The Dwarves ( Steelbook PC & OST - UK Import)

(Note: I've given it four stars because I've rounded up the score, but in reality, I'd give it a three. 5)br>br>I bought this game with a gift card on the spur of the moment around Christmas time, and it was only recently that I put it in and played it. I'd never heard of or seen anything about the game, but I was familiar with the book series on which it was based, though I hadn't read any of the books in the series. But, since the game was reasonably priced, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did it in the end. br>br>However, in my opinion, it did not initially present itself well; Before jumping right into combat for the player, the game begins with a brief cinematic sequence that provides a very brief bit of exposition on the world and the role of the dwarves in it (as well as serving as a prologue for the game's story, though it doesn't come around to it until much later in the game), before jumping right into combat for the player. It's a battle system tutorial (more on that later), and it just feels a little off. I guess I'd describe it as haphazard and perplexing in both the narrative and the combat it presents. I could see some players being turned off by it because I wasn't sure what was going on, but if they stick with it for the few moments it lasts, they'll find themselves in the middle of a fun fantasy adventure. br>br>For the remainder of the journey, the game's story and world are fleshed out and presented in a professional manner. The world, while typical of high fantasy, is enjoyable and interesting, and the story is intriguing and compelling enough that I was eager to see how it progressed, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. The protagonist of Tungdil is - again - a typical fantasy goody-goody-goody-goody-goody-goody The remaining cast are all fun and interesting, with their own personalities and characterizations, and interact well with one another when they do interact; they're all voiced well, and the designs are charming; the goody hero (though a dwarf, which a main character being a dwarf in fantasy isn't all that typical) but is likeable in character and voice; the remaining cast are all fun and interesting, with their own personalities and characterizations, and interact well with one another, when they do interact; br>br>Overall, I would say the graphics for the game are enjoyable, with a storybook-like quality to the designs; Of course, the graphics aren't the best in the world, but they're adequate for this game, even if the cinematics can be a little janky in animation at times. I'd also describe the music as pleasant. it's - once more - Outside of the rock song that plays over the end credits, the music is typical of a game with a high fantasy setting, and while it isn't particularly memorable, it is appropriate for the game and sounds nice. br>br>In certain towns and other locations on the world map, the game is played in an isometric perspective in which the camera can be moved around and zoomed in or out to get the lay of the land; these areas are usually marked. It mostly works, though there are times when a character is in a corner and there isn't enough room to move the camera to get a good view. Much of the game and party interactions, as well as NPC interactions, take place in text boxes with portraits that are overlaid on top of the world map, which is a landscape with nodes that the player selects by moving a cursor over it. br>br>It gives the game a more storybook presentation, and while there are definitely some instances where a conversation or plot point would've been better served by being presented in either a cinematic or even just the isometric view, I still think it works well and doesn't take away from the game's ability to tell a compelling story or characters. It's aided even more by some excellent voice acting that reads over the text, primarily from the narrator and main cast; some of the smaller NPC characters have slightly more iffy sounding voices, but overall it's very well done, especially for a game that clearly isn't and doesn't present itself as a bigtime triple-A title. A RPG. br>br>For combat, which is always an important part of any RPG, the game uses real-time combat with pause, similar to the old BioWare/Black Isle games, with special skills mapped as hot keys to the directional pad. Overall, I thought it was mechanically sound and attractive, assuming - When it comes to basic attacks - The blows could use a little more weight to them. Overall, I thought the combat was enjoyable and varied enough most of the time. Each character has their own set of skills and abilities - One has a lot of attack power, one has a lot of defense power, one has a lot of magic power, and so on - As one might expect from a typical RPG. Combat can be difficult a lot of the time as well - as well as depressing br>br>However, I felt that the combat challenge came more from hordes and hordes of enemies rushing your characters and the sense of chaos that would ensue, rather than from a strategic or tactical aspect. The game gives hints on the loading screens about using the environment for a tactical advantage, but I found that I was often surrounded by mobs of enemies far too quickly to take advantage of any such environmental advantages. I started the game on the 'Medium' difficulty setting, but I wasn't far in - During a battle in which I was surrounded by enemies but only needed to kill one