Caves of Lore - Lackblogger's Review

[HiddenX]

Lackblogger reviewed Caves of Lore.


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More information.

 

[HiddenX]

Thank you @lackblogger! - I'll definitely play this game.

 

[Stingray]

Will be playing eventually, but wanted to wait until the bug-fixing settled down. Looks like it has now, judging from the Steam notes...

 

[Carnifex]

Looks like something I'd enjoy!

 

[forgottenlor]

Thanks for the review. This looks like something I would like. How many hours (so circa) does a playthrough take? Also is this more of a dungeon crawler than Avernum? I mean in terms of quests and npc interactions is it more of a crpg, or would you say its more along the lines of some of the gold box games where npc interaction and quests were minimal?

 

[lackblogger]

Thanks for putting in the effort to format it and post it, @HiddenX , I think this is the first time a review has been submitted under the new regime? So a good test of the new routine.

Thanks for the review. This looks like something I would like. How many hours (so circa) does a playthrough take? Also is this more of a dungeon crawler than Avernum? I mean in terms of quests and npc interactions is it more of a crpg, or would you say its more along the lines of some of the gold box games where npc interaction and quests were minimal?

I kinda circled around these topics in the review, but thanks for the opportunity to expand on some of these points.

I spent 60 hours with the game, but I'm very much a nooks and crannies dawdler in almost any game I play. I think the average playtime is about 40 hours with some of the more speedy players completing it in 20-30 hours. You could probably speed-run it super-quick.

I'd say it was a sort of blend of Avernum and the Gold Box games. It kind of sits in the middle of the two. There's not at all as much NPC quantity, either in dialogue or number, than Avernum, but a lot more so than the Gold Box games. One of my last saves before the final dungeon says I had completed 28 quests, of which most quests have multiple components.

There's probably a dozen or three named NPCs, each of whom have their own story to tell, their own personality, reason for being there, quite a lot of whom are plot related and 7 are recruitable companions. In terms of interraction, it's not so much a case of branching dialogues as it is a case of "What do you know about X", and you'll often ask the same question to all of the NPCs, with only a few unique lines of questioning per NPC.

 

[Carnifex]

Diablo with turn-based combat and likening it to both Gold box and Avernum, you do know how to tease a lad!

 

[HiddenX]

Thanks for putting in the effort to format it and post it, @HiddenX , I think this is the first time a review has been submitted under the new regime? So a good test of the new routine.


[...]

The last article under the lead of Myrthos was your Black Geyser review. Everything after that was already formatted by me. The new private messaging format made transferring articles a lot easier.

 

[lackblogger]

Diablo with turn-based combat and likening it to both Gold box and Avernum, you do know how to tease a lad!

Absolutely. While playing it, I was 10/10 for quite a long time before any annoyances showed up/became apparent. probably about the first 10/15 hours or so.

 

[Moorkh]

Thanks, @lackblogger - I had already grabbed that, but found it less engaging at the time. Might give it another run soon. Would only award it 8.745/10, though

 

[lackblogger]

I'm an optimist, so I always round-up. But if we're going to go to three decimal places then I wouldn't go less than 8.765, and that's my final offer

 

[JDR13]

Absolutely. While playing it, I was 10/10 for quite a long time before any annoyances showed up/became apparent. probably about the first 10/15 hours or so.

So a 7/10 for people with taste.

 

[lackblogger]

So a 7/10 for people with taste.

No, not at all. You'll surprise even yourself with this one as it very nearly achieves exactly what it set out to with near perfection. of course, you have to be into the kind of game it is, but in it's class of game it's surprisingly competent.

It's Steam reviews currently stand at less than one negative in ten and reading them you also get the sense that most people were taken aback in a good way by the overall competency.

 

[Stingray]

It's Steam reviews currently stand at less than one negative in ten and reading them you also get the sense that most people were taken aback in a good way by the overall competency.

"Less than one negative in ten" is a big understatement, it's got a 97% overall positive on Steam which is insane given the reported bugginess at release.

 

[lackblogger]

"Less than one negative in ten" is a big understatement, it's got a 97% overall positive on Steam which is insane given the reported bugginess at release.

Yes, I was expecting quite an abandoned bug-fest based on initial reports, but while the odd bug did surface, it was a long time before I found one and none of them proved to be as bad as many you'll find in these littler games.

I wasn't in the mood for another Neverwinter module and also wasn't in the mood to start a gargantuan epic like Wrath of the Righteous or Original Sin 2 and then remembered this game released recently & I was just hoping for 20-odd hours of 'amusement'. It turned into very solid review material very quickly indeed.

 

[JDR13]

"Less than one negative in ten" is a big understatement, it's got a 97% overall positive on Steam which is insane given the reported bugginess at release.

It's a very small sample size though by Steam standards. Only 16 ratings in the last 30 days and 132 total. I'm not surprised by the rating because niche games like this are generally purchased by people looking for something exactly like it.

I'm tempted to give it a try, but I don't usually like games that are this pixelated because it literally hurts my eyes trying to make out details.

Are the levels random at all or is everything hand-placed?

 

[lackblogger]

Are the levels random at all or is everything hand-placed?

It's all hand-placed except for some of the loot being random loot, Diablo or Divinity-style.

 

[Stingray]

It's a very small sample size though by Steam standards. Only 16 ratings in the last 30 days and 132 total. I'm not surprised by the rating because niche games like this are generally purchased by people looking for something exactly like it.

Even so, as high as 97% is rather uncommon. KOTC2 is only at 72%, with half as many reviews, and that was my personal 2022 GOTY and came in #6 on RPGWatch / #2 on Codex. Almost certainly the same crowd buying both - although a lot of KOTC2 complaints are about difficulty.

 

[JDR13]

although a lot of KOTC2 complaints are about difficulty.

And I think that's exactly the reason it's not much higher. If he had balanced it to not be so ultra-hardcore, I have little doubt KotC2 would be overwhelmingly positive on Steam. I think he over-reached on the price as well which might also be a factor.

As for the number of reviews, I suspect that's because KotC is available on multiple platforms unlike CoL, and it was available before it came to Steam.

 

[Carnifex]

To even be lumped in the same category/realm with Knights of the Chalice tells me all I need to know about this one, it'll scratch my fancy but good. And most of the treasures being hand distributed makes me think the exploration part might be intense. Consider me salivating, might have to check this one out sooner than I'd planned, perhaps after finals are done.