Operencia: The Stolen Sun

 PC
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 56
  3. Negative: 18 out of 56

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  1. Gixian
    Jul 16, 2019
    7
    Epic store have no reviews yet, so I will write one here.

    I think this game is solid 7/10. PROS: - The game have very high production qualities, feels very consistent and polished, no bugs, no parts feeling too rushed or unpolished. - The dungeon crawling part is nice, the locations are very variable, i'm always interested to see what is in next room or hallway. - Some people say    Epic store have no reviews yet, so I will write one here.

    I think this game is solid 7/10.

    PROS:
    - The game have very high production qualities, feels very consistent and polished, no bugs, no parts feeling too rushed or unpolished.
    - The dungeon crawling part is nice, the locations are very variable, i'm always interested to see what is in next room or hallway.
    - Some people say that the characters and their never ending dialogues are childish and silly - they are, but not in a bad way. After a while I get perfectly used to the characters of the (very variable set of) NPCs, and with the nice dubbing, I think the dialogues are a nice addition to the game.

    NEUTRAL:
    - The mix of different mythologies used in the story is a nice touch, but I would say the story is nothing that would offend you, but nothing great either - it feels uninteresting to me (but I'm not very story- or roleplay-orientated guy).

    NEGATIVE:
    - The level-up and equipment system. Both is a bit confusing and not intuitive. There is a lot of options and numbers, but you scarcely know how good each of them are, and often are just forced to take them anyway (due to locking of other skills). For example it's next to impossible to say if boots with 2 defense and 0% phys.res. are better or worse than boots with 0 defense and 2% phys.res. Or what would increase a magician's damage more - +5 INT, or +10% damage? Less numbers and derived stats, but with real meaning, would make the game better. (Or at least UI that would show more numbers.)
    - The biggest let down for me are is the combat - most combat are very easy and can be won no matter what you do (only difference between good and bad play is how often you have to rest at the campsite), and in general, the combat and the abilities you can use feels to have negligible effect anywhere outside of boss-fights. I'm a very combat-orientated RPG player, and I just miss the interest and thrill in combat here - the fear of losing, the passion to learn about the weak and strong sides of each particular enemy types, the urge to min-max your people in order to win. Other games with similarly simplified combat like Bards Tale 4 offer much more challenge and food for thought.    … Expand
  2. Hexen-Slayer
    Sep 16, 2020
    4
    OPERENCIA: THE STOLEN SUN is the poor man's LEGEND OF GRIMROCK II, despite being priced
    about the same ($20). I fell for all the glowing reviews on Steam.
    The first impression is good: it does things quite differently than your average dungeon crawler, with a different art style - which was too cartoonish for my taste. The party banter seems like a great idea, it takes the party banter    OPERENCIA: THE STOLEN SUN is the poor man's LEGEND OF GRIMROCK II, despite being priced
    about the same ($20). I fell for all the glowing reviews on Steam.
    The first impression is good: it does things quite differently than your average dungeon crawler, with a different art style - which was too cartoonish for my taste.
    The party banter seems like a great idea, it takes the party banter from BALDUR'S GATE to a whole new level, then it goes overboard and it gets tedious. i ended up skipping most of it because it gets in the way of wanting to finish something and they just don't want to stop babbling.
    The controls are not optimal: mouse aim and 90 degree step movement do not work together. One or the other!
    OPERENCIA: THE STOLEN SUN has a decent combat system - for the most part - but like in BARD'S TALE IV: BARROW'S DEEP an interesting combat system alone is not enough to save an otherwise lackluster game. The combat is badly balanced: special attacks are overpowered while standard attacks do next to nothing. Combat drags on forever, too, since player characters and enemies have hit points in the hundreds, which gets tedious quickly.
    4 out of 9 (below average)    … Expand
  3. Yurro
    Apr 15, 2021
    10
    This is very cool classic game for people, who like magic story with secrets and puzzles, turn based combat, character skills and stats tweaking.
  4. doctor_awesome
    Apr 3, 2020
    7
    I grew up on Eye of Beholder and the other grid-based dungeon crawlers Operencia harkens back to. I remember keeping maps on graph paper and getting so immersed in the dungeon as I explored it. You'd think that I'd love Operencia but I found it squarely "good but not great".

    The combat has a lot of promise as a modern turn-based system but it just seems so unevenly implemented.    I grew up on Eye of Beholder and the other grid-based dungeon crawlers Operencia harkens back to. I remember keeping maps on graph paper and getting so immersed in the dungeon as I explored it. You'd think that I'd love Operencia but I found it squarely "good but not great".

