Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
I am genuinely afraid to reinstall this game again… I keep playing it and beating it again and again and again. It is just THAT good. The storyline and the gameplay are both amazing.
You play as a young apprentice to a mysterious wizard, who sends you to retreive a magical crystal, during which you get a basic tutorial in the basics of gameplay, including the combat, spellcasting, and stealth, and receive the first skill points used to specialize in different abilities (unlocking combat moves, spells, stealth ability… increasing health or mana levels…). Then your mentor binds you to a demoness to be your sultry companion and guide and sends you to deliver the crystal… at which point things immediately get INTENSE. There’s an immediate and somewhat excessive increase in difficulty right off the bat, which can be a little offputting. But if you stick through it you get to enjoy more and more of the gameplay elements.
– Real player with 174.5 hrs in game
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I first played Dark Messiah way back when it first came out and it’s a game I have constantly revisited over the years.
While I’ve sunk more hours total into any given Elder Scrolls game I’ve played, Dark Messiah by far holds my personal record of total completed playthroughs at too many to count but at least several dozen.
I keep coming back to it to try out new skill/weapon combos and novelty character builds and keep finding new little hidden stuff even after years of replaying and knowing the game essentially by heart at this point.
– Real player with 104.1 hrs in game
Arx Fatalis
Highly recommended for those that have played and liked games like Ultima Underworld or Dungeon Master (Legend of Grimrock).
The developers wanted to created Ultima Underworld 3 but were unable to get the license from you know who, which is a shame. With stronger resources this game could have been very special indeed. For an old game (2002), the graphics are pretty good and sound in some instances quite amazing, the game engine has aged well. I played the game of Steam and in Windows 7 and it was more or less playable apart from some memory crashes - I learned to save often using all the save slots - you need to do this too, especially when you move between levels. It is best to play the game without any background noise such as the TV/ music or radio - believe that. Not only will you get immersed in the game world, beautifully crafted by the designers, you won’t miss key information said aloud by your character and then never repeated!
– Real player with 44.3 hrs in game
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Anyone who has played Dishonored 2 will have trouble believing that the same company that made that game also made this one, a few decades ago, and I mean that in the best of ways (in the best of ways for Arx Fatalis, the comparison doesn’t favor their later projects). And just to be clear, this was the first time I played Arx Fatalis, I had no nostalgia goggles to affect my judgment.
Arx Fatalis is a metroidvania First Person action-oriented RPG, that “can” be played entirely as a First Person Stealth game, similar to the Thief series, but equal focus has been put into its other playstyles. The medieval fantasy world of Arx is an underground network of caverns and tunnels, as the world goes through an apocalyptic winter above-ground. Goblins, Trolls, Humans, sexy Snake Ladies and recently genocided Dwarves call this place their home, and somewhat coexist.
– Real player with 37.7 hrs in game
Avalon: Sacred Crusade
“Beware the schemes of mortal men. For all the shortness of their lives, they lust to leave their mark. Before this hubris, even the Gods can be tumbled.” - Merlin the Outcast
To some, Avalon is an idea, a myth, an ideal, perfection; it is a place outside of time or space, an eternal edifice. To others, it is home. The Avalonians share much with Humanity, but one cannot remain in Avalon for long without becoming something… else. Long ago, in the forgotten age of The Migration, the Covenant was formed: the bridges between realms would be closed.
Their greatest criminals, however, continued to be cast out forever to languish in the mundane realm. Some lived as Oracles, Saints, or Wizards. Others we remember in legends of darkness: Sorcerers, Shapeshifters, Blood-drinkers, scattered across time.
Now though, the realms grow close once again, the veil between them weakening by unknown machinations. The Grail has been stolen, and without it, evils long buried are rising in ever greater numbers. The call to battle has gone out for the first time in this age, and many have answered it. These new defenders of the ancient Covenant must not fail, for the fate of both realms now hangs in the balance.
A Blast From the Past
Return to an era before all stats were homogenized into just health and mana. Avalon: Sacred Crusade takes heavy inspiration from popular RPG titles of the 1990s and features rich character customization that allows you to select your character’s origin, attributes, spells, and equipment.
No easy recoveries or quick wins here. Deal with a classic death penalty system where you drop your items on the ground and need to retrieve them. Experience what it was truly like to play early MMORPGs and graphical MUDs.
You may choose to adventure alone, however, the game features a robust party system which allows up to six players to work together in the same group. For the best experience, bring your friends - or make new ones in the game!
An Authentic Retro Experience
Listen to classic 16-bit Sound Blaster effects while you slash away at pre-rendered 2D sprites. You can experience all of this without the usual hassle of running a retro game on a modern system. Avalon: Sacred Crusade will run on any DirectX 10 capable PC!
