The board game Confrontation was widely known: its second edition was translated into 5 languages ​​and sold in 41 countries. Recently the studio Cyanide trying to attract the attention of video game fans to this universe. But she succeeds with varying degrees of success.

The first attempt was the eponymous Confrontation, released last year. The French literally transferred the desktop game to computers: it was a harsh tactical RPG in a medieval fantasy world, somewhat reminiscent of the brutal Warhammer universe. The battles turned out to be just as difficult as in the original, but other than that the game had nothing to brag about; except for inconvenient controls, weak graphics, monotonous location design and a boring plot. The public greeted the game, to put it mildly, coolly, but the persistent French did not calm down and a year later they released attempt No. 2, that is, Aarklash: Legacy.

Unlike Confrontation, you can’t “pump up” your equipment here, but there is a huge selection of all kinds of magic rings, necklaces and talismans.

Battles, battles and more battles..

Compared to Confrontation, globally Aarklash: Legacy nothing has changed. This is the same tactical RPG, where a squad of four heroes fights with someone every second, and the player, even at the easiest difficulty level, must always keep the situation under control and torture the keyboard, constantly alternating between “real time” and pause. In fights, you need to competently and timely use the skills of your subordinates and their specializations: one supports with healing magic, another showers enemies with attacking magic, the third “tanks”, and some dwarf with a cannon hits the reptiles with cannonballs.

Moreover, battles have become even more Nonukcasinosites.co.uk/casinos-not-on-gamstop/ complex, and more nuances have to be taken into account. You need to interrupt enemy spells in time, correctly direct “spells” and charges, take control of your opponents, constantly check what effects are applied to the enemy, and try to remove them. At the same time, very often our subordinates themselves find themselves under the control of villains, refusing to use the skills they need right now. And the fights themselves contain more unpleasant surprises: for example, in the heat of battle, a couple of hungry lions may jump out at you from somewhere behind..

As in Confrontation, new fighters are constantly joining the squad, and we are free to change the composition and even the location of the “magnificent four” on the battlefield at any time through a special menu. In the same way, heroes receive new levels and “pump up” their basic skills, choosing at a certain stage different options for their development. What is better – make sure that the healing charge heals everyone in its path, including enemies, or let it heal only one ally and damage the enemy??

Finally, besides the battles in Aarklash: Legacy there is also practically nothing. We are just exploring locations in search of hidden corners and chests hidden there with various magical jewelry that can be put on characters.

Work on mistakes

And yet it is noticeable that in Cyanide drew conclusions from the failure of Confrontation. For example, the plot has become more interesting, and there is much more intrigue in it. The premise is this: a detachment of Wheel Swords fighters was collecting completely legal tribute for their guild, and then learned that their entire organization was anathematized and they were being hunted. Now they themselves are investigating who is behind it.

All this is served by better-quality scenes in the engine, and the fighters no longer resemble dumb killing machines: outside of battles, they actively joke, bicker, and even have love affairs. At the same time, the characters are much more colorful than in Confrontation: here some upright lizard, a goblin, a gnome and a lich can fight shoulder to shoulder.

Both the graphics and location design have improved noticeably. Cards in Aarklash: Legacy contain more branches and surprises. Going further away from the main path, you can come across some interesting “boss” with a crowd of henchmen, find a passage to a chest hidden under the mountain. And even meet a puzzle where you are forced to first move statues and then puzzle over how to defeat the huge Seraphim: she is constantly being healed by smaller enemies, and she responds to them with the same coin.

The controls and interface have also been redesigned for the better. Fighters don’t get stuck anywhere, and clicking on skill icons here isn’t as excruciatingly painful as in Confrontation – it’s even possible to create a queue of abilities that the character will use.

Of course, ideally I would like the game to be a little more varied and its difficulty a little more balanced. When a fight with a far from final “boss”, even at the Easy level, makes you sweat, swear and load saves, it’s still too much. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to be able to set the fighter’s line of behavior, the degree of his aggression and the set of actions that he will automatically perform in a given situation, as was the case in Dragon Age: Origins. But in its current form Aarklash: Legacy will bring a lot of pleasure to real hardcore players who are ready to endure, overcome and think for the sake of a sweet moment of victory. At the same time, the game no longer looks like a naked tactical simulator, spitting on user comfort and variety: it looks like a completely modern, nice RPG.

Pros: exciting and truly challenging battles; good plot; nice graphics; atmospheric music.
Cons: little variety; The difficulty of battles is often overestimated.