch-types (fighter, wizard, healer) and different races (human, elf, dwarf), always fighting monsters and regularly stopped by a simple puzzle. Wonderful. Apart from some of the dialogue.

The battles are probably not the highlight of the game. However, they're not really that bad either, if you like typical action RPGs. Striking, dodging, a little support from your party members, even a little pause while you give your party members orders - if you know how to use the gamepad, you won't have too much of a problem. The level of difficulty is not exactly soulslike, and even the first bosses are relatively easy to defeat. I often have the feeling that the enemies only attack me and ignore my friends, but that's probably because I do most of the damage. The other party members are often just support - although Bellara's healing spell, for example, is extremely helpful. Your inventory is quite small (two weapon sets, helmet, armor, two rings, an amulet and a belt), but the skill tree is very extensive. Whenever you have gained enough experience, you can unlock new skills. An automatic map is included, my Xbox controller worked without any problems.

Conclusion:
It is a graphically impressive action role-playing game. On the one hand, it captures the typical AD&D flair extremely well; you almost feel like you're spending a role-playing evening with your friends and a dungeon master. On the other hand, it's almost a little too simplistic/casual - the story is very straightforward and easy to understand (despite the side quests you can use to boost your party members), your decisions have consequences - but not dramatic ones, and the battles are quite action-heavy and can get a little repetitive after a few hours. The game is not as complex as the original Dragon Age, but it is a smoothly playing, modern action game in an elaborately staged AD&D fantasy environment. Basically, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a top-notch game - but don't expect the variety of decisions and depth of Baldur's Gate 3. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not so much for the absolute role-playing game freaks, but rather for those who like role-playing games, but please in manageable doses and also in a great presentation. You can simply play for a few hours every evening - you don't have to make piles of notes to be able to follow the story again after a break of several days.

Is this game a masterpiece? No, it is a cute time/resource management inspired game with a little story around. You live in a tiny village, surrounded by thick fog (Miasma). Many of the villagers are lost in the fog, and the only defense against the fog is a large fire that keeps the Miasma at bay. You get promoted to Lightbearer and grab a lantern. You enter the fog, searching for resources to build and upgrade houses, and search for villagers who help build the village. Just be sure to keep the lantern burning, or you will also be engulfed by the fog.

The main mechanic is collecting resources or other stuff and bringing them home to your village. Your village will grow, the more stuff you find and bring home. Get enough wood to build new houses, bring wood to build houses. Build subway stations and production sites to get the stuff you need for exploring the foggy world. The more you upgrade your lantern, the farther you can venture into the fog. And there you will meet funny creatures, who have little tasks for you and give you a little support in return. The main challenge is your movement limit - every turn consumes light, and you have to make sure to always have light because of the Misama. You die without light, but the upgrades in your village remain while you start a new run - on a new procedurally created map.

Conclusion:
Relaxing and quite chilled gameplay (turn-based, no action). Find stuff in the dark, build a little village in this movement puzzler - not one move too much - or you are dead.

Is this game a masterpiece? Yes, this hits all the checkboxes for me to be a (little) masterpiece.

At its core, this is a new and modern version of the classic and extremely influential city-builder Caesar (Impressions, 1992). Caesar was, basically, just the megahit Sim City (Maxis, 1989) with a historical scenario. Caesar was also the foundation not only for a series of sequels (Caesar 2-4, Pharaoh, Zeus, Emperor), but also for dozens of other historical city-builders, especially during the last few years.

You are the major of a town during Ancient Rome. You order where housing should be built, you instruct the construction crew to build factories, you decide where the next fire station will be built. Everything has to be connected to the main building, the forum, by a road, and everything needs access to fresh water. As soon as these conditions are met, settlers will come to live in the town and factories will begin to produce goods. Mine stone and ore, harvest crops. Build warehouses to store everything. While Sim City just had money as a resource, you need over 30 different goods in Citadelum, a bit like in games like The Settlers. The production cycles are important. Keep the population fed with food and happy with a tavern (or an arena for the gladiators), collect money in a tax office, improve health with a doctor, build a few temples for your most important gods. If everything works as intended, it is a joy to watch your city. If something does not work, you will get large warning signs and everything will detoriate if you do not set corrective measures. Build strong walls like in Castles (Interplay, 1992) and employ an army with various units like in a RTS game. Combat is simpler, though. There are 10 missions to play, but you can also just play in sandbox mode or use the editor to set up your own scenario.

Conclusion:
Complex but fun historical city-builder. The only problem with the game is that I cannot stop to play.