RPGWatch Feature - Blade of Destiny HD Review

I agree with TheSHEEEP, Nameless One, Kordanor and Shagnak. No sob background story compensates for the fact we were offered unplayable and fully priced game under the guise of fully finished product. If that's not a con job, I don't know what is.
Also have to agree. This game's release was a scam, there's no real getting around it. If they didn't have the money to finish the product, the entire project should have just been shut down, that happens all the time at publishers/developers who are actually reputable. If they were determined to release an unfinished product, then it should have been marked as such (on Steam, this would mean "Early Access" section). The review is OK, I mean it just describes the current state of the game in one person's opinion (although I do find it very odd giving it as much as 3/5). Current state of the game doesn't even really matter to me though, these guys don't deserve anyone's support due to their reprehensible business practices.
 
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Also, look what the devs of Chaos Chronicles (may it rest in peace) did. They ran out of money, due to issues with the publisher, and nobody really knows whose fault it actually was.
But the point is, they could have taken the lazy ass path of least dignity like Crafty Studios, signing anything the publisher threw at them and release the game in whatever state it is, not stating anywhere that this game is not really playable. I'm sure people would have bought it like some poor sods did with BoD.

But what did they do when they realized they could not finish the game like they desired? Shut the game down and continue with something new. Because they knew they would not get the game out in a state they could live with. This clearly shows that the quality of the product and their reputation is more important to them than the "Oh, whatever, main thing is we get money, we can finish the game later" of Crafty Studios.

There is one less game I would've loved to play, but they have my sympathy and understanding (for the decision to shut the game down, not for screwing deals up in the first place).

Oh yes, I did never say the review is really bad. Funny enough, I'd give it a 3/5, with the pro being that it actually described the game instead of focusing on the downsides only (like most others seem to do) and the con being that it outright ignores many things that are still wrong here.

Personally, I cannot rate a game independent of the studio that created it, or the story that lead to it. IMO, they are inseparable, like a painting and the artist. If the game is great after the 100th patch, does the developer who utterly screwed this up deserve the support of a positive review and the likely increase of income? I think not.

Also, thank you to those that got my nick right :lol:
 
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Also, look what the devs of Chaos Chronicles (may it rest in peace) did. They ran out of money, due to issues with the publisher, and nobody really knows whose fault it actually was

Yeah, I'm still pissed about that but they did the right thing. And yeah, knowing how the other teams handled similar situations it's even more difficult to understand how anybody can defend Crafty's approach.
 
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Did the speedtest on GOG and got the free Realms of Arcania 1+2. Since I already have those games there I don't need the code.

U6HDGNP9

Enjoy.
 
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I think you can just keep doing it until you win.
 
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You guys know already know what I think, I'm not responding back and forth. You're not going to change my mind that we should all place bamboo shoots under the fingernails of all the devs involved in this release and hate them forever.

You can all choose to hate Crafty Studios, that's your choice, but I will look towards the future and hope that they have learned from this bad release. I am thankful that they have continuously patched the game and that the game was playable and fun for the hours I spent making my review. I look forward to playing the other 2 games in the trilogy and hope the next releases go much smoother than this one.

Ciao!
 
I just want it out there, that it is my opinion that Crafty Games is not some greedy publisher.

Did they release a game before it was ready?
Absolutely.
Should they have went the early release Steam route?
Probably.
Should they have abandoned the project because they ran out of money?
Never.

I'm tired of hearing about promising games that just shut shop because of . . . well there are a number of reasons out there that I have heard over the years.
1) no money
2) the new owners didn't like it
3) the publisher felt the (game, genre) had moved on
4) legal matters (copy right type infringements)

I'm still waiting for that RPG game about a hero type guy that has to work for an underground goblin community. I'm still waiting for that RPG game where you are an elf in the elven community trying to move up the warrior ranks. And all the exciting sequels that got squashed in mid development.

