Exiled Kingdoms - Available Now

Lucky Day, let us know that Exiled Kingdoms, a game we have not covered before, has been release on Steam, with a 15% discount.

Exiled Kingdoms is a single-player Action-RPG that allows you to roam freely through a unique world, full with surprises and adventure. It is an isometric game, inspired by the classics in many ways: a challenging environment to explore, choices with consequences, and a simple but versatile rulesystem enabling endless ways to develop your character. Each of your character stats will make a difference, and the world is highly reactive; new conversation options might be enabled with high intelligence, or vary depending of your standing with the many factions or your previous actions.

Explore a vast world: no one will point you to the best hidden secrets in the 118 areas. Talk to over 300 NPCs with unique dialogues, and solve 85 quests ranging from the "stereotypical" menial tasks in early levels, to epic-scale plots full with twists and hard choices. Customize your character with 70 skills and hundreds of different items. Overcome all kind of monsters and antagonists, choosing carefully the weapons or powers for each encounter if you want to have a chance. And return to the classical dungeon crawl, with traps and secret doors, and death awaiting the unwary adventurer behind every corner.

Exiled Kingdoms is a huge game, with content hand-crafted during 4 years of development and writing. It easily counts 120+ hours of gameplay for the average player, and much more taking into account replayability.

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The only review I could find is this one on TouchArcade. It is also good to note that this is originally a mobile game.

More information.

Apparently this game has trashmobs levelscaling.
Maybe if I was bored I'd go for it, but with so many other titles on my waiting list... Have to skip it currently.

Well, I haven't seen a goblin higher than level 3 on the first map. I haven't seen a creature above level 4 on the first two dungeons. I think there is a rating for each area that the mobs don't go above, but I haven't played long enough to know for sure. I will say you can typically avoid almost all mobs when revisiting an area, but this is just in the 4-5 areas I've been to so far. Like normal, I've already started over at least half a dozen times.

I had a 4 day weekend, so I've played this 30-ish hours already.

This looks like something I'd usually jump right into, but right now I've got at least five games in my que, so I'll just listen to the feedback and keep it in mind for a possible future purchase.

The reviews seem pretty negative (on steam). Not so much the number of negative reviews but what they say with regards to my interests.

Myrthos said:

It is also good to note that this is originally a mobile game.

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That explains why it wasn't on the radar

The look of the thing from the Steam page has a clear late 90's/Fallout vibe, but the gameplay appears to be really diabolesque, going by the what the game and people are saying.

It looks sort of like Divine Divinity. What would you compare it to CRPGNut?

I think it looks closer to something like Eschalon or Balrum.

JDR13 said:

I think it looks closer to something like Eschalon or Balrum.

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Eschalon would be a fair comparison. Although a very simplified mobile version. I'd say it's akin to the latest Spiderweb games but with real time combat.
I have the full Android version, but I play with a Bluetooth controller because the touch controls are a bit weird.

Ehhh yeah, this strikes me as something that would work way better were it turn based. Ahhh well, someone can take the plunge and inform us!

I have this on my mobile and how anyone could equate it to a Vogel or Basilisk game escapes me

ToddMcF2002 said:

I have this on my mobile and how anyone could equate it to a Vogel or Basilisk game escapes me

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Saying that they equate and that they are similar are two very different things.

forgottenlor said:

It looks sort of like Divine Divinity. What would you compare it to CRPGNut?

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It has the feel of a mid/late 90's game. Exile, Excelsior, Eschalon, etc. You have very limited skill points and each level costs that many points. If you want a tier 3 skill it will cost you 6 skill points or three full levels of leveling. Leveling is slow. I've been to 3 towns and 5 or 6 dungeons and I just hit level 5. It isn't anything like Diablo. Creatures respawn but there aren't hordes on a screen. A full dungeon might be 25 creatures.

The biggest decisions revolve around skills. Do I take a 2nd level of lightning bolt, which costs a whopping 9 mana to cast or do I take a level of fireball and mage armor instead? Should I put some points into personality so folks will be more likely to tell me something or give a better reward? Maybe I should just focus on intelligence so that my max mana raises.

