Stones of Harlath

 PC
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 1 Critic Review

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  1. UploadVR
    Jun 4, 2021
    40
    Garage Collective delivers another novel throwback with Stones of Harlath, but the retro revival aesthetic is easily the game’s main draw. Combat has some interesting ideas but is largely very basic and there’s very little content here. Garage Collective has something special with its signature art style, but it feels like it’s still searching for the perfect game to match it with.

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  1. mugen_is_here
    Mar 27, 2022
    0
    Another game with an incredible beautiful world but sudden difficulty spikes that completely ruin the experience.

    It seems VR game    Another game with an incredible beautiful world but sudden difficulty spikes that completely ruin the experience.

    It seems VR game developers don't believe in testing difficulty curves. This game seemed to have a lot of potential.

    Pros:
    * Shield and sword
    * Mage powers
    * Lots of monsters
    * Quests
    * Cartoonish / beautiful / dreamy world

    Cons:

    * Monsters respawn endlessly. Even in the same playthrough. But health potions are limited across all playthroughs. That's a retarded design considering I was playing in "casual" difficulty. I don't have time to grind through levels over and over again.

    * Monsters can surround you and hit. Makes the whole shield and sword system completely useless. Which means you need to rely on the mage powers and hit them from afar. Also, considering that moving backwards can cause you to get stuck on uneven terrain.

    * There is no way to heal except through potions which are VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY limited (even in casual difficulty). You can battle 20 monsters and get 1 health potion.

    * I reached mid-point of the game where there's a pyramid surrounded by a shield. I teleported inside the shield only to find out you die instantly. Really **** design. There was no way for me to guess the shield was harmful to me.

    * Similarly, there are islands around the pyramid. I tried going through water only to die again. Water - you can get into it in some places (like near your home) with no problems. And in other places it can mean instant death. Horrible hidden inconsistencies.

    * Map is inconsistent. Sometimes you get a green dot for your objective. Sometimes a black line. Sometimes nothing. You need to guess where you need to go. Map is another horrible part of this game.

    * Basic teleport tied to mana. You need to constantly walk around which causes me nausea. They do have a teleport option but they've made it as a spell. This means you can only teleport 2 times and then do the spell again. And this will burn through your mana like hot knife through butter. Another retarded design system. Teleporting should have been freely provided in the world.

    * Bad story. There's some invasion happening in the city and everyone is asking you to defend. Why? When you help them you receive no quest rewards. Why? You helped them right? Add to that the endless "go to location", "go back to char X", "go to char Y", "go to location", "go back to char Y" and then you get an actual fighting quest. Combine this with the fact that monsters keep respawning repeatedly but your health and health potions don't and you've got a disastrous design in your hands.

    * A few treasure boxes give you some special upgrade for your sword or shield. These are pretty limited by time - like 20 seconds or so. If you go to another treasure chest and find another upgrade then it's wasted. You can't carry 2 upgrade. And if you leave the chest after opening it then that chest will be gone in your next playthrough.

    * Sword + Shield system is boring considering there'll be like 5-7 enemies attacking you simultaneously in later levels. One of those enemies will be some necromancer who can spawn traps with auto-ranged, infinite attacks. It's extremely frustrating when this happens because these can shoot you down continously. This makes the sword + shield system completely useless.

    If you feel nauseous by walking around in VR games then avoid this crap garbage at all costs.    … Full Review »