single orc to win - that I had to swallow some pride and reduce the difficulty to 'Easy' After that, the game's combat became a little easier, but it was still easy to become overwhelmed if I wasn't paying attention to each member of my party, because once a character is completely surrounded, their HP will quickly deplete. br>br>In addition, while in battle, the player must pay close attention to each party member, switching between them frequently, not only to ensure their safety but also to ensure that the characters are actually doing something. It wasn't a big deal for the most part; If the character detects an enemy in the immediate vicinity, he will attack it. When all of the nearby enemies have been dispatched, and the rest of the party has advanced further along the map, the left behind party member(s) have a tendency to just stay put and be idle. It can be a boon in some cases, as the characters regenerate health when they are not attacked, but there have been times when I've had a character become overwhelmed and switched to others to help alleviate the pressing hordes, only to discover that the other character(s) was/were just standing around on the far side of the map. In addition, I'm not sure any of the characters use their special abilities (which, of course, are far more useful than basic attacks) when I don't take control of them and prompt them to do so. I may have missed it in the game, but I couldn't find a way to assign tactics to party members when they weren't under my control. However, aside from the early difficulty of being surrounded by hordes of enemies, I rarely had to restart a battle due to any of the preceding issues. br>br>While I'm not sure how to find out how many hours I spent playing the game on my PS4, it's a short game, especially for a modern RPG - I doubt the game took more than ten hours to complete from start to finish, if even that. In truth, the game's pacing flowed well and was brisk due to the shorter time limit, and it didn't bother me all that much because it was nice to settle in for an RPG that wasn't going to consume 100 hours of my time. It reminds me of fantasy novels, to be honest. Those 1000-page tomes can be fantastic reads, but every now and then, I prefer the brevity of a book that's only 300 pages long. br>br>However, the game's narrative and character development felt hampered by the game's short length; there are a few characters with intriguing backstories. ups - a forced companion who dislikes you, and another who possesses dangerous abilities - However, because developing these plots cannot take a lot of time, lines in such a short amount of time, their stories/characters don't seem to have much meat to them. What's there is done well and interestingly enough, and I never got the impression/feeling that the game was rushing through plot/characters (those two characters mentioned specifically do have complete arcs), but one can't help but think that a little more length would have served these things better. br>br>There are also the odd glitches or simple errors that I came across along the way, such as misspelled words or voice acting that does not match the text presented on-screen. (At one point in the story, a character said something that was clearly said by another character in the text. ) Sometimes a character would vanish into a wall or fall down the stairs, but this didn't happen very often, and none of it was ever disastrous. The PS4 version of the game performs admirably. There are some graphical issues, such as screen tear, and load times can be as long as 20 seconds or longer (which has never bothered me), but the game never froze on me and I was never forced to reload a save due to performance issues. br>br>Also, for those who care about trophies, the trophies in this game are fairly easy to come by; It is entirely possible to obtain a platinum in the main game in one sitting. I've never been a big fan of trophies, but for those who are, it's something to consider. br>br>Overall, The Dwarves is a decent game and RPG, and while it didn't last long for me, I had a good time with it. I'd give it a solid 3. 5 out of 5 stars, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy role-playing games and is looking for a shorter adventure to break up the hundreds of hours behemoths that the genre is known for. It's a good investment for around twenty dollars.

Eugene Navarro

| Dec 19, 2020

We're still on the lookout for Diablo's successor. For a while, I enjoyed this game until it became unplayable. It's a fun way to kill a couple of hours before you reach the point where you can't go any further. It wasn't exactly sterling before that. I'll give it two stars because it had potential.

Lionel HODGSON

| Nov 20, 2021

It's a fun game, but it's a little too linear at times.

Sasha Dixon

| May 07, 2021

I liked the game.

Milan Arroyo

| Feb 22, 2021

It's a pleasant game with excellent graphics. The only aspect of the game that I didn't enjoy was having to manage all of your party members.

Aleena Mack

| Mar 28, 2021

The game is enjoyable, but there are a few bugs. It's worth it to finish if you save frequently and have patience!.

Kendall Nunez

| Nov 18, 2021

Great game, a little difficult at first, but it improves as you progress.

Thiago McKnight

| Aug 15, 2021

As games go, I really like this one. The movement is a little clunky, but the price was great. It took 3 weeks to arrive, but it was well worth the wait.

Emilia Kirby

| Feb 04, 2021