No, like Fluent I give them kudos for sticking with there passion. 30 post release patches in just a few months says something to me and the word greedy certainly does not come to mind.
 
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You can all choose to hate Crafty Studios, that's your choice, but I will look towards the future and hope that they have learned from this bad release.
You must have been watching too many Hollywood movies with their black & white morality Fluent. Just because I don't like what Crafty did, it doesn't mean that I have to hate them. Hate is a big, time and resource consuming feeling. Why would I want to waste it on a computer game?
 
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You can all choose to hate Crafty Studios, that's your choice, but I will look towards the future and hope that they have learned from this bad release.
Well that is bit dramatic.Just because people highly disagree with their business practices doesn't mean they hate them.

I am thankful that they have continuously patched the game and that the game was playable and fun for the hours I spent making my review.

Game you are having fun with was developed by Attic entrainment , so everything fun about it can be contributed to them.On the other hand except enhance graphic you can't really contribute anything positive to Crafty games.

I am glad some broken games have been released like EU 3, Gothic 3 or VtM:Bloodlinesl, because gaming scene would have been lesser if they haven't been released.But this isn't same case because non-broken version of this game already exists it's just ugly by today standards, and if Crafty games haven't done remake maybe someone competent would.
 
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The developer released a piece of shit product. Plain and simple. It's inexcusable. However, I don't hate them, but I certainly don't respect them. Try writing a more objective review next time. 3/5 is way too high a score for this mess.

It's true that they have been patching their product, but they never should have released the pile of shit in the first place. I'm sick and tired of people making excuses for sloppy work. If I ran my business this way, then I would be broke. There is only one chance to make a first impression.
 
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Did the speedtest on GOG and got the free Realms of Arcania 1+2. Since I already have those games there I don't need the code.

U6HDGNP9

Enjoy.

Thanks, Abharsair. Hope no one else was wanting it badly, but I had RoA3 on GOG and have been meaning to get 1 and 2. Cheers! :party:
 
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Don't worry Capt. Everybody can get it by running the test.
 
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As of 1.31 it is still inferior to the original in most regards. I reckon give it another couple of months. The sad thing is if it had of been released at 1.31 the reviews would have have been vastly better than they were and I could easily have seen it selling twice as many copies (at least) as it did. Guess he should have taken a second mortgage on his house.
 
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"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind..."
 
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3/5 for this game is a falsity.
I wouldn't rate this for more than 3/10, even if they pay me to do that!
:greedy:
 
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You're not going to change my mind that we should all place bamboo shoots under the fingernails of all the devs involved in this release and hate them forever.

I dont think anyone really suggested that. Maybe I heard some talk about pitchforks…

Seriously, if someone releases an unfinished game, and does not advertise it accordingly, I will not buy again anytime soon. That has nothing to do with hate, that is common sense. I do not want to pay money for beta-testing obviously broken software. And saying so is not hate either, it is giving a perfectly valid opinion about the product. If we can not criticize a game that has such obvious shortcomings, we could stop doing/reading critique alltogether, and just throw our money at any random crap that pops up.
 
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A difficult situation for Fluent, I hope you all realize that. Of course the game deserved everything that was written about it when it came out. It truly was a mess the release, and especially communication ahead of and for the first few days after the release was unacceptable. If the company goes under because of that stunt, I would be hard-pressed to shed a tear. There is however the fact that they have stuck with patching it, and if a review at this point in time is to have any sense, Fluent has to judge it based on what's playable now - this is also the clearly stated purpose of the review.
Finally there is the difficulty of this being a faithful remake. So how do you rate the game - in relation to the original release? Are the game systems, story, combat etc. not to be evaluated, because they are not the work of the current devs? Or should the game be evaluated as is, ignoring the earlier installment? The latter is what Fluent expressly chose to do.
His score is his own opinion in the end, as it should be. Generous, maybe, but keep in mind the scoring system of RPGwatch:

3 – A score of 3/5 indicates a good game held back by obvious technical or design issues that limit the appeal. Games that score 3/5 will often split opinion, depending on how strongly the player perceives the flaws.