    The combat has a lot of promise as a modern turn-based system but it just seems so unevenly implemented. Encounters are mostly too easy but a few are too hard, in a way that just feels like poor design. You get so many attack options but none of them ever feel particularly exciting.

    The story is okay at best, and the characters are very generic quip-artists, admittedly I generally don't like this style of "let's speak entirely in half-baked sarcastic quips as we supposedly try to save the world from very serious and imminent doom" that modern RPGs often use, but this is a particularly uninspired implementation of it.

    I'd overlook all of this if I could just get immersed in exploring cool dungeons but most of these levels aren't even dungeons, they're set on the surface. That's a fun trick to break up the monotony of dungeons, but when I play a dungeon crawler I primarily want to, you know, crawl dungeons. Not plod through 3-4 aboveground levels to finally get some proper dungeon action.

    The puzzles too fall into that "too easy or too hard" description, sometimes they just seemed poorly designed. The graphics and sound are good, and I don't regret buying this game... but it just didn't do it for me like the old games it reminded me of.    … Expand
  5. Dubeau
    Apr 15, 2019
    6
    Operencia has a nice quality to it. The game is certainly filled with secrets. The combat is decent but the character powers are useless compare to some enemies. Which can make for long and frustrating combats. The ending levels are painfully setup with harder enemies, and whatever power you got, you can't defend yourself with weaklings. There is no grinding solution and a flagrant combatOperencia has a nice quality to it. The game is certainly filled with secrets. The combat is decent but the character powers are useless compare to some enemies. Which can make for long and frustrating combats. The ending levels are painfully setup with harder enemies, and whatever power you got, you can't defend yourself with weaklings. There is no grinding solution and a flagrant combat balance problem. Another bad decision was to make the secrets finding a mandatory thing to advance the main quest. Bad decision. The voices overs and the graphics are pretty nice. Even the music is really good. I give it a 68%. I think it's the kind of title that is border amateur and AAA title.… Expand
  6. Dwaalled
    Mar 29, 2019
    9
    I'm at the forest now, after the sunken castle. Like it so far. Brings back the old days with the puzzles. No google to help you :P (yet). Need to remember alot where what was. Else you'll miss some chests. And please EXPLORE ! There is also alot of humor in the game, not only with the quest lines but also on items you pick up. The game looks nice and the music is easy on the ears. OnlyI'm at the forest now, after the sunken castle. Like it so far. Brings back the old days with the puzzles. No google to help you :P (yet). Need to remember alot where what was. Else you'll miss some chests. And please EXPLORE ! There is also alot of humor in the game, not only with the quest lines but also on items you pick up. The game looks nice and the music is easy on the ears. Only thing I sometimes have is that I donno what I can click on and what not (like that darn torch on the wall) Items glow doh.… Expand
  7. keens
    Apr 29, 2019
    8
    I'm 20 hours into the game and I'm really enjoying it.

    Pros: - Very polished game, everything works, no bugs - Environment contains forests, castles and other terrains, a fresh sight to the usual dungeons we get in this kind of games. also the feeling is that the world is open and not "closed" by the usual movement grid. - Good voice acting - Nice variety of skills and RPG elements    I'm 20 hours into the game and I'm really enjoying it.

    Pros:
    - Very polished game, everything works, no bugs
    - Environment contains forests, castles and other terrains, a fresh sight to the usual dungeons we get in this kind of games. also the feeling is that the world is open and not "closed" by the usual movement grid.
    - Good voice acting
    - Nice variety of skills and RPG elements
    - Cool puzzles

    Cons:
    - The story and the dialogues are a bit childish for my taste
    - The idea that many secrets/puzzles can't be solved till you get some new item/skill and then need to go back to that level is kinda of annoying.
    - combat becomes tedious and boring quite fast and is more a chore than a challenge (don't know what ppl are crying about, the combat is not hard at all, and I'm far into the game)

    In conclusion a decent game, didn't expect to enjoy it that much.    … Expand
  8. SoloWolf12
    Jun 21, 2019
    9
    Es el primer dungeon crawler moderno que veo en mucho tiempo. Los diálogos son increíbles, la historia engancha y los combates desafían, pero lo mejor? perderse entre sus mazmorras, revelar sus secretos, sus modos de juego.. una carta de amor a los fans.
  9. tjohobbit
    Apr 3, 2019
    3
    Fun game but the combat is very bad imho and destoys the game for me.
    Boring combat and so unbalanced and the numbers dont add up.

    Sadly because I liked the story and puzzles but will not finish the game.

