Aarklash: Legacy

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 110 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 77 out of 110
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 110
  3. Negative: 9 out of 110

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Inq
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    Okay, so, I just created an account to review this game (and I'm using Metacritic to check Game Scores for over a year now, so that should tell you something) and I just have to say, this is SO good.

    The combat is genuinely interesting and challenging (make sure you play on Hard or Impossible for full effect), the directional heals are a cool idea, as are most of the skills (except for    Okay, so, I just created an account to review this game (and I'm using Metacritic to check Game Scores for over a year now, so that should tell you something) and I just have to say, this is SO good.

    The combat is genuinely interesting and challenging (make sure you play on Hard or Impossible for full effect), the directional heals are a cool idea, as are most of the skills (except for a few generic ones, but can't have any RPG without a Direct Damage Melee Skill, right?).

    Basically you control a party of 4, 1 Tank, 1 "Healer" and 2 "DPS", notice I'm using Healer and DPS loosely here, because some DPS classes (you get more Characters later on) are better used CCing enemies or even healing as well. The Main Healer has kind of a blood mage thing going on where he can't heal without leeching the life of allies and the Tank uses HP for his abilities and these aren't all of the interesting mechanics.

    Anyway, this game has decent-enough graphics, decent-enough sound, a good story, questionable voiceover but incredible mechanics, for the price it's being sold it I can recommend it to everyone who likes gripping tactical combat that requires you to actually think for a change. Great stuff.    … Expand
  2. Sjago
    Sep 12, 2013
    8
    Aarklash Legacy is probably the most challenging game ive played in a while, even on normal difficulty it takes a while to figure out the attack patterns of enemys, plan a strategy and a good portion of calmness, because otherwise you'd die pretty quickly.

    I dont have the time for a full review so ill just do a quickie. Pros: Price Great, challenging combat system Interesting    Aarklash Legacy is probably the most challenging game ive played in a while, even on normal difficulty it takes a while to figure out the attack patterns of enemys, plan a strategy and a good portion of calmness, because otherwise you'd die pretty quickly.

    I dont have the time for a full review so ill just do a quickie.

    Pros:
    Price
    Great, challenging combat system
    Interesting skills
    Random loot

    Okays:
    Gfx
    Story

    Negs:
    Level design
    Voiceovers    … Expand
  3. Muminus
    Jan 22, 2014
    6
    I like tactical battle games and RPGs, so I was eager to try the Aarklash, as it mixes those two genres. However, I'm a bit disappointed. The challenges itself are quite interesting, the game looks good, but there are 2 main flaws: repetitiveness and shallow storyline You end up battling countless of very similar battles with very similar set of enemies (yes, they are challenging, but veryI like tactical battle games and RPGs, so I was eager to try the Aarklash, as it mixes those two genres. However, I'm a bit disappointed. The challenges itself are quite interesting, the game looks good, but there are 2 main flaws: repetitiveness and shallow storyline You end up battling countless of very similar battles with very similar set of enemies (yes, they are challenging, but very repetitive), uniqe monsters/fights appear like 2 per act (so 6 in total). Most of the narrative cut scenes do not contribute at all to the storyline or narrative feeling of the game. For some unknown reason, the weapons/armor of your characters are not customizable (you can only customize some minor trinkets) - so everything plays itself same and looks the same. Yes, with skills progression you unlock new tactics, but not that much - at least for me that was not enough to keep me interested. A pity, as this could be much better game.… Expand
  4. Embair
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    As a purely combat-focused tactical RPG this game is amazingly good. The combat system is well designed and all information is transparently conveyed to the player (notably stats and skills of your enemies), so that while the battles can be challenging, they never feel unfair. Each battle is a riddle for you to analyze and solve. And boy is solving them fun and rewarding. The active skillsAs a purely combat-focused tactical RPG this game is amazingly good. The combat system is well designed and all information is transparently conveyed to the player (notably stats and skills of your enemies), so that while the battles can be challenging, they never feel unfair. Each battle is a riddle for you to analyze and solve. And boy is solving them fun and rewarding. The active skills of both your group and your advesaries are powerful and interesting, making for intense, dramatic battles where every action counts and victory is never certain.

