Bruncvik

Bruncvik, miesiąc temu

HoMM is a turn-based strategy game, not RPG (with the notable exception of HoMM IV where you had real hero development). That said, there was a genre of RPG’s, which used to be very popular in the 80s and 90s, and which all but disappeared. Those were party-based first-person RPG’s with turn based (or close to it) combat. Popularized by Wizardry, and followed by Might and Magic, they inspired other series like the Ishar Trilogy. Other games employed real-time combat, but slow enough or pausable, to mimic turn-based. Popular series were Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, Dungeon Master, and others. Nowadays, I occasionally see one of these games from independent projects, but it seems that the golden age of this sub-genre has passed.

Bruncvik, 5 miesięcy temu

Given how many times I genocided entire nations in Civilization, I guess they’d better send me a one-way ticket to Nuremberg.

Bruncvik, 7 miesięcy temu

When I was still buying new games, I’ve had development studios I preferred, and others I avoided. Those were simpler times (and simpler games), when one small studio did everything.

Later, additional external companies got involved, and some tried to hide their presence. I remember when The Adventure Company started using a very customer unfriendly sort of copy protection, and I started using a list of affectted games, so that I could avoid them.

These days, multiple companies are involved with game design. As a consumer, it’s only normal that I’d like to know who had their hands on developing a game I’d be interested in. I haven’t played any games Sweet Baby was involved with, but if I did and had a strong opinion (negative or positive) about their work, I’d appreciate a list of games they worked on, to make a purchase choice that would suit me best.

Bruncvik, 10 miesięcy temu

I lost count of the number of games in my backlog, so a while ago I tried a similar spreadsheet. Mainly to stop me from replaying game I already finished multiple times and focusing on others instead. However, that felt too close to work instead of fun, so I gave up and went back to my favourite classics.

Bruncvik, rok temu

The top three games that started it all for me. They not only introduced me to my favourite genres, but I’m still replaying them to this day.

• Civilization - the first refined 4X game. Manual the size of a book, plenty of strategies and just enough random chance to make each game exciting. I played the series till the fourth one, and I’m still spending too much time with Civ I and IV. I also branched out to Master of Orion, Colonization, Alpha Centauri and others.
• Dungeon Master - A wonderful and challenging dungeon crawler, which convinced me that the best RPG mechanic is party-based first person. This was my launching pad for numerous games and series, in particular Wizardry, Might and Magic, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, the Ishar Trilogy and Realms of Arkania.
• Warlords - 80 castles, 8 factions, lots of unit types, magic items and a complex way to fine-tune the difficulty level makes this endlessly replayable. This game launched its own turn-based fantasy strategy series, but it also introduced me to other series I still play, such as Heroes of Might and Magic, Age of Wonders and Disciples.

Honourable mentions:

• UFO: Enemy Unknown - turn-based tactical combat with a good mix of budgeting, manufacturing and research. I also appreciate other series, like Incubation and Jagged Aliance, but I’m always returning to UFO and its successors for the economic simulation.
• Panzer Commander - This game dumbed down historical strategies for me, to the point where I would actually enjoy it. The whole series is brilliant, and I still occasionally replay it.