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Shadows: Awakening
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With the extra day off because of Labor Day, I had a little time to catch up on some games I’ve recently purchased and played. I mostly buy games on GOG, because I believe in DRM-free games and currently own over 200 games. Below is some recent isometric, top-down RPG games that I’m playing (or looking forward to playing).
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SHADOWS: AWAKENING
Released: August 31, 2018
Publisher: Games Farm / Kalypso Media Digital
This game Shadows: Awakening just came out on August 31st. The publisher or GOG gave me a free copy, I believe because I had previously purchased Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms.
A lot of people compared this game and previous games to Diablo - it is not the same. A lot of games tried to clone Diablo, but in all my years of trying them out, nothing comes close, with the exception of Torchlight.
If you’ve previously played any of the Shadows series, you know the gimmick: you play in the “real world” and a “shadow world”. It does take a little strategy, as you have to solve puzzles using both worlds to progress in the game.
In this new game, you start off as a demon bounded to one of three character types (Warrior, Rogue/Ranger, or Wizard). Gameplay is simple point and click, but adding the warping in and out of the two worlds for a tactical advantage (your character heals while you’re in the other world).
Love: Great graphics and dual-world gameplay. Voice acting dialogue.
Hate: Pre-made character builds. Linear storyline.
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SHADOWS: AWAKENING
Released: August 31, 2018
Publisher: Games Farm / Kalypso Media Digital
This game Shadows: Awakening just came out on August 31st. The publisher or GOG gave me a free copy, I believe because I had previously purchased Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms.
A lot of people compared this game and previous games to Diablo - it is not the same. A lot of games tried to clone Diablo, but in all my years of trying them out, nothing comes close, with the exception of Torchlight.
If you’ve previously played any of the Shadows series, you know the gimmick: you play in the “real world” and a “shadow world”. It does take a little strategy, as you have to solve puzzles using both worlds to progress in the game.
In this new game, you start off as a demon bounded to one of three character types (Warrior, Rogue/Ranger, or Wizard). Gameplay is simple point and click, but adding the warping in and out of the two worlds for a tactical advantage (your character heals while you’re in the other world).
Love: Great graphics and dual-world gameplay. Voice acting dialogue.
Hate: Pre-made character builds. Linear storyline.
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Tower of Time
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TOWER OF TIME
Released: April 12, 2018
Publisher: Event Horizon
Tower of Time is an action role-playing dungeon crawler game. Based on that description, this sounded like my cup of tea, but unfortunately, I quickly realized that it’s not really all that’s cracked up to be. Maybe it’s because I’m only in the first few floors, but the layout is quite simple. You go here, you pull a lever, and you open up a new area. At first, I was playing on Normal, and it was a breeze. That is until you meet the first boss, who was incredibly hard to defeat. I had to turn it down to easy, just to get to the next level.
The real-time battle is also hard to manage, you can “pause” (it’s not really pausing, but sort of slowed down the action) and give directions. Again, I’m in the early stages of the game, so I only have three characters to work with… but it still feels like such a chore directing everyone to attack or heal. The characters aren’t smart enough to auto move and attack, but maybe it’s an option that I need to turn on.
Love: The RPG elements like rare loot and equipment. Great graphics and character builds.
Hate: Micromanaging the battle tactics. Unable to create your own character. Linear storyline.
Released: April 12, 2018
Publisher: Event Horizon
Tower of Time is an action role-playing dungeon crawler game. Based on that description, this sounded like my cup of tea, but unfortunately, I quickly realized that it’s not really all that’s cracked up to be. Maybe it’s because I’m only in the first few floors, but the layout is quite simple. You go here, you pull a lever, and you open up a new area. At first, I was playing on Normal, and it was a breeze. That is until you meet the first boss, who was incredibly hard to defeat. I had to turn it down to easy, just to get to the next level.
The real-time battle is also hard to manage, you can “pause” (it’s not really pausing, but sort of slowed down the action) and give directions. Again, I’m in the early stages of the game, so I only have three characters to work with… but it still feels like such a chore directing everyone to attack or heal. The characters aren’t smart enough to auto move and attack, but maybe it’s an option that I need to turn on.
Love: The RPG elements like rare loot and equipment. Great graphics and character builds.
Hate: Micromanaging the battle tactics. Unable to create your own character. Linear storyline.
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Pathfinder: Kingmaker
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PATHFINDER: KINGMAKER
Released: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Owlcat Games / Deep Silver
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is not out yet, but I was so excited about this game coming out on GOG that I pre-ordered it. This game is based on the Pathfinder tabletop game, which was and offspring of Dungeon and Dragons, but with modified 3.5 rules set.
I own all the Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Dark Sun games, plus obviously already big fans of the Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale series, so I’m more than excited to see how they bring Pathfinder to life.
I’m hoping it will be similar to Pillars of Eternity (which is not an official D&D game), at least give me the ability to create and maintain a group of adventurers. We’ll see how it works when it arrives September 25, 2018.
Other games I’m looking forward to:
Fallout ‘76: I’m a mostly offline gamer, but Fallout is my all-time favorite game series… so there’s no doubt that I’ll be first in line to play this. I love everything about Fallout, from its 1940s music and art style to its SPECIAL and perks system.
Torchlight Frontiers: As previously mentioned, no other games come close to Diablo than Torchlight. This is the third game in the series, and hopefully will address some of its shortcomings in the previous two games. There are also mobile game version coming out… but I’m assuming will be a remake or re-working of their first two games.
Cyberpunk 2077: I love The Witcher series, so obviously I’m looking forward to CD Projekt’s next project.
Exanima: I’ve actually already pre-ordered this game, mostly because I wanted to check out their beta. And based on playing the Beta: it sucks! I’m hoping they fix the bugs and make it a more enjoyable game when it is finally released.
Released: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Owlcat Games / Deep Silver
Pathfinder: Kingmaker is not out yet, but I was so excited about this game coming out on GOG that I pre-ordered it. This game is based on the Pathfinder tabletop game, which was and offspring of Dungeon and Dragons, but with modified 3.5 rules set.
I own all the Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Dark Sun games, plus obviously already big fans of the Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale series, so I’m more than excited to see how they bring Pathfinder to life.
I’m hoping it will be similar to Pillars of Eternity (which is not an official D&D game), at least give me the ability to create and maintain a group of adventurers. We’ll see how it works when it arrives September 25, 2018.
Other games I’m looking forward to:
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