A Note To the Community
We are passionate about maintaining a good relationship with our community. We welcome any feedback that you might have involving the game or its development, be it positive or critical. We are running regular community events that you can participate in and earn special achievements. If this interests you, consider joining our discord! https://discord.gg/Bv5MreE8zn
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Bloodwych
It’s the original Bloodwych! The devs should better explain how the startup options in DOS effect the game load, but otherwise nostalgia at its finest. Happy to donate $7 in the hopes that a remake is on the way.
– Real player with 35.6 hrs in game
Absolute must have! If you like to find your path in a giant maze, draw maps to stop being lost, fight monsters and make your party stronger you will love it!
I like how you learn new spells: by sleeping and being visited by some magic faery who makes you choose for your new spells.
An option to remove the (annoying) music would be great but the game is fully enjoyable with no sound (or you can use the “internal beeper” mode to have sfx with no music, but not sure it’s the same sound quality as “Ad lib” mode.
– Real player with 28.9 hrs in game
HeXen: Beyond Heretic
IMPORTANT: This version of the game is in its native DOS state, and frankly that hasn’t aged well thanks to low resolutions and clunky controls. I recommend getting GZDoom to run this, put its compatibility mode on Doom (not the strict version, just the regular). For gameplay options, make sure jumping is enabled and crouching disabled, as levels were designed with that in mind. You can tighten up the shooting by turning autoaim off. To keep the art style of the game as it was intended, turn all texture filtering off, and use square pixel particles.
– Real player with 100.0 hrs in game
After far too long, I have finally completed HeXen. It’s the sequel to Heretic, but while Heretic was a fun DOOM reskin, HeXen gets away from DOOM’s influence and becomes more of its own thing, with multiple player characters, hub-based level structure, more puzzles, and a far darker tone. These changes bring plenty of pros and cons, and certainly create a unique experience.
There are three characters to choose from at the start of the game: the Fighter, the Mage, and the Cleric. (They have actual names, but they’re not worth remembering.) The Fighter is a melee character, the Mage is ranged, and the Cleric is a mix between the two. I played as the Fighter because I’d heard that he was the best, and it’s fun to just run around punching hundreds and hundreds of monsters with wonderfully cathartic gore and sound effects. The punch is the starting weapon (there are four total per class), and it’s strangely effective; I got by using it almost exclusively for about 60% of the game before the challenge ramped up enough to necesitate use of the other weapons. I may go back and play as the other characters at some point, though, because the game makes it clear that the playstyles differ enough to make repeats worthwhile.
– Real player with 28.4 hrs in game
Return to Nangrim
Return to Nangrim is a dark first-person fantasy adventure with survival and RPG elements embedded in an epic dwarven lore. Craft, explore, and survive an abandoned and hostile world. So, grab your axe and shield and go on an epic journey that will take you and your animal companion into the ominous depths of an ancient mountain.
Cold winds howl through the abandoned caverns of Nangrim. This forsaken place holds nothing good for those who dare to pass. Now you must survive down in the depths of this ancient dwarven mountain city, and discover the fate of the Stonebeards in their last days.
MAIN FEATURES
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Explore epic locations and unveil their secrets. Collect, combine and craft items, and interact with the environment to progress.
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Find and forge weapons to defend against the dangers that lurk in the dark. Not all creatures have left the mountain fortress.
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Become a master blacksmith. Learn to forge like the dwarves of old.
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Brew legendary beers and cook delicious dwarven dishes in the tavern.
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Your torch is essential: it is not only a flame to light your way but also your primary weapon of defense; keep it close when the darkness closes in.
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Hammer or axe? Both are unmerciful tools against the evil forces. Forge and upgrade them to unlock their full potential.
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Use Hilduir, the runic language of the dwarves, to piece together the story, puzzles, and culture of this long-forgotten nation.
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Procedural elements guarantee a different gaming experience for every player.
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Experience deep and extensive fantasy lore with tons of side contents, collectibles, and hidden items.
The Mirum
It’s a good game and one of the hardest I’ve ever played. I definitely recommend this game. I assure you this game is bug free (at least at the time this review was written). So if you are stuck here and there, Just look better or try another method.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
I do not remember how I encountered this game but I liked it a lot. In Mirum, you play as a human (I guess) trapped in the eponymous miniature world along with other people. It is not clear how or why you ended up there but one thing is clear: you cannot die. In fact, every time you are killed, you respawn in the main city of MIrum. I found it clever that the game takes a common videogame concept and turns it into an existential question. Mirum’s citizens are divided into two camps, the pro-immortality Priests, who want to stay in Mirum and worship its creator, and the anti-immortality Seekers, who want to escape and live a mortal life. There is more background on the world scattered around the game’s levels, which is neither presented perfectly nor I understood it fully, but I greatly appreciated the creator’s effort to provide it, as well as his obvious zeal for the story.