    The have abilities but then most of the mobs are immune so you cant use them
    but you can be stunned a whole combat by the enemy.
  10. Anastasyah
    Feb 22, 2020
    10
    Awesome. I have not been so involved in a game process so long ago. Yeah, combat is poor but this game is not about combat. I am very enjoyed the graphic and the heroes' pics. They made me feel nostalgy but I couldn't remember for whom. Maybe for Dragon Age... There is something similar in these games
  11. Daermon
    Apr 5, 2019
    3
    Few music is good. But... But the gameplay and all other things is: bad or boring :/
  12. Gamerjohn
    Feb 4, 2020
    0
    Game crashes all the time. Not sure. If it's epic or the game. Couldn't get refund...
  13. VelkyVenda
    Apr 9, 2020
    9
    Hi everyone, I have about 30 hours of playing this game so here is my short review.

    This game is amazing. Nice graphics and atmosphere, strong voices, funny story, challenging fights and the riddles which are quite logical, rewarding secrets, very good level design, nice music. Fights – lot of people is complaining about hard fights, I am playing on hard settings and fights are very    Hi everyone, I have about 30 hours of playing this game so here is my short review.

    This game is amazing. Nice graphics and atmosphere, strong voices, funny story, challenging fights and the riddles which are quite logical, rewarding secrets, very good level design, nice music.

    Fights – lot of people is complaining about hard fights, I am playing on hard settings and fights are very well balanced. All skills and abilities points are fully redistributable with no penalty! If you are losing there is something wrong with your settings. Try to change it. Battlefield is divided into 3 lines and each skill is not the same efficient for each line.

    Secrets and puzzles – not extremely hard and logical. Rewarding loot. Some of the secrets from first levels you can be able to solve after receiving things from later levels. Do not spend hours and hours searching for each secret in each level. It would be waste of time. But have your eyes open and check every wall.

    I can recommend this dungeon, it is like from good old times in fresh graphics.    … Expand
  14. Half_Beast_333
    May 3, 2020
    2
    Here's a game that borrows elements from other game, but ultimately fails.

    The combat is like Dragon Quest which isn't a bad idea. It could have been very fun but your abilities all pretty much sucks. Also, the skill point and the impact the equipment has on your stats is hidden so you never really know why even though a piece of equipment seems to boost your attack in the character    Here's a game that borrows elements from other game, but ultimately fails.

    The combat is like Dragon Quest which isn't a bad idea. It could have been very fun but your abilities all pretty much sucks. Also, the skill point and the impact the equipment has on your stats is hidden so you never really know why even though a piece of equipment seems to boost your attack in the character menu, it has no impacts in combats. Same can be said for armor and magic. The whole character setup is cryptic. It's just weird. You have a "optimize" function and when you press on it, the game could equip stuff that clearly drops your stats. Lime you got two daggers and your attack is rated at 168 for instance, then optimize puts an axe in your hand and your attack now drops to 135 but somehow the game picked it so it must be stronger? This makes no sense at all and it's like that for every type of equipment.

    The game is ultra linear: Enemy do not re-spawn so you feel you are on a rail the whole game. Treasures and enemy loots is always the same at each encounters so if I start a game, and you start a game, we will have the same levels and the same inventory once we reach the same point. This is the biggest deal breaker for me. The maps are all done through chapters instead of free exploration like in Grimrock, which is also very boring.

    The puzzles are much weaker than in Grimrock too. Like they are super easy, but also very boring and the reward is always that you can now progress to the next part of the map. There isn't any puzzle that are optional for loot. This further adds to the linearity of the game.

    You will accumulate tons of gear, all of which are useless. The game does not have a "sort" function so when it's time to sell your equipment to the store, it's a complete mess. Very frustrating.

    Overall, I like the graphic, the music and the frame of the combat. I do find the leveling/skill/equipment part of the game pointless and weak. Then the puzzles sucks and the progression is on rail with no chance of free exploration.

