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Sword Coast Legends

Another one of those spontaneous games that unexpectedly took a long time (in terms of hours). Although, it's more about the fact that they removed it from Steam, but I bought it and decided to play through it just in case. Besides, I wanted to have a lighthearted playthrough without stressing over choices or spending 10 minutes reading. I thought I would finish it in about 60-70 hours, considering the gameplay, but it ended up taking longer, plus there’s a small DLC that doesn’t even have a translation. As for the game itself, my first thought was about the camera, which you can’t tilt properly for some reason. It doesn’t seem like an old game, yet this limitation exists. However, you can zoom in and out on the camera, and during these moments, the perspective changes slightly (not much). I don’t know why they couldn’t make this element better. The second detail, and possibly the main downside, is the saving system, specifically the fact that there’s only one save slot! This might be okay for Diablo-like games and others, but it’s very strange for this game. Moreover, manual saves and autosaves use the same slot, while autosave activates at random times (maybe based on a timer), when transitioning between locations, after certain events, and after interacting with a store. Luckily, it doesn’t happen after every dialogue 🙃 If the save glitches, then that’s it, goodbye (this happened to some players). Of course, there isn’t much need to constantly save, plus most dialogues can be replayed, but there may be moments when something happens, then a dialogue appears, followed by a change in the environment and immediate saving, and you might not have had time to do something. I experienced this once: I arrived at a location for a mission where I had been before, but it looked different due to the quest. As a result, I didn’t explore the entire area (which was updated with loot), triggered a boss fight, finished it, and then the location returned to its original state (or I was kicked out of it), and I wasn’t allowed to continue through the new location. I doubt there was anything important or valuable there, but such moments are always unpleasant.
There were almost no bugs, though. At most, the game would freeze during loading, but it could easily be closed. Oh, and there was also a bug with a quest. The point is that you need to perform specific actions, after which a script triggers. But it didn’t work for me, even though I used different methods. Then I gave up on it, continued playing, went back to it a couple of times, it still didn’t trigger, and then, I think in chapter 3, it suddenly worked, and I received my reward, which I didn’t really need anymore.

In terms of gameplay, the game focuses more on combat than dialogue. Although there are a few interesting quests, including ones with choices and seemingly intriguing ones (like the one with the amulet). And regarding the plot, I was surprised a couple of times, maybe because I wasn’t expecting much, although other games have had similar twists. Also, the beginning feels too gloomy, in my opinion (not in terms of the plot, but in terms of the number of deaths). Later, it becomes quite a classic adventure. Leveling up is almost like in Tyranny, only with more skills and some overlap between classes (not just in branches, but also in individual skills). The combat is also similar, but better, since characters attack much faster and don’t spend 10 seconds winding up their attacks; they listen better, so it’s easier to control them. There were difficult battles at the beginning, but later I could easily defeat everyone without using potions or bombs, etc. Probably, you should play on hard difficulty. I didn’t like that only the characters who are in the group level up. If you leave someone in camp, then tough luck for them – no experience. It’s not as if you necessarily need to change characters, but I tried to do so based on the quests, even though there shouldn’t be any gameplay problems with completing them. By the way, you can’t complete the game solo. The companions are pretty ordinary, except perhaps the dwarf-warrior (unusual, right?) and the necromancer, who evoked a few emotions. I don’t know why they couldn’t come up with cool characters like in old Baldur’s Gate games. In the DLC, only the initial companions remain (i.e., minus equipment from others), and there are no dialogues. It’s possible that it was simply unfinished, although it is playable.

Despite its linearity, during the playthrough, I found various places/chests that I couldn’t use. As a result, I wrote down these things in a notebook so as not to forget and return to them later. Closer to the end, I revealed all of these secrets (quests), except for one named chest, which remained locked. Probably, it’s locked behind a specific choice in some quest. I thought about checking out one branch later (I even copied the save file), but I just didn’t feel like it. On the one hand, it’s nice when there are such things that you need to return to and possibly solve, but on the other hand, you want to get everything at once.

If we talk about the RPG as a whole, then for me, a plus is always the fact that the events take place in the Forgotten Realms because in this case, there is familiar lore around, and not some new nonsense spanning three pages. Although here, the only familiar place was Luskan (not counting the Underdark), which isn’t fully accessible and may not be something I had seen before (although I think it was in some Neverwinter Nights game), but even this small thing was pleasant. Plus, some other things were mentioned, including my favorite Zhentarim. The journal is also designed quite well (even the gods are briefly described), although I think it’s unfinished because some articles never appeared, such as descriptions of certain creatures, like ogres .
After playing more than half of the game, I realized that the music in the game is generally enjoyable. Some tracks remind me of old RPGs, and one even reminded me of the first Fallout games.
PS: I wouldn’t recommend anyone play it… but if you do, it’s better to start with a ranger or paladin :) and level up your companion’s perception
PSS: Okay, it’s time to play through the best party-based games, not just any random ones...