    Beware that outside combat the game has very little to offer. Basic linear plot (though the setting and characters are cool), no interactive dialogs, no sidequests, no chatting to your companions, no exploration, no merchants, horribly boring randomized loot... But screw checklists. As an RPG this is a very light-weight game, focusing exclusively on the core gameplay, the tactical battles. And it pulls them off so well, that it was a constant joy to play for me.

    So if this sounds like your kind of thing, don't hesitate. This game succeeds at what it set out to do and is a polished, mostly bug-free experience.    … Expand
  5. artdz
    Sep 13, 2013
    9
    Combat System, Story, and Graphics are all well done. The combat is extremely fun and provides a level of challenge that requires planning and thought.
  6. darkmaterial
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    Just fun. Old school-BG, squad, pausable combat game but with new positional and timing skill-based factors. The graphics are clean and the characters have a nice what I can only think to call steampunk style (though most are magic and sword). As folks have said hard but fair--may battles hang right on the tipping point of success or failure for many rounds.
  7. Kovko
    Sep 17, 2013
    9
    My English is bad, but I have to write something to this game, because this game deverse it.

    It's very nice game. I was looking for something like this kind of game for a long time. And at least this time comes. I am not finished this game to now, and I am playnig only on medium difficulty, but I must say, that it is very chalenging. I am looking forward, when I will play this game    My English is bad, but I have to write something to this game, because this game deverse it.

    It's very nice game. I was looking for something like this kind of game for a long time. And at least this time comes. I am not finished this game to now, and I am playnig only on medium difficulty, but I must say, that it is very chalenging. I am looking forward, when I will play this game again from begin in harder difficulty with another chosen skills in my characters. Every character in game have only 4 skills, but I must say that I really like it, becuase the skills are very different and specific and a healer is not only a healer and damage dealer is not only a damage dealer. Every character have very specific skills and is only really on you how you will build it.

    For me pros:
    All things on game are very good explained and described, how it works and so. (This is very specific for kind of players like me, if we want to know all about behind functionality)
    Very addictive and challenging combat. (I really like planning in pause mod)
    Great skill system
    Nice graphics

    For me Cons:
    Missing pause on dialogue (when not good in English you can lose the storyline in some moments)
    Loot items are repetitive (after every loot you must take care if you loot something usable or not)

    But in every case I love this game (hope to some expansions)    … Expand
  8. manageri
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    Aarklash: Legacy is one of the best RPGs I've seen in years. The combat, UI and controls are all top notch quality, and in many ways put the big AAA studios like Bioware to shame. The only negatives are the rather shallow story and slight repetitiveness after a while. For only ~20 bucks you'd be insane not give this game a try.
  9. punishing
    Sep 19, 2013
    9
    Aarklash is a Tactical RPG/Puzzle adventure game that is very well done. Good atmospheric graphics, adequate sounds, and decent background melodies accompany you on your quest to...well, you'll have to play to figure that out.

    All lines are spoken, which is a both a valiant effort and a mixed bag in delivery. Some of the voice acting I found to be exciting and fantastic, some of it    Aarklash is a Tactical RPG/Puzzle adventure game that is very well done. Good atmospheric graphics, adequate sounds, and decent background melodies accompany you on your quest to...well, you'll have to play to figure that out.

    All lines are spoken, which is a both a valiant effort and a mixed bag in delivery. Some of the voice acting I found to be exciting and fantastic, some of it was just OK, and a few parts seemed a bit awkward. The story is good, but it's nothing new however it is delivered very well. I certainly wanted to know what was going to happen next even when I was pretty sure how the plot would turn out and I was pleased with how it was delivered.

    There are some puzzles that might make you pause to think, most can be completed with a little though or some trial and error. I never got stuck, but I was able to just run through all the puzzles mindlessly a good balance.

    The combat is the real hero of this game, and there's plenty of it. The tactical action is massively fun and the game play is exemplar. Customizing your character's skills for a tough battle or changing you party layout is elegant and fun. There are some challenging bosses where positioning, thinking out your strategy and making good decisions are required to succeed. Just using the same 1 skill per character or trying to rush through with auto attacks will not give you success, particularly if played on a challenging mode (I recommend setting the game to Hard for anyone who has played a tactical RPG before).