    I give this game a 2/10 and that's generous because this is barely a game since everything is determined ahead with no randomness or decision making. This game needs to break it's linearity, adjust it's progression curve and add enemy res-pawn, straighten up its stats/skill/level/equipment mechanic and hire someone who's competent at creating puzzles.    … Expand
  15. Damtitus
    Oct 11, 2020
    7
    Nice game with old-style combat, decent story & appealing art/visual style.
    It's a good fable to spend a few evenings with.
  16. Biberattacke
    May 16, 2020
    8
    Ursprünglich bereits Ende 2018 exklusiv auf Epic erschien dieses RPG. Es ist wie The Bards Tale 4 eine Hommage an die „guten“ alten Dungeon Crawler. Feldweise bewegt man sich mit seiner Party über die Karte, löst Rätsel, bekämpft Gegner und folgt der Geschichte. Diese ist auch wirklcih schön erzahlt. Auser der Perspektive des Diebes Joschka, der ständiger Begleiter der Party ist, aberUrsprünglich bereits Ende 2018 exklusiv auf Epic erschien dieses RPG. Es ist wie The Bards Tale 4 eine Hommage an die „guten“ alten Dungeon Crawler. Feldweise bewegt man sich mit seiner Party über die Karte, löst Rätsel, bekämpft Gegner und folgt der Geschichte. Diese ist auch wirklcih schön erzahlt. Auser der Perspektive des Diebes Joschka, der ständiger Begleiter der Party ist, aber nicht das AlterEgo darstellt. Joschka erzählt in teilweise recht humorvollen Monologen von sich und der Welt. Ungfragt plappert er Kommentare zu Feinden oder Rätsel aus. Das passt! Auch das Genretypische Jorunall ist übersichtlich und gut beschrieben. Ich hatte tatsächlich Freude daran hier und da zu gucken, was über Feinde, Hintergrundgeschichte und Rätsel dort geschrieben wurde! Das ist für mich eher ungewöhnlich. Die Texte sind nicht wirklich tiefgründig und detailliert, aber gut und einfach zu lesen! Die Prise Humor tut auch hier gut. Das Kampfsystem ist anfangs nicht wirklich herausfordernd wird aber mit zunehmender Spieldauer schwieriger. Der Endgegner des letzten Levels hat mich dann auch wirklich 10 Anläufe gekostet. Das war fast schon etwas nervtötend. Die meisten Rätsel sind sehr schön gestaltet. Die Designer haben sich hier viel Mühe gegeben. Fast alle Rätsel sind für mich lösbar gewesen, bei Dreien war der Blick in einen Walkthrough notwendig. Bei einem Rätsel (ebenfalls letzter Level) hätte ich noch 5 Stunden herumrennen können und wäre nicht auf die Lösung gekommen. Das Spiel hat mir hier keine Hinweise gegeben. In Summa sind die vielen guten Rätsel aber ein deutlicher Pluspunkt und wesentlich besser gestaltet als bei Bards Tale 4. Positiv herausheben möchte ich das craften von Tränken. Auch hier gilt es kleine Texträtsel zu lösen und fest vorgegebene Ingredenzien in der richtigen Reihenfolge zuführen. Herrlich! Das Spiel hat schön gezeichnete Zwischensequenzen und auch eine ansprechende Grafik. Allerdings sollte man hier kein High End erwarten. Die Animationen sind gelungen aber nicht besonders abwechslungsreich. Das tut dem Spielspaß aber keinen Abbruch. So mancher Glanzeffekt sieht sogar recht schön aus. Die Musik ist angenehm unaufdringlich und passend. Die Vertonung im allgemeinen und die englischen Sprecher ebenfalls. Fehler oder Bugs sind mir, bis auf einen einzigen, nicht weiter aufgefallen. Das mag daran liegen, dass es bereits sein einem Jahr erhältlich im Epic Store ist. Mir hat das Spiel wirklich gut gefallen und ich kann es vor allem Leuten empfehlen, die schon immer einen Dungeon Crawler spielen wollten und auch denen die WIEDER mal wieder einen Dungeon Crawler spielen wollten.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. UploadVR
    Nov 23, 2020
    60
    Operencia: the Stolen Sun is an excellent RPG with a lot of great qualities. It looks good, the classic turn-based combat is well done, and the world itself feels expansive. Players can expect between 20-30 hours of adventure as well, so it’s a fairly lengthy game. For RPG lovers who haven’t checked out Operencia, it’s absolutely recommendable. For a VR-only release, it’s less of a sure bet. Avoid the Oculus Store version and go for either the Steam or PlayStation versions since those let you play the game however you like.
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  2. GameSpace
    Apr 10, 2020
    80
    Overall Operencia: The Stolen Sun is a good introduction if you’ve never played a dungeon crawler type RPG before. It has a few rough edges and a tutorial that had me wishing it was over sooner. But this is balanced by some really great world lore, tons of great voice acting and great level design.
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  3. AusGamers
    Apr 8, 2020
    85
    During the latter half of the game you wouldn’t me amiss spamming your way through most battles whilst playing closer attention to the story, dialogue, and engaging world. In the end, the approachable combat gives the fantasy dungeon-crawling of Operencia a wider appeal than say a new Wizardry might. Fans of party-based RPGs in the vein of Baldur’s Gate or Dragon Age will find a lot to love here too, thanks to the combination of great writing and wonderful presentation. And hey, any fantasy world that features a relic called the magical Amulet of Zotmund is one worth visiting.
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