Strap yourselves in, this is a long one.

Identity crisis

The game starts off, as this very fresh and lighthearted RPG. There’s battles to be had, and puzzles to be solved.
It breathes tongue and cheek, witty humor. And with 2 followers, you get lovely banter between them, with perfect comedic timing. It gives flair and character, and gets a hearthy giggle out of you.
Adding trait to talk to animals, is also pleasantly amusing.
It can be annoying at times though, if you want to talk to a rat that keeps scurrying around. Endlessly missklicking, often starting a conversation with an ally instead.

The exagerrated animations only add to the feeling, of going on a journey, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Making the player adjusted to this comedic vibe pretty fast, and settling in.

As you advance through the story, a dark and depressing mood starts to take over. It can be quite off-putting, and might be a buzzkill for many.
This trend keeps going in higher gear, and takes away much of the charm. When reaching the end, I was already checked out, and simply wanted the fights to be done.
A real shame.

Music

A lovely arrangement accompanies every atmosphere perfectly. From tranquil forest tunes and silly bar songs, to tense battles and hazardous undergrounds.
Simply perfect. 10/10

Patience is a virtue

After the first battles, you come into town, where all turns into an investigation. This may be off-putting to some, as there is no combat for a while. I very much enjoyed this part however.
It’s like an elaborate tutorial, where you get more accustomed to the game mechanics.

Roll the... paper? Into a scisorred rock?

Very jarring, is the rock, paper and scissors minigame for conversations. These can be frustrating, often feeling as if the computer is simply cheating. With much lower trait scores, it still counters your every decision.
It’s a silly take on rng, meant to be part of the “it’s all fun, don’t take it too seriously” -factor. However feels unfair too many times, and makes you long for simple d20 rolls instead.

Got to wait it out

Combat is pretty straightforward, and works like a charm.
However, each action requires you to wait, until the animation is finished. Be too fast with successive attacks, and things may go terribly awry.
Not only is it required to let the animations finish, but the camera jerks back to the active character as well.
So, if you look around to get a lay of the battle, it resets each time. Mildly annoying, this may cause a missclick on your next input.
On top, enemies can have some very elaborate animations. Actions are based on your mouse cursor, not the general position of the target. Some opponents can go prone, or even dance idly. Klicking on a poorly timed moment, marks the terrain, as the target hops happily in the air.
Add in shaking screen moments, and you may find it necessary to zoom in and rotate the camera. Just to make sure you have the target selected.

The developer (Original?) sin that is: Instakill mechanics.

One of the biggest mistakes to make as a developer, is cheap instant deaths. The only thing accomplished, is frustrating the player, and making them feel cheated upon. For it is in fact: Cheating.
The first time you come across lava, it can startle and upset the player. It certainly did for me, and never feels comfortable or fair. It frustrates, and ruins the entire experience.
I get it: you don’t want the player to reach certain spots easily. But instakill mechanics are something to avoid.
Their whole existence causes mixed feelings, and almost tipped the scales into a negative review.

Bug in the mines

It gets better with bugs:
*spoiler warning*
At the end of the mines, you will need to find a way out.
82 hours into the game, I reach the end of an escape sequence. A long set of stairs downward awaits, with a winding path to the exit portal.
I descend, find a chest, loot it and identify some items. Then the 2 main characters, combust into flames and die.
Awestruck and baffled, I tried to find out what kills me every time.
Opening the chest, shortly ends up with being scorched. Other times, it doesn’t.
Could it be this small crack in the floor?
Or do I stand near the rock that gets struck by fire?
Is it the chest, is it trapped?
Then I stood there for 30 minutes, and nothing happened.
This inconcistency, is purely maddening. What caused it? Why is it so random?
Turns out, when leaving the stairs, an invisible timer starts, killing everyone on the rocks, for no reason.
Very unpleasantly annoying bug.

Hardcore + Instakill in a 100+ hour game

Add to this, the option to finish the game with only one savefile: You die, and it gets deleted.
Imagine being 82 hours in, and dying to some random bug. Complete reset.
Larian is one of the few human devs left, so I feel like letting this go with a slap on the wrists. Instakill mechanics are the cheapest way to brute-force the player down certain path.

These are used more and more, as you advance towards the end. The fun starts to die off pretty quickly. Ending in frustration, and the 5 stages of grief.
Eventually you stop being surprised.
When an overdose of cheap mechanics, makes you detached and numb, that decision may not have been the best idea that ever sparked their mind.
It is the equivalent of cheap jumpscares; they’re not scary at all! They’re just loud and obnoxious, startle the player, leaves them utterly confused, and ruins the entire experience.

If you have the choice as a developer, to;
- Annoy the player, so they would never return to your game, once finished.
- Or keep everything fair but challenging, so people keep coming back, to play it again?
I know what my choice is.

Hot and cold

*spoilers*
How about a game of hot and cold, with 4 statues chasing you?
These walk slow, but cover huge distances, taking an eternity to move.
One attack is more than 2000 damage (instakill).
Forced to higher ground (where characters can’t aim a bow down a level), you land in a game of hot and cold. Get too far from the invisible path, and you die.
Only with high perception, can you track footsteps. Imagine coming here, with no character that has a high perception.

Eye spy

*spoilers*
The best has to be the floating eyes, wandering the swamp.
You need a fast firing weapon like a bow, to take it out before being seen. Slow projectiles from wands will only miss.

The moment you are caught -reload your game.
You have no chance to survive. Combat starts, your team takes close positions. The thing has insane initiative and goes first, moves to the closest team member, and instakills the party.
Why even have combat? It defies all logic. If you’re doomed, why even have a fight in the first place?


Now, I’m being very mild, and can look past these poor development choices. It was teetering on the edge of getting a ‘not recommended’. I’m feeling in between: Both recommending, and not recommending.

I get it; you need a way to add a puzzle mechanic. Instantly setting the player’s hp to zero comes off as extremely lazy. There’s big talent working at Larian, and I’m sure a better solution can be conjured up.

Despite the plethora of ingredients, which soured the entire experience, I still enjoyed my time in Rivellon.
However.
It is also due to these, I don’t feel like re-visiting any time, if ever.
As much as I’m happy to have finished the game, I’m also happy that I am finished with it.

Buyer’s advice: Wheigh your scales between fun and frustration, and be wise with the decision of your purchase.

Game score: 5/10

Great, timeless RPG, you'll soak in the world for hours and hours!

This game is just bad. It would be lots of fun if it were competently created. There is so much to like about this game that is ruined by a few bad choices in design. Every time I install it I end up uninstalling it in disgust after a few hours of gameplay. I bought this when it was new. I have never and will never buy another game made by Larian Studios.