    The game has a good length, I felt it was just right. It's not epic, I didn't get bored playing at any point. A developer could have taken this style, put in hours of filler and missed the mark, or they could have made it too short making me want much more. For the budget price, I found the value to be massively worth the money I spent.

    What could be better? More itemization, additional skills, more quests, more characters, a sequel, sure. But what you get is more than enough to have a fantastic experience. That's the mark of a great game, it gives you a great time and makes you want more, more, more. I really hope their is additional content or a sequel in the works.

    I recommend this game. 9/10.    … Expand
  10. evilAlmond
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    Made an account just to give props to this game. It's the most fun and difficult tactical party combat game I've played since DA:O. If you're in to this type of stuff, buy it immediately and play on hard.

    There's translation issues for some text but the voice overs are fine and give it the needed personality. Knokka keeps it real. I'm half way through and haven't encountered any    Made an account just to give props to this game. It's the most fun and difficult tactical party combat game I've played since DA:O. If you're in to this type of stuff, buy it immediately and play on hard.

    There's translation issues for some text but the voice overs are fine and give it the needed personality. Knokka keeps it real.

    I'm half way through and haven't encountered any bugs. Aarklash great way to spend 20$, especially among all the crummy RPGs we've been getting.

    9.5    … Expand
  11. Cabaul
    Sep 22, 2013
    9
    I am going to be pretty blunt here, If you liked the combat in Dragon Age origins, but were looking for something harder, here it is. This is the old school infinity engine style of combat plan and simple, same as you would see in Icewind Dale, but a bit more limited. That's actually the only thing I did not like about the game, was that they limited the player a bit to much in the area ofI am going to be pretty blunt here, If you liked the combat in Dragon Age origins, but were looking for something harder, here it is. This is the old school infinity engine style of combat plan and simple, same as you would see in Icewind Dale, but a bit more limited. That's actually the only thing I did not like about the game, was that they limited the player a bit to much in the area of skills and interactions. You also only control 4 characters at once, and in some fights you will be facing off vs. up to 8 enemies at the same time. Other then that though, they nailed it, with a great fluid combat system with competent ai and some interesting character choices to make as your wheel swords level up. The story is nothing to write home about, though I did really enjoy the universe that it was set in. The voice overs were also pretty bad at some points, but even the worst of them were better then some things I have seen from other games.

    In short, if you are looking for a good pick up and play tactical game that wont take it easy on you, then this is for you.    … Expand
  12. Tjuhl
    Sep 24, 2013
    9
    Indie priced tactical RPG at AAA art and animation quality. Best squad management game I've played in a while. Ability choices matter during combat, it's very tactical, including unit positioning.
  13. Murugan
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    It takes a lot for me to make a nineteen dollar leap without many reviews to gauge a game's quality, but this leap of faith was surprisingly rewarding. Don't buy this for graphics or voice work or even story, although the latter is relatively interesting. Buy Aarklash because you remember Icewind Dale or ToEE and crave that sweet tactical goodness that has been seemingly lost these manyIt takes a lot for me to make a nineteen dollar leap without many reviews to gauge a game's quality, but this leap of faith was surprisingly rewarding. Don't buy this for graphics or voice work or even story, although the latter is relatively interesting. Buy Aarklash because you remember Icewind Dale or ToEE and crave that sweet tactical goodness that has been seemingly lost these many years. With a myriad of finely crafted encounters and skill based (read aiming/timing) abilities, Aarklash offers a relatively hardcore experience hearkening back to the good old days. Give it a try if you have the cash; it's a lot of fun.… Expand
  14. Militis
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    Aarklash: Legacy has, quite possibly, one of the most cohesive, addicting combat systems I've experienced in a strategy RPG in years. Real time combat with a pause at any point to micromanage your Quorr of Wheel Swords (team of mercenaries)? Yes, please. Add a fun setting, interesting story, and interesting customization options and you've got a great strategy RPG experience everyoneAarklash: Legacy has, quite possibly, one of the most cohesive, addicting combat systems I've experienced in a strategy RPG in years. Real time combat with a pause at any point to micromanage your Quorr of Wheel Swords (team of mercenaries)? Yes, please. Add a fun setting, interesting story, and interesting customization options and you've got a great strategy RPG experience everyone should give a go and for a budget price, it's a hard one to pass up! The voice acting is a little hit-or-miss, but the gameplay is top notch.… Expand
  15. str8killaa
    Sep 12, 2013
    9
    It's Like a good Dragon age game with torchlight elements you'll love this game a lot
    Pros:-Graphics and details are good
    -great story (have not finished it yet)
    -Sounds are great too with hits sounds and stuff

