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Worth the time of any serious RPG fan

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 27
Date: April 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Tired of seeing the same game mechanics trotted out over and over again? This might be the action RPG you're looking for. With many innovations, and a dynamite story this is a great game for fans of the RPG genre.

If, however, you need your graphics to be cutting edge; if you wouldn't play an old game on an emulator because you can't give up your million poly budgets or you generally only play the "hit" games - this game is definitely not for you.

I like to believe there are lots of RPG fans out there who would play another Ultima or Baldur's Gate or Diablo or whatever even if it didn't have greatly revised graphics - provided the game was fun to play and/or the story kept you interested. I'm not saying this is a bad looking game - seriously, compare the screenshots to the games I mentioned above and you can be in no doubt this is the best looking isometric RPG ever made. Trouble is, of course, most people aren't making isometric games any more, so to many people it will look dated.

If its gameplay you're looking for, I reckon Heretic Kingdoms has it in spades. It *does* take a while before you really appreciate it - as you have to unlock about a dozen or more (of the more than a hundred attunements) before you really appreciate the system. In this respect, it's a slow burner and the demo really doesn't do it justice.

I mentioned innovations. How many people, like me, are tired of most RPG games coming down to how well you can stockpile healing potions, or spotting that you need to use a healing potion... I'm certainly bored of this. HK does away with this old chestnut of a mechanic and instead gives you healing items that you can use infinitely. However, they don't heal you perfectly... For that, you need to make it back to town and rest up. The result is that you sort of explore the world in expeditions - heading out and trying to last as long as you can before you're forced to return and heal up to full. It's a very different feel to most RPGs and really quite refreshing.

The Attunement system is also really satisfying. It allows you to completely customise your character as you go - as you can swap in (and swap out) any of the Attunements that you unlock. The downside is that there isn't much of a system to getting them (each item has an Attunement which you can unlock) so it lacks a sense of directed progress - but the plus side is that you can set up some really dynamic character configurations. By changing my Attunements I was able to make my character absolutely fatal to the opposition in some areas (and some apparently useless Attunements have secret uses that are very satisfying to discover!). There are also some great combinations of Attunements - combining one that reflects attacks onto the foes with one that has a chance of instant death gave me my best "tank" configuration, which caused mages to drop dead of their own spells!

The character mechanics are very simple, which I didn't mind, but might disappoint people who like tenty different attributes to play with. The Attunements are the meat of the game mechanics, and allow you to create the character class you want (and change it if you don't like it).

The story, though, is what really drives the game forward. This game starts where most epic fantasy games end - an evil dictator has been overthrown and freedom has been won. But without the control of the Theocracy, civil order starts to break down. Political instability is rife, and into this chaos steps the Inquisition with its dogmatic plan to erradicate religion forever.

I really enjoyed following the story of the central character, and near the end I actually wasn't sure who I was going to side with. The game lets you do what you want with many of the quests - you can make your own moral choices, and the game doesn't punish you for what you choose. (Not to mention that some of the choices are also very funny!) That aspect of the story alone was highly satisfying. The fact that at the end of the game you can decide more or less the fate of the world is also a real plus for me. This is not the case of the ending having been decided for you and you just have to beat a certain boss. You'll know the characters you have the option to fight by the end of the game, and if you're like me, you'll know where your loyalties lie when you face the choice.

(It really doesn't hurt that the cut scenes are voiced by Tom Baker, who I could listen to reading a takeaway menu and still be enraptured....)

So, by now you should really know if this game is for you or not. If you played Divine Divinity and thought "wow, there's some interesting RPGs coming out of Europe" then you owe it to yourself to check out this game, especially at its low price point. If you need the cutting edge graphics to enjoy the game, this isn't going to be for you, but if you'd like to see a fresh new take on the old chestnut action RPG, Heretic Kingdoms is absolutely worth both your time and your money.

A game for the hopelessly bored.....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 20 / 27
Date: June 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I guess that I am just spoiled by the many truly great RPG's that have been released (i.e. DiabloII, NeverWinter Nights, Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, the old Might & Magic series, Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, etc.). Unfortunately this game, although it has potential, falls way short in the entertainment category.

