The Dwarves

 PC
Metascore
61

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 17
  3. Negative: 2 out of 17
  1. PC Gamer
    Dec 19, 2016
    45
    An unsatisfying, forced march through the source material.
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 6, 2017
    40
    The Dwarves would like to achieve a better rating, but their own companions in the fight undercut this effort. Simple technical state is not always a recipe for a success. [Issue #271]
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Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

User Reviews

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User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 57
  3. Negative: 15 out of 57
  1. Archulysses
    Sep 27, 2017
    4
    Story - This game is very loyal to the novel of the same name it was based of in which it followed accurately the narrative, story andStory - This game is very loyal to the novel of the same name it was based of in which it followed accurately the narrative, story and characters of the said novel. By doing this, I could say that it has a great and interesting story about an epic adventure of a Dwarf blacksmith named Tungdil together with his group of different race and people in order to defend Girdlegard against the corrupted Magi Nudlin and the attack and influence of the Perished land in addition on finding the mystery of our main characters origins and history of the dwarf kingdome. All the characters are interesting and fun in their own way even the minor ones as well as their interactions with each other. My minor complaint are in the pacing of the game's style of narration is good but kinda annoying that the subtitle of the narrator is included in the text box where the dialogue of the character is also written. It makes me confused sometimes who is talking or not. Thus, a good score of 9/10 deserves this part.

    Gameplay - This is the part which this game lacks. I don't understand if this is an Action game, Strategy game or a merged of them both because its confusing, it has its good parts but a lot of bad parts due to the bad execution of mixture of classic and modern rpg gameplay. The pro is how many enemies you could fight in every fight you encounter in the game as well ai allies who would help you in other parts of the game. ITS A LOT and looks really like a war kind of overhead fighting mechanic this game has. Next is how unique each and every character is, One is offensive, the other defensive while others are support or for stealth. Lastly, is how a felt a slight of Dragon Age: Origins in the game. However, on the con side, its a lot. The customization is very limited that each can only equip one kind of equipment, you could only take 4 of your companions (I would have liked at least 6 or 8 characters) and how it is a real time type of rpg game focusing on action more which in my opinion would look better if they focused on strategy. Some annoying glitch or bugs in game and how very plain the adventure aspect of the game by only using a dotted world map style of getting to places. and how the game overall is too short for an rpg game. Thus, a score of 3/10 in this part.

    Graphics - This is the worst part of the game. Graphics is awful. Hell, even the obvious inspiration this game adapted namely Dragon Age: Origins still has better graphics than this game and it was released since 2010! A whole lot of fps drops and screen tearing both in the cutscenes and in the battle parts which could either annoy or affect your game. Characters all look like comic characters which you could see the edges of a square or whatever shapes you could see in the characters. I literally never liked the artwork nor anything related to this part. It is so outdated in today's standards. Therefore, my worst score of 0/10 for this part.

    Sound/Music - In terms of voices, I loved it. All of their voices (especially Boindil) are a match of their characters, though I have some reservations on Tungdil's voice actor. I could still say they did still do a pretty good job in his character over all. As to sound, I like their main OST as well as the epic music that comes at various parts of the game (I won't spoil.) A pretty decent overall job in this aspect. Thus, a good score of 8/10.

    Fun factor - This is a new part of my review I would be including which states my personal enjoyment and experience I felt during my playtime of this game. In my opinion, I was one of the person hyped on the ideas the developers showed in their trailers in the game. I was expecting to fight monstrous numbers of enemies and using different tactics and combo to beat them. However, upon playing it, was very dissapointed that it was limited, some areas are too small, some are too big while others are more irritating to actually enjoy. In addition, how you can only take 4 of your allies in battle when as a whole you can get more than 10 overall to recruit in the game. I would have liked for you take more of your allies in battles. The only thing i really enjoyed are its characters and their interactions. Thus, my fun factor in this game is only 3/10. It had potential, but it goes to waste due to bad execution.

    Overall - 4.6    … Full Review »
  2. ExpertPL
    Dec 25, 2016
    6
    The game is not bad overall, but I think that the strongest advantages of it come from the books it is based on. The best thing of all is loreThe game is not bad overall, but I think that the strongest advantages of it come from the books it is based on. The best thing of all is lore and plot, although the game feels like most movie adaptations of the books: too short to introduce properly every character, as a player I felt some kind of bond only with main character and two dwarven brothers that were introduced early in the game and had many dialogues involving them. The rest of the characters (and there were quite a lot of them) were for me some random characters with names attached to them. This game could really be longer and have more details about story that feel rushed as well.

    I have to mention voice acting as well, as for such low budget game, the dialogues are very good. Another thing that's awesome is the presence of third-person narrator that has it's own voice actor, which in my opinion is very rare in the RPGs as those usually fall into two categories: Those with voice acting but without narrator, or those without voice acting (written dialogues) but with narrator.

    The rest of the game seems unpolished. The combat system that includes friendly fire and a lot of AoE attacks combined together makes the combat really frustrating, not mentioning that because of that gameplay resembles more of a hack-and-slash game than RPG.    … Full Review »
  3. Rehgar
    Dec 10, 2016
    9
    Right off the bat, it is worth mentioning that this game is different from other isometric games such as Pillars of eternity, Baldur's gate,Right off the bat, it is worth mentioning that this game is different from other isometric games such as Pillars of eternity, Baldur's gate, Neverwinter etc in terms of game mechanics and world exploration. Is it necessarily a bad thing? Well some people say that it's more of a visual audio book with RTS elements than an RPG game , while others might think that it introduces a breath of fresh air to the RPG genre such as myself. Ultimately it gets down to personal preference.

    Saying that, let's get down to business with a list of pro's n con's about this gem of a game:

    PROS:

    +The narration and dialogues gives of a soothing and cosy atmosphere to the game. Fully voiced which is always great! I was hooked from the start and did not loose interest nor clicked away any conversations.

    +The story and character development; As I advanced through this epic journey, I got more invested in the characters and their background stories. While being your standard RPG a la lord of the rings, the tale unfolded in an intriguing way, inviting some chuckle here and there, lots of smiles and a few sad events. The cut-scenes enhanced the experience even further.

    +Exploration of the world is approached via a worldmap with a vivid narration of events in which you sometimes had to make choices thus, to a certain extent, could influence the outcome.

    + Game mechanics; compared to other RPG you get to fight hordes upon hordes of orcs while using lots of AoE skills that could also cause friendly fire. Therefore, placing your characters and using the environment is a must to avoid being overrun by the mobs. Smash the orcs, knock em out then finish them or just push em off the cliff! Whatever you decide there is a great sense of satisfaction!

    CONS:

    - Oh camera, where art thou?? Why not let us freely scroll over the battlefield to plan even better strategies?!

    -The ending felt just a tad too rushed.

    - Some health potion bugs which in some situations were rather frustrating.    … Full Review »
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