SpellForce 2: FiD - First Review

As you have probably already noticed, SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny has been released this week. The stand-alone add-on to the brilliant SpellForce 2 was in development hell for a couple of years. It was nearly finished when JoWooD went belly up. Nordic Games took over and had it polished a bit more.
So far we are only aware of a single review in German language. GamingXP are quite enthusiastic about Faith in Destiny.

SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny doesn't surprise in particular, it's simply like it is: brilliant!

The article explains that it's more of the same. 12-15 hours of it, and in the same quality.
Thanks coaster and Capt. Huggy Face!
More information.

I bought it and already finished it. Yes its more of the same since the game uses the same engine that came out in 2006. On the plus side the graphics were upgraded and allow better resolution's and options.

I recommend it and hopefully Nordic makes SpellForce 3. It's a shame Phenomic lost the rights and was bought by EA. They only make browser games and F2P games now.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I bought it and already finished it. Yes its more of the same since the game uses the same engine that came out in 2006. On the plus side the graphics were upgraded and allow better resolution's and options.

I recommend it and hopefully Nordic makes SpellForce 3. It's a same Pandemic lost the rights and was bought by EA. They only make browser games and F2P games now.

I love the Spellforce games so this sounds good and seeing that you finished it already it must be pretty much bug free then.

And btw it was Phenomic who originally made the Spellforce games and it is a shame they are only making F2P games these days.

Originally Posted by Warmark
I love the Spellforce games so this sounds good and seeing that you finished it already it must be pretty much bug free then.

And btw it was Phenomic who originally made the Spellforce games and it is a shame they are only making F2P games these days.

I love the Spellforce games myself (and I have bought FiD), but 12-15 hours is not enough to have an immersive experience. The other games in the series have much more content.

Originally Posted by Warmark
I love the Spellforce games so this sounds good and seeing that you finished it already it must be pretty much bug free then.

And btw it was Phenomic who originally made the Spellforce games and it is a shame they are only making F2P games these days.

I wont say it's bug free but its close. The game sometimes corrupts your saves so save often. Don't rely on autosaves either.

Sorry about the developer I knew it was Phenomic but I put Pandemic instead.

Originally Posted by Ithilien
I love the Spellforce games myself (and I have bought FiD), but 12-15 hours is not enough to have an immersive experience. The other games in the series have much more content.

Well it's an expansion just like DragonStorm. It wasn't that long either.

Having never played this I am very interested. I assume I should play spellforce 2: shadow of desitiny first then the add-ons??

SF2 should still be a lot of fun. It was an absolutely beautiful game back in 2006.

Here's an old thread discussing why SpellForce 2 is like a box of chocolates.
My review on RPGDot seems to have been eaten by the interweb.

Originally Posted by Hurls
Having never played this I am very interested. I assume I should play spellforce 2: shadow of desitiny first then the add-ons??

You should start on the original SpellForce first. All the games tie into each other. SpellForce Platinum can be bought cheaply on many sites and GOG.

The problem is that the first SpellForce follows a different philosophy. I liked it a lot, but it's really overkill to squeeze nearly full featured ARPG, RTS and City Builder in one game and create a 120 hour campaign.

SF2 is more polished, maybe even too much, and easier to handle.

Thanks for thoughts

Originally Posted by Gorath
The problem is that the first SpellForce follows a different philosophy. I liked it a lot, but it's really overkill to squeeze nearly full featured ARPG, RTS and City Builder in one game and create a 120 hour campaign.

SF2 is more polished, maybe even too much, and easier to handle.

I found myself hating some of the changes from SpellForce they stripped away to make SpellForce 2. I miss the city building since it was simplified in the sequel. I still enjoyed SpellForce 2.

i concur. spellforce 2 was great but i loved the full on rts aspects of the original, but i can see how those who aren't big rts fans could find it a drag on the rpg aspects.

Originally Posted by Gorath
SF2 should still be a lot of fun. It was an absolutely beautiful game back in 2006.

Here's an old thread discussing why SpellForce 2 is like a box of chocolates.
My review on RPGDot seems to have been eaten by the interweb.

Here ya go - good review!

Thanks!

Let's try this link. For whatever reason my browser didn't like yours.

Originally Posted by shamroxor
Here ya go - good review!

Bugger! Copy/Paste this thingy : http://web.archive.org/web/200610311…=10053&ID=1234

Hmm I was waiting for this…only 12 hours though? I loved the original 2.

Originally Posted by rune_74
Hmm I was waiting for this…only 12 hours though? I loved the original 2.

It's longer if your the type that needs to solve every quest and get every rare weapon and armor sets.

Spellforce 1 is a terribly long game, and some may not have the patience for some of the quirkier aspects of the game that have been stripped away and beautified in Spellforce2.

Normally I would recommend somebody play the original game first, but I don't know if I feel that way about this series.

Indeed, Spellforce 1 + expansions takes quite a while to complete. It's huge!

As for what to play first? Well, there are some things you'll miss in terms of lore by not playing SF1, like rune heroes and what not. I'd still recommend going straight for SF2 though, as it's aged a lot better than SF1. Getting into it should be a breeze.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Indeed, Spellforce 1 + expansions takes quite a while to complete. It's huge!

As for what to play first? Well, there are some things you'll miss in terms of lore by not playing SF1, like rune heroes and what not. I'd still recommend going straight for SF2 though, as it's aged a lot better than SF1. Getting into it should be a breeze.

Ah but then you wont know who some of the npc's are since they appear in all games. Especially the shadow master who was the main hero in two of the expansions. I loved his story and his fight against destiny.

It wont hurt a new player to play the first three since it only cost $5-10 for the platinum version. I consider it money well spent since you get over 100 hrs of enjoyment.

That's something modern games cant give you.