I played the game for a couple of hours, found it extremely tedious and boring, and quit. I loaded the game again today and played for another couple of hours, found it still tedious and boring, and quit again. The CD is now in my "Games I will never play again" drawer.

If you are an RPG fan playing this game, you will probably ask yourself some of the same questions that I did:

"When does the RPG part start?"

"Where do I sell all this loot that just keeps piling up on the ground?"

"Where did I put my Beyond Divinity CD?"

The graphics are ok, the Dreamworld idea is ok, but the fun factor is just not there.

Maybe it is just me, but what makes this game an RPG anyway? Every once in a while you can just add a point into either Melee, Ranged, Magic, or speed... That's it???

Pretty Good So Far

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game after having been extremely disappointed with Dungeon Lords. What a highly refreshing experience this game is! It actually works, you can customize your character, and you don't have to spend hours traipsing from village to village without an automap or even a teleport spell. Woohoo!

The graphics don't suck, there is actual music in the background, and the voice effects actually work.

If you're tired of crappy games and are looking for a fantasy RPG that actually does work as advertised, pick this up. Okay, it does seem to be a bit more hack n' slash rather than role-play, but so far it is interesting. And no game-stopping bugs yet, either. Although I updated it right after I installed it.

Simply a wonderful game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: August 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Overview

Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition (known as «Kult: Heretic Kingdoms» outside North America) is a hidden gem among RPG games and is one of the few RPG games that surpasses the standard set by the Diablo series and does so with flying colors.

The Warrioress and Gameplay Mechanics

You play Alita, a female warrior for a movement called "The Inquisition." She is no ordinary woman; she is in fact is a descendant of the God Emperor, Arkor. For the sake of not spoiling any surprises, I will not go into detail on how her ancestry factors into the story (more than what it says on the box). You can customize her appearance (there is even a nude skin of Alita in the game's texture folder, if you are into that), her starting skills and even change her name when starting the game. Although Alita is the only character you can choose, the game makes up for this in its innovative form of character development (the Attunement system)

The Gameplay is both innovative and a refreshing change from the RPG norm. In place of the usual character class system is a system of magical augmentations called attunements, which also replace the usual spell and mana system. These attunements are earned by using a given weapon or piece of equipment in battle long enough and give her additional abilities. Attunements can only be activated or deactivated when Alita sleeps and not all of them can be used at once, although the more she levels up, the more attunements she can have active at any given time (some attunements -- called focuses -- only work if you use a certain piece of equipment).

One of Heretic Kingdom's most innovative systems is the healing system; instead of stockpiling healing potions, you have a healing object that can be used indefinitely. However, every time you heal, a pool of points called "blood points" is consumed and the less blood points you have, the less hit points you can be restored to -- if you lose 5 of your 100 total blood points for example, you can only be healed to 95 health. Each time you heal, you lose blood points. To restore both blood and hit-points, Alita must sleep either at a campfire, a hotel or a house (if you buy one). The attunement system is perhaps the game's most powerful system and allows you to customize your character in more ways than usual.

Another innovation is that addition to being in the real world, you can enter a parallel realm known as the "Dream World," which is useful to get extra skill points, attunement points (for unlocking attunements) and even to escape danger (although the Dream World has its own hostile denizens).



The Setting, World and Story

The Story in a nutshell is set in a nation-state called Corwenth. Just after the fall of an oppressive theocracy that had ruled Corwenth until a rebellion overthrew it, a movement known as the "Inquisition" has moved in and started stamping out all traces of religion while a shadowy cult conspires to resurrect a dead god. You, the player, starts out investigating the theft of a sword known as the "Godslayer," a powerful weapon and religious symbol. Over the course of the game, however, things are not as they seem and everyone has their own agenda. The game's story is not entirely set in stone and depending on your actions, you will be led to one of six different possible endings. Parts of the story are told through cutscenes consisting of beautifully crafted paintings and a narrative voice by Tom Baker.

The game world itself consists of 50 large, beautifully rendered and highly detailed maps with several N.P.C.s to talk to interact with (more to interact with than in any other game except Deus Ex) and some 50 side-quests. Each quest can be completed in multiple ways and have multiple outcomes. In short, this game is a sword-and-sorcery equivalent to and worthy of the standard set by Deus Ex.