There are hidden trait dialog choices that only show up if you have points invested. For instance, a guard captain will give you some coin if you have personality or a lore keeper might give you a scroll if you're smart, etc. I may have missed agility and strength choices because I don't have any points invested in those.

I've died dozens and dozens of times and I'm playing on casual

Carnifex said:

This looks like something I'd usually jump right into, but right now I've got at least five games in my que, so I'll just listen to the feedback and keep it in mind for a possible future purchase.

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What games are you playing Carnifex?

I like the look of this game... could be worth a few hours at some point. I am just replaying XCom 2 at the moment, on long war 2, so my hours are consumed there for a bit. Looking forward to PoE 2 however.

Just my opinion but any of the Eschalon games are orders of magnitude superior to this thing. I could only tolerate about 10 minutes of Exiled Kingdoms. So if you haven't tried the Basilisk games I'd start there first.

I didn't think much of Eschalon 2 or 3, but I loved the first one. Dungeons of Chaos would be another game that this is like.

What kind of game this is really depends on the difficulty level you select. On the lowest level it's a slightly tactical hack and slash RPG. On the highest difficulty level it's a rogue-like, you can only save when you quit and death is permanent.

I say it's slightly tactical because you have to assess enemies for number, level and abilities and decide what gear and skills to use; do you want to try to pull one or two of them or can you Charge (a Warrior skill) in and try to kill the whole group? Resistances are important in combat and there are several types of damage you can take besides physical; fire, cold, shock and death. You can hire mercs and you can also recruit a companion. I think there are three potential companions in the game and I believe you can only have one at a time.

Enemies don't level scale, but higher level mobs can be near lower level ones. In the developer's words, the world isn't balanced, but quests are. So, you can go into a dungeon at level 2 to save someone and, if you're careful, do it and get out in one piece. But, you won't be able to clear the dungeon at your current level.

Combat mechanics are fairly simple, left click to attack while skills are mapped to the number keys. I believe you can remap almost everything to your preference Mana doesn't regenerate at all and health only regenerates on the easiest difficulty, but only to 50%. Skills can be active, with cool downs, or passive.

Leveling is by questing and there are several types of quests. Some quests give you a general area to go to, some have a time limit and for some you have to drink in a tavern and listen to rumors to get an idea where to go. Exploration is a big part of questing. Quests give XP, of course, but also reputation points with towns and areas. Reputation unlocks further quests and game features like boat travel.

There's no physical customization except to choose your name and portrait. Each class; Warrior, Mage, Cleric, Rogue, has it's own simple skill tree and each has it's own class bonuses. Gear is generally class specific, but occasionally can be shared by another class.

With 14 hours in the game, I've found it to be completely stable. Rough edges seem to be in collision detection; making going through doors, across bridges or down halls quirky; and in hit boxes; making left clicking to attack chancy. You can also use the space bar to attack and I default to that.

I'm enjoying it and it's certainly bargain priced.

Stahl33, I'm currently playing Final Fantasy Zodiac Age, I've got about forty hours in so far. Quite a good game, perhaps the best FF game I've played since the third one. After that, I have Tales of Bersia, Trails of Cold Steel Two and Avernum three: Ruined World lined up next, not sure what order I'll do them in but I think that's enough games to keep me busy for quite a bit.

Carnifex,
Thanks for that, I have never tried the Final Fantasy games, but have been tempted to try them. I did enjoy Avernum when I played it not too long ago(2 I think).
I really just haven't tried any J-RPGs as yet... Not averse to trying new things... Which would you recommend first?

Ok, well, I don't have a console so the only jrpg's I have are those that are available on either GoG or Steam. With that said, you absolutely cannot go wrong with any of the Legend of Heroes games, Disgaea one and two, or Tales of Symphonia. Some of the earlier FF games look a bit dated by today's standards, but the games themselves are solid and enjoyable. I'm only familiar with the FF games that aren't mmo's, any that are I've not played, and Zodiac is as far as I've gone to date.