– Real player with 6.5 hrs in game
Dark Shadows - Army of Evil
I for some reason had this in my inventory at some point. Not sure when or how, but it was there.
After recently watching a video on it, and realizing I haven’t beaten it, I reinstalled it and thought, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Little did I know.
Dark Shadows is a FPS “hack n' slash” that really reminded me of Kings Field, which were FPS dungeon crawling RPGs. I put “hack n' slash” in quotes because I feel like calling this a hack n' slash is an insult to actual great games like DIablo.
– Real player with 8.3 hrs in game
I am really sorry to say, but just like the many other reviews, this game is terrible.
It is functional, for sure, but the gameplay itself is severely lacking. The first level is an abomination in fetch quests, with one part, fetching oil for your torch, not even remotely making sense. I don’t understand how the developer thought it made sense that you have to walk along a ledge on a wall, with your character basically floating above the ground, to get to the top of a cabinet that holds the oil you are looking for.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Lichdom: Battlemage
I admire this concept. I was excited by it when I first read the description of Lichdom somewhere on the Internet. World certainly lacked a game where you could really feel like a mage, casting endless spells and wreaking mayhem around yourself.
You even feel wrong while playing it, because until now, in any other game, this kind of gameplay has only been available through cheating. You are basically immortal (in case of “death” you actually just despawn and spawn back at the nearest checkpoint), you have an abyss of magical energy that never exhausts, and you can just keep throwing orbs of fire at your enemy until it dies. Overall, it’s all you could only dream of if you ever chose to be a mage in an RPG. Do you remember how you had to sleep in order to restore your mana after killing every_single_enemy in Morrowind? Feels like nightmare now.
– Real player with 44.1 hrs in game
Gameplay / combat
Lichdom: Battlemage is an action RPG where you control a single character from a first person perspective. You are a badass mage on a personal revenge quest and you’ve got a wide range of spells to choose from.
You’ve got traditional fireballs and AoEs as well as grenade like “lobs” and “rays” that are short range constant beams. You don’t have any melee weapons but you can block, and if timed correctly, this will trigger a “nova” which damages everything in a radius around you. There’s also a very useful dodge move. There is no mana limit or cooldowns so you can cast as frequently as you desire.
– Real player with 41.5 hrs in game
Neyyah
Neyyah is a first-person point-and-click adventure puzzle game, an archaeological investigation, using 2d slideshow based pre-rendered graphics. It is set within a collection of remote almost abandoned islands, separated by a series of complex portal machinery and laced with the fingerprints of two very intriguing cultures.
Upon waking up from a strange dream, you find yourself transported to a place called Olujay, where you meet Vamir, who sends you to Neyyah in the hope you will be safe there. For reasons you will discover upon your many explorations, Vamir needs you for a matter of great urgency.
A wrong must be righted. A civilisation avenged. A secret revealed.
You end up on Neyyah with only a small amount of knowledge given to you by the frantic Vamir on what you’re supposed to do when you’re there.
Things don’t go as planned. In order to return to Olujay and reach Vamir, you will have to explore Neyyah – linking together the mechanical contraptions, rusted levers and blue plasma portal systems scattered throughout the bizarre landscapes, as you learn about the cultures that have shaped Neyyah.
Not everything is as it seems, and as you wander further into Neyyah’s ancient heart, your discoveries will lead you to uncover the very truths behind the fate of Earth itself …
Neyyah reflects similar situations depicted within our own society, such as what is real, what is false, and being able to question your own beliefs. Through environmental storytelling, the player will be able to enjoy hours of non-linear gameplay, solving puzzles through use of close observation, visual links, writing down your own notes, using inventory items … while immersing yourself in a rich story and environment driven game, delivered to you with beautiful prerendered graphics, immersive sounds and a compelling musical score.
Let Neyyah become the world you were born to explore …
Feel free to check out these following social media links, including the Defy Reality Entertainment Patreon page, a great place to keep up to date with all things Neyyah as the game develops - a front row seat look into the behind the scenes of various aspects of development, while also being able to enjoy some fantastic rewards, such as having your name on the end credits, signed desktop wallpapers, skype calls, and access to playable test builds!
_www.patreon.com/defyrealityentertainment
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Neyyah merch is also available on the Red Bubble DEFY REALITY ARTS page, hosting a whole range products from clocks and phone case designs, through to a variety of prints (metal, canvas, framed art) to jigsaw puzzles! Solve a puzzle even before the game is out, with a choice of 13 different Neyyah-rific designs - https://www.redbubble.com/people/DefyRealityArts/explore?asc=u&page=1&sortOrder=recent