After something like 3 years, InXile's third and least financially successful CRPG crowdfunding revival has come out to what feels like a general reaction of "Oh hey, this finally came out." Well, at least that's how I felt when I got the email asking me if I wanted a Steam or a GOG key. That definitely seems like the case for me and crowdfunding recently, but to this game's credit it still managed to beat Bloodstained and Underworld Ascendant out and the door, which had their campaigns around the same time. You might be excused for not remembering this game exists (given that it's a series that hasn't been truly relevant since the early 90s, that 2004 diablo-esque action RPG starring Cary Elwes notwithstanding, but hey Bryan Fargo doesn't own the rights to Fallout or D&D, so he has to go for the other games made under his watch at Interplay) but it's essentially a first-person party-based dungeon crawler in the style of the original Bard's Tale RPGs, Wizardry, and Might and Magic. It's got environmental puzzles, exploration gated by bard songs (i.e. some light metroidvania elements) and a heavy focus on turn-based combat that seems decidedly minimalist and has a lot of emphasis around positioning.
To be perfectly honest, I've been a little wary of this one after Torment: Tides of Numenera disappointed me, but I played through the first few hours (essentially the tutorial and introductory quest) and I think it might benefit from not trying to recreate one of the most singular and important installments in the genre. The combat seems like it could be pretty great once you start unlocking skills and I'm into the heavily Scottish/Celtic vibes everything is giving off. It's not much of a looker, but I'm getting some Might and Magic X, maybe some Grimrock vibes from it that I appreciate.
That said... between my current playthrough of Divinity Original Sin II, my desire to go back and pick Pillars of Eternity II back up at some point, the release of Pathfinder Kingmaker next week, and most importantly the release of the "classic" Wizards and Warriors on GOG a few weeks ago I feel like this is the one in my depressing CRPG backlog that's going to get the shaft. It seems genuinely solid, but I don't feel like it has a killer hook in the way any of the above games do, and it currently has some serious optimization problems, with minute-long loading times for certain areas and frequent hitching. Maybe my mind will change, but for now I think I might go back to trying to get through Act 2 in Original Sin.
If anyone else backed this or picked it up I'd be interested in hearing what you think.
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