    Cons:-No multiplayer
    -Repititve at some point
  16. Sotanaht1
    Sep 16, 2013
    6
    Combat is pretty good, they managed to make a majority of the battles actually challenging (on hardest) for most of the game. Gets a bit repetitive though, could really use some more unique boss fights.

    The rest isn't so good. It uses puzzles to break up the combat which are all insultingly easy and very repetitive, the same thing multiple times. Story and characters are pretty bad too.
  17. Dcruize
    Nov 3, 2014
    1
    About as fun as League of Legends, ie not very. Highly repetitive combat without the engagement of the Dragon Age titles with the worst inventory concept ever.
  18. LD9000
    Sep 17, 2013
    8
    A decent tactical RPG with free respeccing. You can change your characters or group composition before every fight, making it somewhat of a puzzle game what combination can beat this fight. With this in mind, the game relies heavily on quick save-quick load to go back and try fights again. The tactics involve various buffs, debuffs, CC and damage skills, used to take out high priorityA decent tactical RPG with free respeccing. You can change your characters or group composition before every fight, making it somewhat of a puzzle game what combination can beat this fight. With this in mind, the game relies heavily on quick save-quick load to go back and try fights again. The tactics involve various buffs, debuffs, CC and damage skills, used to take out high priority mobs (healers, CC) before others. The game tries well to put together some crazy combinations of units that are very hard to defeat. Overall, well worth 20$… Expand
  19. Analbator
    Sep 12, 2013
    3
    Could have been a great game... But it's Cyanide so they made sure to mess everything :
    Gameplay is pretty good
    HMI is poorly designed, when tutorial called for something i had to try for 10 mn to find the key, which didn't appeared in options/controls .... Game is poorly done graphics aren't great, i don't care but it makes my HD7970_DC2_TOP heats enough to make my inverter cry and    Could have been a great game... But it's Cyanide so they made sure to mess everything :
    Gameplay is pretty good
    HMI is poorly designed, when tutorial called for something i had to try for 10 mn to find the key, which didn't appeared in options/controls ....
    Game is poorly done graphics aren't great, i don't care but it makes my HD7970_DC2_TOP heats enough to make my inverter cry and watching aida it's not crying for nothing my gpu is heating like i'm playing crysis III in full res.

    TL;DR Good idea, Poor game    … Expand
  20. Iluvatar21
    May 3, 2014
    7
    HOW I RATE: 10-9 score: perfect or near-perfect don't exist; 8 score: one of the best games ever. Top score; 7-6 score: great but not one of the best; 5-below score: serious flaws.
    ===========
    This game is a typical Dragon Age Origins game but whose focus is heavily on the core gameplay mechanics and is a MUST PLAY. I LOVE IT.
  21. Dokkodo
    Sep 16, 2013
    8
    This game is definitely worth a try. The combat is interesting and challenging (on the hardest difficulty at least, my experience is purely based on Ragnarok mode). It feels like a cross of Diablo-style dungeon crawler with a Dragon Age type party and pause and strategize combat system and a bit of WoW Raiding mixed in there. If you like any of the aforementioned games, I would definitelyThis game is definitely worth a try. The combat is interesting and challenging (on the hardest difficulty at least, my experience is purely based on Ragnarok mode). It feels like a cross of Diablo-style dungeon crawler with a Dragon Age type party and pause and strategize combat system and a bit of WoW Raiding mixed in there. If you like any of the aforementioned games, I would definitely give this one a try.

    When I die in the first hour of playing a game, that always makes me happy. Well, so long as that death isn't from bad controls, bad camera angle or some other infuriating not-skill-based thing. I died purely because I sucked, didn't strategize properly or observe my enemy's moves and movements. I love that kind of death, it makes have to actually take the game seriously and play like I mean it.

