Regions of Ruin: Runegate

Fun sequel that gets most of the stuff right from the first game and improves on it. But forcing only one save and not having any type of backup or restore system if it gets corrupted is unforgiveable. Lost 10 hours of progress because I want to a new location and as it was saving the game crashed. Reload game ASAP as every game made in the last decade has a backup feature if it forces you to only have one save file, but not this one. If your only save gets corrupted it just deletes it and you start over. Most game companies learned that if you force people into one save you still need backups to restore if the current one is corrupted but not here.

Good fun until a save game bug occurred that causes the game to just make a drum sound and never load the character. Fun while it lasted, but starting over would a total chore and not worth the time. Plenty of odd other bugs like: No matter what button you push another button with activate on controller. Like you hit X for something then the companions menu loads. This stays until restarting the game. Dialogue wont advance or change even when the quests are complete. This stays until restarting the game. Basically, you get to play for a bit and then restart the game until it decides your save is boo-boo then that's it for that character.

If you played the original Regions of Ruin and were disappointed, this is probably the game that you hoped the original would be. Doesn't get everything right, but it's still a bargain at the price, especially given the amount of content (including an editor) and the possibility of future updates.

Overall I like the game. The flow of building your settlement, exploring new areas, and going through the quests is fun and satisfying. That said, I also think the game has some real issues with the moment to moment gameplay and how it controls, especially in fights and when platforming. For platforming, there are a few problems: - it can be hard to tell what is background decoration vs a platform you can stand on. There are lots of cases of wooden platforms + wooden logs laid out horizontally, in a way which sure looks like it could be a platform until you fall through. - when you press the button to run, it starts you dashing/running even if you have not input a movement command. It would be better if this meant that when you did move, it would be a run. It makes it way too easy to fall off stuff, overshoot, or randomly jump off a platform right after climbing a ladder. - in general, you fall through platforms far too easily. I don’t know what logic makes this happen (maybe something around ladders), but it really needs fixing. This is exacerbated by platforming being a really common part of fights. For combat, I think it’s less clear exactly what the issues are, but it doesn’t feel great. The parry system feels like it breaks down almost instantly once you’re fighting multiple opponents, which you almost always are. It’s hard to read or space enemies when there are like 8 semi overlapping ones. It often feels like you’re getting hit randomly and the best move is to just spam heavy attacks (or at least that it’s not much worse than playing carefully). I don’t think this needs to hit the levels of a Dead Cells or anything, but the combat really needs improving. Some enemy design could be improved- eg the lightning shaman who hits you from offscreen while you fail to platform up to him due to the problems above is not super fun. It’s not that combat is super hard, it’s just not very rewarding. Altogether the character movement just doesn’t feel super fluid or responsive and it can make moving around frustrating. I think these are big issues for the game, since these are the two main activities you do in each area. Some small other things also grate a bit, eg you teleport on the map once to go to an area’s hub, which is empty. You then walk forward a bit to a wagon that teleports you to your base. It seems like the map could just send you straight to your base and nothing would be lost but extra clicks. All that said, I still do recommend it. I really enjoy the core loop in general and the basic mechanics of the game. It improves on the previous game in many ways, which is great. The lighting can get genuinely shockingly great for a game with this art style- one rune puzzle especially stood out. So don’t let the above stop you from trying it- you will be able to tell pretty quickly if the control issues stop you from enjoying the game itself imo.

I enjoyed the story and characters. As a player who prefers story-rich games and good writing, I recommend this game! Was not much of a fan of platformer type puzzle challenges throughout the game but I just have no talent or patience with that type of gameplay. I enjoyed the pixel art style. I think it added to the humour in some scenes. I also am learning that I have an affinity for dwarven folklore due to more games exploring this fantasy race! The only thing i would have liked changed is the final outcome. In the game, dwarves are treated as 2nd class citizens and fighting against slavery. Yet when the dwarf player saves the realms, the dwarf communities from those realms are not included in the future planning meetings. A better outcome for the dwarves would increase the replayability of this game for me.

FOR THE DEVS: As soon as the GLARING issues are fixed, I will change this review to an in-depth positive one explaining everything good about the game. I love this game series. I love the original, I love what the devs with this one. This game could be amazing, maybe it even is. I wouldn't know though, because it's currently borderline unplayable. The ice skating movement is bad enough, even after their initial "fix", which only limited it so it doesn't scale too much with your movement speed. Gone is the precise movement of the original, now you're sliding everywhere, even when not sprinting. This combines with the second, and bigger, issue, to make the game an absolute pain to view and navigate, and it's a HUGE accessibility issue. The camera movements are atrocious. They are smooth, sure, and they look nice, but the swinging and swaying of it is nausea-inducing, and turns complex fights into utter guesswork - I have to close my eyes and imagine where the enemies are, because if I'm dodging and jumping and looking at the screen, I'll throw up. This is a 2D metroidvania RPG with soulslike elements. You NEED precision. You NEED predictable movement and clear vision. Save the pretty camera and fluid movements for cutscenes. Also, significantly smaller but still annoying issues so far, with the UI: you can no longer select dialogue options with the number keys, as you were able to in the original. You also cannot skip the animation of the text so it all appears at once; pressing any key just skips the dialogue line entirely. This has been standard for the industry for over a decade, and it even worked in the first game. Come on. I'd be happy to list everything good about this game. Once I am actually able to play it without having to take anti-nausea medication, I will. For now, though, it hurts me to say, but I can't recommend that anyone buys the game in its current state.

Fun 2d dwarf explored rpg puzzle game. You do dwarf things and build a dwarf colony. Fight goblins, longshanks, and orcs and such. Crafting, exploring, puzzles and passably good pixel art and animations. Good return for the money.

Властелин конец в пиксельной графике. Гномобабы с бородой, много пива, ор и решение вопросов насилимем. 10 из 10

Mon seul reproche serait peut-être vis-à-vis de la traduction Française, qui est un peu étrange parfois, selon moi.