D&D Meets Civ!

This. Game. Is. Brilliant! I don’t make game reviews very often. A game has to be amazing to rate a review, and this game makes the cut.

Right now I’m recommending the game, in spite of some current limitations. As it is now, it's the best game I’ve played since the last Civ release. Imagine how good it will be as it evolves!

I played the Intro Scenario, and almost stopped there. That scenario does NOT do the game justice. After that I dived into the main scenario, "Realm of Aerde" as Warrick, all setting on normal. Anyone who has played Civ can figure it out, and pretty much dive in. I ended with a “Prestige Victory” … 600 points ahead of #2. Not too bad for a first run at the game. (But kind of like kissing your sister, not very satisfying when you are use to world domination victories.)

First, this game really scratches my Civ itch. Civ is the standard I measure against, and this game is the best I have found. If the Civ folks were smart, they would buy this game for big bucks, and weave this aspect into their next Civ edition. Or, the Dev could put the “explore” and “expand” option back into this "4x game" and make Civ-level megabucks. The idea of playing this game with a blank screen and slowly building up your heroes (an immortal race of heroes who work across the ages!), technologies (alchemists! … give them libraries, names and backstory?), diplomacy (emissaries! … again, give them names and backstory?), cities (barracks, markets, etc), and armies, slowly building up across the ages would be awesome. Start with the most basic level of military units and builds, level that up over time. It. Would. Be. Huge! (You don’t really even need to have a random map, the current “Aerde” map is excellent if you pop in there somewhere, randomly. And as you expand you could pick up (absorb, conquer) the cities and villages at the basic size as per the scenario.)

The game mechanics were excellent, with no crashes and just one very minor bug. The Graphics were beautiful!

I love the reward for "no wars for first half of the game.” I did this in my first run-thru of the game (“Realm of Aerde"), and had a blast just doing the dungeon diving and the city builds (first maxing out on guilds and heroes, then going mostly for libraries with a major research endeavor, with some granaries). The intro scenario has value in learning some basics, but I think you need to dive into the major scenario to really get a feel for just how “just one more turn” immersive this game can be.

Sending a LOT more to the Dev.

Overall, a great game with amazing promise for more. Give it a try!

DG

PS: Steam shows that I have over 380 hours play time w/this game. I usually leave a game running in the background and often only get in a turn or two in a day. The game is good, but not (yet!) 380 hrs good.