    So with that bit of gushing out of the way, downsides.

    The graphics are average at best. There's some glitches, like I saved inside of a tiny cave that was a little separate from the main map and when loading that save I was just stuck. Had to restart from the last autosave.

    Overall it's still a very solid game.    … Expand
  22. brokenmissile
    Sep 13, 2013
    7
    nice graphic, the gameplay is not bad, little bit repetitive but it's still good, and the best is no bug found so far :D
    (sorry if my english is bad btw :p)
  23. Xyrr
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    This is the most fun and challening game I have played for a while! If I had to describe it, I'd call it League of Legends with control of 4 characters at the same time. The pausing system works really well and allows you to keep the situation in check. I play the game on the third difficulty level and I'm definitely not having an easy time! Bosses are very challening and even in the earlyThis is the most fun and challening game I have played for a while! If I had to describe it, I'd call it League of Legends with control of 4 characters at the same time. The pausing system works really well and allows you to keep the situation in check. I play the game on the third difficulty level and I'm definitely not having an easy time! Bosses are very challening and even in the early stages of the game they have very interesting mechanics to them; they're not tank and spank encounters. All in all, well worth my money!

    - Edit: playing through the game for the first time took me 13 hours on the third difficulty setting. There's some interesting fights towards the end of the game although I would have preferred for packs of mobs to be slightly easier and bosses a tad harder.    … Expand
  24. hellostanley
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    Aarklash: Legacy does one thing wonderfully right. Combat. Crank up the difficulty, and every encounter requires proper management of your group of four to succeed and enemy abilities require you to actually pay attention.

    Combat is designed so that you can (and must) pause regularly to give orders to the group. This is similar to the original Dragon Age, and--though it sounds strange    Aarklash: Legacy does one thing wonderfully right. Combat. Crank up the difficulty, and every encounter requires proper management of your group of four to succeed and enemy abilities require you to actually pay attention.

    Combat is designed so that you can (and must) pause regularly to give orders to the group. This is similar to the original Dragon Age, and--though it sounds strange if you've never done it--it can be as much fun (or more) than real time combat.

    To keep things interesting, you can alter the members and skill trees of your group at any time. Characters have a limited set of spells, but you're expected to use most of them on a regular basis (and the game doesn't give you much time to learn them on the harder modes). Skill trees drastically alter the skills, and since those skill trees can be reset at will, there's ample opportunity to tweak the group for every fight and to experiment.

    Art style is similar to Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3; character movement is performed in a similar manner (point and click).

    The game does have flaws. A crash rendered my quicksave unusable. Fortunately an autosave allowed me to at least start at the beginning of the area.

    The game's graphics are fine (for the art style), but they appear to need optimization. The game (on a static pause screen, no less) spikes my video card temperature worse than any game I've played on this machine, games with much more action, larger maps, and far better graphics. For this style of game, I can live with turning down my settings, but I shouldn't need to.

    The voice acting is mostly good, although the editing could use some work (e.g. gaps in conversation that make it obvious the lines were pieced together).

    I've found a variety of little user interface bugs/behaviors, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a patch (or even better help text in a few places).

    In brief, this is a game that deserves attention. It definitely has niche appeal, but you might be surprised to find yourself part of that niche.    … Expand
  25. liga
    Jan 23, 2014
    9
    The game is very pleased, especially loved the combat system, as well as the complexity of the game is quite high. The only pity is that it is not AAA Projects.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 14, 2013
    75
    This game has a very simple structure – we travel from one cutscene to another slaying groups of monsters wandering around. But the strength of Aarklash Legacy lies in its deep system of tactical combat. [12/2013, p.46]
  2. Games.cz
    Nov 2, 2013
    70
    There was no single-player RPG title with party-based cooperation of the same importance as it is in this game. Aarklash brings magically elaborated combat system, however, many things around this feature should have been made in much better fashion.
    Read full review
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 28, 2013
    80
    Devoid of plot, yet highly recommended on the strength of its combat. Beautifully balanced, complex and challenging. [Nov 2013, p.96]
See all critic reviews »