SpellForce: Conquest of Eo - Review @ Gamebanshee

[HiddenX]

Gamebanshee has reviewed the strategy RPG SpellForce: Conquest of Eo:

SpellForce: Conquest of Eo - Review

Released back in 2003 hot on the heels of WarCraft III, SpellForce: The Order of Dawn was following what was supposed to become this big trend of combining the RPG and RTS genres. Far from a mere clone, the original SpellForce tipped the design scales closer to the RPG side of things, offering entire sections that played like a more traditional action-RPG in a fantasy setting that gladly embraced all the cheesy clichés.

The game was followed by several expansions and a proper sequel that had its own share of post-launch content. Afterward, the series laid dormant until THQ Nordic and Grimlore Games resurrected it in late 2017 with SpellForce III. The new entry experimented with a more grounded tone and acted as a prequel to the first SpellForce.

But seeing how, unlike in the early 2000s, it's the turn-based games that get people going these days, THQ Nordic has apparently decided to hedge their bets. Enter Owned by Gravity and SpellForce: Conquest of Eo - a turn-based take on the long-running series.

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Conclusion

A somewhat askew balance of narrative and sandbox content, a haphazard approach to combat arenas, and a far from stellar UI prevent SpellForce: Conquest of Eo from becoming an instant, probably cult, classic.

But even so, it's still easily one of the best and most engaging video games in recent memory thanks to its complex interconnected systems, satisfying level of challenge, emergent elements, and that hard-to-pin-down "just one more turn" feel.

More information.

 

[TheSHEEEP]

I really hope it does well enough so the devs can keep working on it, eg adding things like a quest journal - yes, there's no quest journal.
Devs said on a stream I watched that they had to cut the quest log feature due to time constraints and hope they can add it after release.

 

[largh]

So it's one of these "ehem, wait for a year until we finish the game" deals. They shouldn't wonder if the sales are not very high at release...

I liked Warlords very much when I was kid. This seems remotely similar. Will keep it on my radar and maybe try it once it is our of UEA (unintentional early access).

 

[Couchpotato]

Not surprised anyone could tell it was a small budget THQ Nordic side project.

As the game is right now it's cheap and enjoyable.

 

[Darkheart]

I have only played for two hours but like it a lot so far. The battles are sufficiently difficult on Balanced difficulty and I like how spells, recruitment, crafting and research is handled.

Btw, if you are wondering where your safegames have gone... You have to set an exception in your firewall or any save you make vanishes in Limbo.

 

[Telstar]

Gamebanshee does decent reviews.

 

[Dolby]

The whole action system is weird not my cup of tea at all or maybe i misunderstood the whole action use on reactions.