Graphics, Sound and Performence

Visually and audibly, the game is simply beautiful. This Isometric game departs from the isometric norm by using 3D models to render the characters, weapons and objects and you can zoom in on our lovely heroine without losing detail as a result. The detail is very lush, with weather effects, day and night cycle and even wildlife (some of which you can kill and sell their meat for money).

The game's audio does not disappoint. The music is good and dynamically changes in combat much like Deus Ex. The sound effects are rich and varied. You will not hear voices except in the cut scenes, but this is forgivable.

The game will run well even at its minimum system requirements and is one of the few post-2003 games that does not need a pixel-shading capable graphics card. However, you will want at least a 2 GHZ CPU, 512 MB of RAM and a 64MB card to run it at maximum detail at 1280 x 960 (the game's maximum resolution). The only crunch is that even on a high-end system, the fog will reduce frame rates at resolutions higher than 1024 x 768 (the fog occurs only in three missions of the game and is intermittent).

A lot of fun (for a while at least)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I played this game a few months ago, so I don't recall every single detail about it. However, it is one of the few games that I've actually finished - it was interesting enough and the gameplay was good enough to allow you to progress without getting "stuck" anywhere. Technically, it is stable. I remember, towards the end, mostly going through the motions, just to finish, but nevertheless for the majority of the time it is a very fun game.

Awesome game, but didn't last long enough

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I loved this game, I'm a huge fan of Diablo II and the Expansion Pack for it. This game brought back wonderful memories, similar to Diablo but a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and NEW game. The only problem with it, is it didn't last long at all. I beat the game within a week, where's the fun in that for that price?

Ugh!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: May 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The idea behind this game is great. That, however, was the only thing about the game that I liked. Early battles take a lot out of you and resting when you need to is not an option. (I've seen references to a cheat code that allows you to rest, but the instructions to enable it are not clear.)

Maybe if healing was an option I would like this game. As it is, it's a waste.

Great idea, poor execution

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The concept behind this game is a novel one: you are a government enforcer for a state that has abolished religion a la Soviet Russia (had it existed in an alternate fantasy world). Unlike most CRPGs, you cannot choose between a variety of characters; this is not necessarily a bad thing, seeing as how Planescape: Torment---quite possibly the greatest CRPG of all time---sported the same "this-is-your-character-whether-you-like-it-or-not" philosophy. Unlike that classic game, however---which abolished character choice for reasons integral to the game---it seems arbitrary here. But that's the least of its problems.

Perhaps if you're a Diablo fan (of which I most certainly am not), you will find something of value here. But there's way too much dungeon-hacking and way too little plot/character development to hold my interest. This is unfortunate, because Heretic Kingdoms could have been a most artistic and philosophical addition to the CRPG genre, but instead opts for non-stop pointless fighting and, worse yet, sports one of the worst "healing" systems since....since I can remember.

Once again, if you were a fan of Diablo, you may very well find this game perfect for your collection. But if you value intelligence in a CRPG, look somewhere else. Like Planescape: Torment, for example.

Planescape: Torment

Quite Dreadful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 17
Date: May 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game was quite dreadful, as RPGs go. First of all they couldn't even put enough effort into it to make the graphics even half that of the original Diablo. The game-play is decent enough and simple, which I believe to be a plus, but the story-line far too generic and has no real substance. I suggest you go play the original Diablo or Diablo II before you waste time on this game. You may possibly wish to go ahead and play the demo first, just google search for it, to see how horrible it is for yourself.

not an open-ended role-playing game for one simple fact.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 21
Date: April 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

no gender option. You are female. Yes, you can shift from one class to the other by your actions, but it doesn't compare to Morrowind or Oblivion, yes the redering of stats and abilities is far improved from Dungeon Lords, and yet Dungeons Lords allows gender and race choice as well as appearence(new patch 1.5) Comparing a default character in a rpg to Dungeon Lords, Oblivion(see discusion forums on Inq site) or even MS's own Dungeon Siege is simply stupid thoughtless and criminal. Although I have nothing against a female character, I think one should honsetly say this is not open ended in character creation, it is still a fun game. So is Gothic II to most females but you still see a few complaints there, not here, how ironic. PC=BS.

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