The Bard's Tale IV is a really interesting game which dares to do things differently. In many ways, it feels like a throwback to genres which have fallen out of favor.

Lots of secrets and opportunities for exploration.

Pros:

The game features an emphasis on puzzles and puzzle-solving, something which often feels like an afterthought in modern games (especially those not explicitly belonging to the puzzle-genre). There is a heavier emphasis on puzzle-solving than on combat for the most part which makes for an interesting experience.

The puzzles and environments are really quite varied. What often makes puzzle-solving stale is the repetitive nature which we for the most part don't have to deal with here. The difficulty curve of the puzzles are also really great.

Different classes with different abilities makes for interesting strategies in terms of party composition.

The game is really quite beautiful to look at. UI and effects could be prettier though.

Cons:

In the latter part of the game the puzzles do become more repetitive and the emphasis starts to lean more heavily towards combat. The game could with favor have been made shorter to avoid this.

Respeccing is very limited (you need mercenary tokens), which limits the ability to experiment with party composition. This is complicated further by the fact that many interactions aren't that obvious (at least not to me). For example, if you wan't to utilize the ability by a fighter to share a stance, this counts as a channeling ability for all characters in your party. So to make the most of this you ought not to have any other character use channel abilities, which might make you want to respec all other characters which quickly uses 6 tokens, you see what I'm getting at.

You can only use 4 abilities at a time per character which feels like too little. It makes it so that you for the most part have to stick to the core abilities and have very little ability to branch out while remaining effective.

Unique weapons (and puzzle weapons) are for the most part bad compared to just standard weapons. Standard weapons offer enhancements to abilities (reduced cooldown, increased damage etc) while unique weapons mostly offer just stats and some passive abilitiy, this feels backwards. The exception is in the very end of the game where you find some good upgrades.

Lack of equipment progression in the last 25% of the game. Had all of the best equipment already which made solving quests or puzzles lackluster. If the game is this long then the item progression needs to match. Very few unique items (other than weapons) overall.

Puzzle rewards are often lackluster. You might solve an optional puzzle just to get some random crafting materials. In the late game I had 100's of the best food and kept on finding materials to craft more which was just pointless.

Summary:

Great game which dares to be different. Many things in terms of exploration, combat system and item progression could have been fleshed out further. Game could with benefit have been shorter given the content at hand. Would recommend mostly to people who are fans of old adventure/puzzle games, or people with an interest in game design and who likes to see unusual implementations.

Great classic from the past to go back and replay. Lots of interesting class choices and the atmosphere is superb. I did however have massive issues with HOTU expansion where companions wouldn't fight, supposedly friendly allies would attack me etc. etc. which made the game virtually unplayable without using lots of console commands to fix things. I would recommend sticking with other content and skipping HOTU however.

I would recommend this game for fans of Sierra or adventure games in general. The game is not very scary, but rather gory so beware of children watching.
The full motion video (FMV) was probably impressive for the time that this game was released. Now however I would much rather look at the pixelated or drawn graphics of earlier games. As always though Sierra is commendable for trying new things and exploring technological advances.
The game itself is more linear than many other adventure titles. You play through days and time progressess as you have fulfilled certain criteria. As far as I know you cannot get stuck in the game by making the wrong choices early on.
Interactive options are rather limited, you can only "use" items in the environment which plays a scene, let's you pick something up or interacts with something. You can use items in your inventory on things in the environment as well. You can use items on other items, but the way of doing this is rather convoluted and is used very rarely in the game. Thus, it becomes one of those "puzzles" where you have to figure out using a game mechanic that you might not know exists.
The story itself starts out rather nicely by playing as a character who might or might not be losing his mind. Clues as to whether he is going insane or whether he is unraveling a conspiracy around him makes for a nice suspenceful balance. Further on however the plot becomes more of a B-movie with rather obvious and exaggerated elements. That is too bad, as the game and story loses much of it's suspense at that point.

All in all, this is not a game I would recommend for most people. If you enjoy playing older titles which explore different possibilities game technology then you will most likely enjoy this title. Playtime for me was about 8 hours with some idling so it's not a huge time investment.

One final recommendation. To enjoy this game to the fullest, play it when you are relaxed, alone and in a dark environment. The music for the most part is great and contributes to the overall suspense. Don't rush, fight the urge to look at walkthroughs and enjoy the ride.

