Final Cut combines all the trilogy, so do not buy each game individually if you got this one. But, it also includes most those games DLCs (the exception is Magic Pack from the second game which just adds a meh item) and adds some minor tweaks compared to the original games.
Even so I fully recommend it to be played with the mod Prometheus Enhanced – which adds back some cut side-quests as well as other things. As for the game, it is a typical ARPG, and by today standards it does not hold up as well if you compare it with PoE2 or Diablo 4, but it is an enjoyable game, filled with pop culture easter eggs, you can tell that the devs had fun making this game.
While I did played the originals back in the day, I wont compare them cuz after so many years I barely remember them. That’s the problem too, the game is easily forgettable, apart for Van and his ghost companion, and the steampunk setting, nothing much stands out, including the story. No wonder even back in the day, it was at most a 7/10 game, and now in 2026 I agree with those.
So, what’s so bad? Well I can tell you from my perspective. I will start off with the enemy scaling, I hate the scaling in this game. Basically monsters scale with your level, or very close to that, I couldn’t pin it down. Personally I hate enemy power scaling in general, but in this game it feels bad, not the worst, but it ain’t far from that.
Then is the implementation of command post and tower defense missions. Those two were introduced in the second game, or in the case of this game, 2nd act. Starting with the command post which is the hub you use to send commanders to accomplish certain off-screen missions, well, I found this to be just useless, not just the commander post but the tower defense too, they do not add anything to the game. They are not bad, but have little purpose, even the rewards for completing them are not something special. And speaking of purpose, the chimera was nerfed too, from the little I remember you could summon it as a companion, but in Final Cut you can find it at the lair, and send it in expeditions which results in gold and item rewards. Those expeditions happen off-screen, take about 10 minutes and that’s it. What can I say, this was such a let down when I unlocked the chimera.
I see others mentioning bugs in saves, well, nothing happen to me regarding this, but I also played it safe, only exiting the game in safe locations (this is how the game saves, game exits = saves progress, you aint got a save/load option). But one bug which I encountered a few times was that the screen was black with the exception of texts which did show. The fix was simple, just restart the game. Apart from this, got no crashes or any major issues, only some bugged NPCs but I cannot tell if the mod caused that or not.
The level cap is 100, but you will most likely won’t reach that. I played it in Hard mode but the game has more modes beyond that. I would say that hard is pretty much the normal mode. Different difficulties not only make the game easier/harder but also give certain boosts, most important for reaching max level is the fact that increasing in difficultly can add up to 600% (or something very high) boost to exp. The difficulty can also be changed during gameplay, so do not worry if you chose something too hard or too easy when you start.
Story is forgettable, as well as the side quests, NPCs too, except the MCs. Nothing much stands out, but I gotta say the pop culture references, those were fun to find. What can I say, I ain’t got much to complain about BUT I ain’t got much to praise either.
But I can mention what the game offers in brief:
• It has Adventure mode which allows you to complete a challenge for some rewards in the story mode
• It has 6 classes from all the games as well as the DLCs
• The skill tree is big enough, and there is an option at a NPC to reset skill points, so feel free to experiment around
• You can enhance equipment as well as add essences to them for even more extra stats
• You can reforge items to obtain new ones, so keep rare or epic equipment cuz you can forge new one matching your current level from 3 lower level items (the rare ones you can sell, they are kinda common)
• Katarina, your companion, also has her own stats and skill tree, you can use her as a tank, melee DPS, ranged DPS or provide constant buffs but losing capacity to attack
• 0 stuff to do post-game, and with enemies not re-spawining, if you killed everything and did all side stuff in 1 go, then there is nothing for you after you beat it once
• Voice acting for Van and Katarina is actually good
• It has an online mode but I cannot say anything about it cuz I played in offline
To close up, again the game is not bad, it is just mediocre but I did enjoyed the first game or act or however you wana call it far more than the rest. Also, if you do grab it, play safe with the saving, from what others write in reviews the saving can get very bugged, so exit the game in safe zones (outside combat) and do not quit during the tower defense missions.
