Recent reviews by Lord Deviant

Divine Divinity is a fun open-world action RPG similar to the Diablo series with more of the RP aspect. The game ran poorly for me originally, but you need to run in compatibility mode with a software renderer. After figuring that out, the game ran smoothly and only crashed once (when reading a certain note in the home of the leader of the healers near the beginning).

The story itself is simple and light-hearted. There are a few jokes that broke the immersion for me a little, but nothing extreme. There are lots of side quests, and most places can be visited even before the game sends you to that place. The gear selection is good, and you can typically carry a lot before being encumbered.

The game is a bit clunky by modern standards; several times I would try to click something and would grab it instead. There are a few "features" that are annoying and don't really add anything to the game, in my opinion, such as a merchant in the city who you have to talk to, as to see his wares, then follow him to his shop every time. Nothing terrible, just unnecessary. Boss battles are typically very short since most of them will kill you quickly but have a special weakness to be exploited. Personally, I would have preferred them to be a slower pace with less severe weaknesses rather than being killed in three hits unless I use a certain spell which shreds them because they are weak to it.

There also aren't a lot of shops, though most NPCs offer some trade. Once you find the main shop and mark the teleporter, it's not so bad. However, I had my weapon taken by a quest and didn't realize it, the only merchant I knew was gone, and I ran around for over an hour just trying to find a weapon or a shop to buy one so I could actually play the game.

As a helpful hint, it took me a while to realize if I held CTRL before clicking it would target the enemy nearest to my cursor. You also don't need to click each time your character swings; click once and your character will attack continuously.

Legends of Amberland II is the second in a series of games inspired by the blobbers of old, especially the middle Might and Magic games. It is a great improvement over the first with secret doors, temporary fountain effects, skills, and magic item "tiers" being my favorite additions. There is lots to explore, with many of the dungeons being unnecessary for the completion of the game.

Queen's Wish is another great title from Spiderweb Software in which you take on the role of a Prince of Haven who is sent to a war-torn land to prove yourself by conquering it. During your journey, you have many options - some of which will earn you points with your mother; others of which will bring you her ire. You also get to build up a series of forts which will extend your power and give you bonuses.

I enjoy pretty much every Spiderweb Software game that's been made. The key points for me are the huge open worlds with lots to explore and discover, the plethora of choices that change the outcome of the story, and the rich unique world settings.

Greed Fall is a fun, semi-open world RPG in which you take on the role of a Legate of the Congregation of Merchants. Your cousin, the Prince's son, is sent to be governor of the Congregation's holding on a new island, and you are to serve as his legate. Your purpose in going to the island is the hope that you will find a cure to a deadly disease which has plagued your homeland.

From the beginning, the Greed Fall gave me a sense of purpose. That is, I actually felt like I wanted to help the characters achieve their goals. In many games, I find some of the characters who join your team distasteful, but in this game I liked every one, finding it easy to help them in their quests. I'm also glad the main character is (or at least can be) a good guy, and I enjoyed playing as him (note: you can also have your character be a girl).

The cities are winding and sometimes confusing, much like medieval cities in the real world. Combat is simple but serves its purpose for me (personally I prefer simple combat to too many buttons/motions). Crafting is simplistic but serviceable; definitely not the focus. There are often many ways to solve quests, and the quests are often more than a simple delivery, and having solved previous quests in certain ways provides shortcuts in many cases. Exploration provides some good rewards, though perhaps it is not as interesting as it could be. There are also various difficulty settings for those who want a challenge versus those who just want to experience the story without too much hassle.

The only bug I encountered had to do with a repeated line, most likely caused by the order I completed the quest. It is truly a minor issue considering the scope of the game.

The story itself is good; I found some of the decisions difficult as I had grown fond of many NPCs, some of whom were at odds with each other. Some intense moments made me angry (that is, at the NPCs because of their evil), and other moments made me shed tears. It is a game of intrigue, and at times I wasn't sure who to trust. All the text is voiced, and I found the voice acting to be very good.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the game for its story and characters, which to me are two of the most important parts of an RPG. It took me about 50+ hours to complete (on easy) with doing all but one of the quests I had found, which makes it a good length in my opinion. This is one I am likely to fire up again in the future.

An excellent game inspired by the games of old, specifically Might and Magic: World of Xeen. Combat is a little different: there's no ranged attacks and combat only begins once you move into a space containing an enemy. The encounters were a good difficulty, assuming you use your equipment and spells effectively. There's lots to explore and discover, including many side quests for additional items and experience.

Let's Build a Zoo is a fun zoo management game. You can build pens, breed 10 variances of each animal, mix and match animals using DNA splicing, and trade (even on the black market) for new animal types. There are three basic paths you can take - "Moral", "Immoral", or basically neutral (by balancing the two). While I don't always agree with what is considered "moral/immoral," the basic idea is a fun metric. Do you slaughter those excess animals to make food to sell or release them back into the wild to restore dying species? Do you steal energy from other places or produce your own using natural energy sources?

My only complaint so far is that I find the constant need to add more Enrichment items frustrating, but that's just part of management games. :)

All in all, I think it's well worth the money. I've played 9 hours and have only unlocked a dozen or so types of animals.

Torchlight is a basic action RPG dungeon crawler in the vein of the Diablo series (in fact, it was designed by some of the same people). The story is short and sweet (about 15 hours for me on easy); it feels more like an intro in a way. After the story-line there is plenty to do with maps leading to mini-dungeons and another scaled dungeon that opens in the graveyard after defeating the "final boss". Items can be combined and improved to an extent, though I'm not much of a gambler with my good items, so I haven't really explored this much. Overall, it is a fun way to spend a few hours.

Beyond Reality is a fun, short JRPG. The gameplay suffices, and the story is simple and interesting. It took about 5 hours to play from beginning to end, though I only acquired 11 out of 24 achievements.

A fun and charming RPG Maker game. The gameplay is solid, and the story is fun (and more than just bash this and slice that).

This Way Madness Lies is about a group of drama students who enter worlds of Shakespeare, which have been corrupted, to cleanse them (more or less). The girls are sweet and entertaining; nothing inappropriate or "offensive" here. The game is some good quick fun, though I confess I know very little about Shakespeare and had to look up all the answers to the occasional questions they ask. The game took about 6 hours to complete on easy; it's probably longer if you play on a harder difficulty.

Overall it is a well-made game. My only "complaint" is that I want to keep playing. :p There are a couple things that you get to select, which likely lead to different cut scenes, but for the most part a second play through would likely be much like the first.