Legends of Eisenwald - Review @ RPG Codex

The Codex has reviewed Legends of Eisenwald - some snippets:

Picking up a well-worn calling card, the protagonist of the story is on a vengeful warpath as he or she looks for those responsible in bringing down their dynasty. You can pick from three characters – a Knight (melee), Baroness (ranged), and Mystic (magic). Because your characters physically take part in the battles, who you choose can greatly shape how you end up playing the game. That is, after all, one of the subtler differences amongst these genre games: whether or not you, the play-character, physically take part in the battles. Unlike King’s Bounty, without actual spellcasters in your party, you will not be casting very many spells if you are not a spellcaster (read: very many is actually very none). Most of these characters have various ‘leveling paths’ that usually fall along the lines of empire management, army management, and character power-growth. For me, I chose the Knight as it was suggested to be the easiest and I’m a simpleton that likes to bash. Not only that, I also leveled him to be extra-bashy in the early game where he promptly served as a valuable extra-soldier instead of an anchor of ‘potential’ that the Mystic certainly is. With the character choice out of the way, you pretty much jump into the story which is structured by a series of scenarios.

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Legends of Eisenwald is a pretty game in the sense that it is the cutest German girl in a small village. She would become just another face in the engulfing nature of a city, but here in the tiny hamlet her little hair-twisting and skirt-spinning pirouettes make her stand out. I’ve clearly no idea how to talk about graphics or even appraise them, but by my estimations it’s a good looking game. Polygon-wise the characters are detailed enough, textures give them a sense of physical presence, and animations are serviceable. I think the real standout are the maps themselves. They’re intricately made and I can imagine took a great deal of time to get just right. Castles rest in the midst of lakes, murky ponds help mudify the otherwise viridscapes, lots of ruins and rubble strewn about, windmills dot hills and fortresses are oft found tucked between mountains. Oh, and forests. Lots of forests. And copses and pockets of trees where forests used to be. Most maps tend to have one big central city – or two – surrounded by temples, medieval favelas, and black markets. About all of this scurry various lords, lieges, leech-sellers, smellsmocks, witches and their corollary dick-swingin’ ne’er do wells, all manner of peasantry run amuck, bandits, brigands, and thieving graduates, some sickly and poison moistened, the cursed and rabid, the cured and vapid, sellswords and poets selling words and plenty of peddlers, tramps, shamans, pagans, pariahs, necromantic practitioners to dizzy you with lore.

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The game’s overall content is … quite a damn lot. Based on just how much you wish to read and do, the game provides a big altar on which to sacrifice your hours. Its combat system is unique enough that I don’t think one can get a proper handle on whether or not they like it without first just jumping in. Ultimately, Legends of Eisenwald is what I’d call an overall solid experience. Nothing particularly spectacular about it, but it’s playable. It works. To quote many game reviews: it’s fun if you’re into that kind of thing.