This game has a charming look and feel to it, and at first glance is reminiscent of old-school CRPG:s like NOX. However, the game falls flat really early on for me due to two major reasons.
1, There is a lack of complexity in regards to strategy. This includes, character creation, character development, use of skills etc. You basically just dump your stat points in strength, dexterity or intelligence (depending on your focus), and some into vitality. There are no skills, talents or such to choose from. This makes leveling up feel pretty pointless. There is not much choice regarding gearing either. Combat is also boring and repetitive.
2, Despite being an RPG, there is very little room for choices. Mostly you have only one dialogue opiton, and even when you have more than one, the outcome is mostly the same. The game feels very much like a train on rails. Most NPC:s and books that you find in the game or talk to give you only fluffy lore, and nothing that really is relevant to gameplay.

Overall, cute and decent looking game, but uninteresting and unengaging at large. Cannot recommend.

Interesting game, mostly due to the unique graphics and cool music. Gameplay is rather fun for a dungeon crawler seeing as you have a set number of encounters on most floors rather than the annoying random encounters that pop up while you're exploring (a few floors break this rule however and pose random encounters). A wide array of party members who have different feels to them makes for a fun time trying out different set-ups (although somewhat limited by the 1st character being locked in as a sorceror).
To the negative stuff though, the game is buggy. It doesn't auto-save and I lost my first few hours of progress to the game crashing, and noticing I hadn't saved once. After that the game kept crashing ever so often, but the less-than-elegant solution of saving often makes this a mitigable problem.
Towards the end of the game it becomes more repetitive, fights not really being harder but taking longer. I found the first three boss fights hard, while the rest (including the last few) being way too easy. The only thing I struggled with on the last 7 floors was a couple of random encounters with non-named mobs who for some reason killed my whole party with two AOE-strike, since their high agility allowed them to strike first. Had to just reload until they decided to use less powerful attacks.
Speaking of bugs, the game has 7 achievements that are bugged. One you can workaround by finicking with the savefile and adding an item to your inventory, but the other 6 have been broken for years. The developer has abandoned the game, which is a shame, since it's such a nice product. It seems that very little polishing would have had to be done by fixing achievements and a few bugs with chests that can't be opened, items not appearing in the inventory etc. The developers refusal to adress this leaves me with a so-so feeling after completing the game, rather than an althrough positive one, as I thought it would be when I first started playing. A fun game, but cannot really recommend it seeing as it's not entirely finished and polished.

I usually enjoy card games, and even mediocre ones have me stuck for a while before I figure them out and move on. Artifact however took me less than 10 hours before I was utterly bored with it. I've had absolutely zero desire to log back on and play. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of progression and the random unit placements which just has such a huge impact on how the games play out. It's just not that fun playing a strategy game where you play a card and just have to hope that the units end up where you want them to. Would really recommend just playing Magic the Gathering Arena instead. Or even something like Hearthstone or Elder Scrolls Legends. Anything but this, basically.

I've been playing this game for a few hours now and I have a few opinions I would like to share. I played Endless Space when it was new and thought it was an interesting concept, however it felt bland and rather unpolished to me. I think that Stellaris bridges the gap between the vast expanses provided by games like Endless Space and develops it into something more coherent and interesting, a world that's not just empty space, but filled with various functions that make for very dynamic gameplay. It's too early for me to say whether this game stands the test of time and numerous hours of playtime, but so far it seems very promising.

Not much of a review, but I just want to say that I really love this game! I've played my fair share of old school RPG's, and this gem truly captures the essence of what makes a good RPG. The story and characters are compelling. The story is being told through dialogue with NPC's, and everything that's being said feels either important, humurous, or for some other reason relevant. The combat and skilling system is simple, yet has some depth. The world is rather large, yet it's all connected in a very seamless manner.
Bottom line, if you enjoy a good RPG with focus on good story, combat, skilling system and without much handholding, give this game a try.

Amnesia is a very well executed game. It offers a thrilling atmosphere similar to that of phantasmagoria and the surroundings are beautiful aswell as ghastly. You do not have to be a horror-fan to enjoy amnesia, but be prepared for a scare!