Report #57

Gothic, I don't think I need to introduce this game to you. It's an alltime classic RPG, much beloved by almost everyone I heard talking about it. I never played it when I was younger (almost all my friends did though) and just now came around to giving it a try. I modded it, but only the most basic mods, nothing that's altering the gameplay too much.

Let's get one thing out of the way right in the beginning: This game is old! There is no denying that the age shows in almost every aspect of the game. The controls as well as the UI are terrible, the same goes for the fighting and most of the interaction with your environment. There is no other way to put it. You get used to it to a certain degree, but it's definitely an issue. Strangely enough I did not mind the more than outdated graphics. Yes, they are clunky and the textures are no beauty…but somehow it was good enough for me. I'm playing a ton of older games lately (see my last posts) so maybe I'm just used to outdated graphics by now.

Let's move on: The open world holds a lot of things and places to discover. It's all embedded in a (mostly linear) story, which I won't go into much detail here. Both the open world and the story are plus points in the game, the world feels more alive than in some recent games. While it's not Mass Effect or Kotor levels of story telling, I still enjoyed it for the most part. The game does not give you a lot of help in the form of quest markers or minimap or questmarkers, but there is a handy logbook which helps you remember the quests you've been given. Overall I'd say, that I enjoy that modern games give you more help and hints, but I can live with the amount of help I got.

Now, would I recommend that game? I had a look at games I played with similar release date. And I would say it falls right in the middle. There are definitely games I enjoyed way more (the aforementioned Kotor or the Jedi Knight series for example), but it fares much better than some other classics from around that time that I've played. I'm reluctant to really recommend it to play for amusement alone, but if you want to get a whiff of what's considered one of the best games at its time, I'd say: go for it!

Age of Wonders it a lovely turn-based strategy game from 1999. The Valley of Wonders, once home to the noble elves has been conquered and plundered by human parvenus. Of course this can't be tolerated and so you set out to reclaim the elven homeland. On the way there you can decide between different allies and ultimately choose between restoring the Valley of Wonders or plunge it into even darker chaos.

AoW is even older than Gothic, but the age is less of an factor here. Due to its pixel graphics it could as well be a more modern game in retro fashion. Actually I greatly enjoyed the simple but lovingly detailed graphics. Due to it's low number of pixels the unit models are really basic, yet somehow still very memorable and unique. The UI is quite basic but suffices for the game. I had several crashes with the game though, so I advise regular saving. The age becomes obvious in the gameplay as well, e.g. the partition of the world in a surface world and an underground world --- something you don't see in more modern games anymore.

Remember that I said you can choose between good and evil? Well actually you have some more choices, so that you end up with 6 different endings. In a strategy game! I don't think I've ever seen such a variety of outcomes in this genre before. I applaud this decision, I think it's brave but well worth it. Generally the game deviates from your usual genre and fantasy tropes in several regards. While I don't dislike the canon version of fantasy factions, I always appreciate a game interpreting them differently. It's small details, like the orcs not being green in AoW (in the later parts they are though) or introducing "silly" units like the dire penguins, which give the game a distinct touch. Apart from that, the gameplay is quite standard. Think of Heroes of Might & Magic, there are many similarities between those two games -- yet there are also some basic differences.

AoW 2: The Wizard's Throne opens a new chapter in the history of the world of Age of Wonders, which will continue in AoW: Shadow Magic. While not directly a continuation of the first game, there are many connections to it. Some people make reappearances, some events will be referenced. You play as Merlin, a young mage, who it trying to save his dwindling people from extinction. He is contacted by the mighty Gabriel, who reveals his calling: Conquering the Wizard's Throne.

In contrast to the first game, the campaign in Wizard's Throne is strictly linear and there are no decision to make. In order to conquer the Throne you have to master each magic sphere (the usual: fire, water, earth and so on) in 3 scenarios. On the plus side you get to experience every sphere with its corresponding faction and magic spells, but on the downside you start from scratch each time you start a new sphere, which is somewhat annoying. The game is rather hard in my opinion, I found it the hardest of the three. You are basically forced to build up mighty defenses before venturing out on the map, which makes games take forever and ever.

The graphics and the UI are improved upon the first game, however it sometimes makes things a bit harder to see and click on. Additionaly I really really liked the art from the first game, so personally I don't count it as a real improvement. Overall they decided to streamline gameplay a bit, which makes the game more generic than the first part. While I still think, that it's a good game, these changes in combination with the high difficulty and somewhat boring campaign make this my least favourite game of the three.

Shadow Magic centers around Merlin again: A new kind of demons invaded the world and captured Merlin. You play as a variety of NPCs from The Wizard's Throne and try to save Merlin. To be honest: I wasn't a fan of this turn of events, I think the new demon faction and the corresponding gameplay elements are stupid.

Shadow Magic is not a new game, but builds upon the second game. Think of it more as a big expansion. It refines several things of the second game in terms of gameplay, menus and balance. While this alone is already good, the main improvement however is the campaign. Not only is it more diverse, each scenario is designed with so much love for little details. There is so much stuff to explore and small side-stories to unveil...Yeah, this is the main improvement upon the older parts of AoW.

Apart from the last mission. I hated the last mission. It's stupidly hard and takes unnecessarily long