2 – A game that has significant flaws or stale gameplay but may still offer some enjoyment to fans of the genre or subject.

1 – A bad game with overwhelming issues that should simply be avoided.

It was clearly a "1" on release, and to me it hovered between 2 and 3 when I last tried it, which is however several weeks ago. We can probably agree that the original is worth at least a 4? So fluent is probably not so off with his 3 - it is not his role to evaluate the release or the the communication, or the developers personality, he has to judge the game, so he doesn't have the freedom of you forum posters to just vent his feelings on those things.
 
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it is not his role to evaluate the release or the the communication, or the developers personality, he has to judge the game, so he doesn't have the freedom of you forum posters to just vent his feelings on those things.

And this is where I am absolutely convinced you are wrong. Following that logic further, you might as well buy products from baby-seal-slaughtering-nazi-communist-homophobic-fanatics, because the product is just good. Who cares whose pockets we fill, eh?
I know Crafty Studios is not that kind of evil, but if a logic is not working at extremes, it is probably not working too well at all.

A purchase, especially when you have the choice to not do the purchase, is always a statement of some sort. It may be the statement of "I don't give a shit, just gimme dat thing". But everyone knows that buying the product will support the creators (usually, certainly in this case).
Therefore, by telling people that this is a game worth buying, you do not only say "This is a good game". You also say "The devs should be supported". And after what those guys pulled off, I can only raise my biggest WTF-brows to anyone claiming that Crafty Studios is worthy of support, as that basically says "What they did is totally fine. Encourage them!".

This is, IMO, after thinking about it some more, what brings up all the rage. A good rating for a game is always also a good rating for the developers. And who would ever give Crafty Studios a 3/5? Maybe the reviewer. But I (and many others) can only strongly disagree.
I don't claim the game will never be good. Who knows? I just claim the developer should not be supported for this game. Maybe on their next. Who knows…

Also, that whole claim of objectivity in game reviews is nonsense. There cannot be a fully objective review of pretty much anything, even less for products that involve some kind of art/design. Not that anyone ever claimed this review to be fully neutral. This is more a general statement.
 
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I enjoyed my slight time with Blade of Destiny, before I put it back on the shelf for "maturing". I can see 3/5 for what's out there now. The best thing about Fluent's review is that it generated 5 pages of debate, so far. That is a good thing.
 
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@TheSHEEP - well it would have been disingenous to not mention the horrible launch - but he did (although of course everybody here probably already knew about that, but that's beside the point). I think he says enough about it to make readers aware of the situation and thus allow any reader (hopefully after some additional reserach of his own) to judge whether he want's or doesn't want to support a company that pulls a stunt like that.

BTW, I never claimed that a review score is objective - but it should strive to incorporate objective cirteria that could be relevant to the (diverse) readership as well as try to make the direction of the subjective tilt transparent (wo am I, what kind of games do I like, explain why I like this element but not that one...).

But really, I vastly prefer to be told both the facts (this is the release history, this is whats good and bad about the game, etc.) and the opinion of someone, as a basis for MY decision, than just being told "bad developer, don't buy!".

you might as well buy products from baby-seal-slaughtering-nazi-communist-homophobic-fanatics, because the product is just good. Who cares whose pockets we fill, eh?
I know Crafty Studios is not that kind of evil, but if a logic is not working at extremes
... uh, no, sorry. Just because it may work in extremes does not say anything about how it works in the details. Anyway, are you really sure you know enough about Crafty students, the conditions of their decisions, and all their subsequent steps and actions to fully and correctly judge them? I'm not. I learned enough to never ever preorder from them again, hehe. But if they make good on their promise to fix this release and if they do better in future projects, I perceive no "evil" that would preclude me from ever buying from them again.
 
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