Fantasy Wars: Elven Legacy - Demo Review @ Shacknews

Shack has taken a look at the Elven Legacy demo in one of those articles where the author starts off by saying they don't really play that genre. The score appears to be 50% and here's the conclusion:

As bad as I am at strategy games, this one still seemed especially hard, and especially for a demo level. There were simply an enormous number of enemy units, most of them hidden from sight until I was right on top of them. I did really like that specialized units could be made even more specialized by earning skills and abilities, but otherwise this seems to be a fairly standard strategy title, set in a fairly standard fantasy world, which I failed at in a fairly standard manner.

More information.

This game is difficult, not as is "hard" but as in "find out the one way the programmers designed as the only winning way for the level". Its terrible. There is no alternative in strategy, every level has one way to succeed and one way alone, and your task is to guess it. Some levels are not to beat first time, because events will surprise spawn enemies right on the territory, so you will find yourself in a save-load orgy in this game. It's not difficult it's just bad game design.

Originally Posted by elikal
This game is difficult, not as is "hard" but as in "find out the one way the programmers designed as the only winning way for the level". Its terrible. There is no alternative in strategy, every level has one way to succeed and one way alone, and your task is to guess it. Some levels are not to beat first time, because events will surprise spawn enemies right on the territory, so you will find yourself in a save-load orgy in this game. It's not difficult it's just bad game design.

Too much like puzzle instead of strategy game. I dont like that either.

Originally Posted by elikal
Some levels are not to beat first time, because events will surprise spawn enemies right on the territory, so you will find yourself in a save-load orgy in this game. It's not difficult it's just bad game design.

That is plain not true. I've been playing the game for weeks and no enemies "surprise spawn on the territory". A few enemy units have an "Invisible Stance" ability (which you can get yourself by the way) that means you can't see them until you're in an adjacent hex. Judicious use of aerial scouts helps to fight this. Also, there are "see invisible" perks and artifacts in the game.

I haven't played the demo, but if it's the same as the first level of the game I'm surprised the reviewer was so completely stumped. After I worked out the basic mechanics, I got a Gold rating on Normal difficulty. Later on, the game does get brutal. This is the first computer game I've ever played any part of on "Easy". I like it though, that means there's that much more replay value later.

I've considered buying this since I like a good challenge. I really like Battle for Wesnoth. Is this game similar? Is it frustratingly hard, meaning hours of trying different strategies and starting over? Is it worth it? These questions are aimed at the people who enjoyed the game.

Try the demo yesterday and no problem, it was easy at normal difficulty(first try)… Withdraw is a strategy and a good one but yes, if we use the Chuck Norris strategy, it goes wrong.

I had great problems winning the first task in the first demo, and failed on the second task.

The difficulty level *is* high. I'd have *several* tried in order to be victorious, and I just don't want to play the same battle over and over.

Originally Posted by SveNitoR
I've considered buying this since I like a good challenge. I really like Battle for Wesnoth. Is this game similar? Is it frustratingly hard, meaning hours of trying different strategies and starting over? Is it worth it? These questions are aimed at the people who enjoyed the game.

I've volunteered to be the standard bearer for Elven Legacy. Here's my opinion:
some similarities to BfW: you have goals other than "kill everything that moves", individual units continue from mission to mission, benefit from experience, gain perks, etc. I didn't really like BfW, but I love EL.

The game is hard. After trying each mission on Normal, I've ended up playing more than half of them on Easy. On Easy it's a fun and engaging game. You'll still have to reload from time to time.

Here's how I look at it: the game is as difficult on Easy as most games are on Normal. The result is a lot more replayability. Once I've beat the game on Easy, I can go back and do it all over again. Branching paths and bonus missions also add to replayability.

Play the demo mission. It will give you a good idea of the format, but keep in mind what I said about difficulty.

Just finished downloading it, gonna have a go at it later tonight…

Thanks for your reply screeg.