Is it worth it to play this game before Shadows: Awakening?

[potionjunkie]

Title.

[Guthbert]

no, the game is not finished, and it will never be finished

[Skybreaker]

As already replied in another thread:
No, as Shadows: Awakening features Book I and II. whereas Shadows: Heretic Kingdom just features Book I.

-cheers

[craig234]

Then why is this game still sold?

[Skybreaker]

For those, still in love with the Original and with the plus-side of getting Shadows: Awakening in addition, to stick to our (Games Farm's as well as Klaypso Media's) promise, to get the whole and finished stories to all players (old and new).

-cheers

[craig234]

But doesn't Awakening have the whole and finished stories, old and new?

[Skybreaker]

Hi craig234,
correct. Shadows: Awakening features Book I and II and both with a more up-to-date visual appearance (among other things).

-cheers

[flixization]

I came here to ask this same question, as I'd already played the starter dungeon in S:HK before I realized Awakening contained the same story. One thing I noticed is that the prologue section with Carissa Cantrecht was missing from Awakening. This section did a LOT to help tie in the game with its predecessor Kult, as I had just finished that title and still had the events fresh on my mind. Can anyone who's played both titles speak to the differences between the two? I know, updated engine and all that (framerate takes a nosedive in Awakening compared to S:HK), but I'm thinking more in terms of story and characters, is there more missing stuff like the prologue with Carissa and Krenze at the Oracle?

[flixization]

I just bit the bullet and decided to play both games. Although I'm glad I played Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms just to know the truth for myself, my advice to anyone else is to skip straight to Awakening. It seems to be better in every way.

[DaVinMan]

Originally posted by flixization:

I just bit the bullet and decided to play both games. Although I'm glad I played Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms just to know the truth for myself, my advice to anyone else is to skip straight to Awakening. It seems to be better in every way.

Thanks for this flixization! This is just the needed clarification. I'm having trouble understanding why this is even still for sale.

[Crackatau]

Bought Heretic Kingdom and Awakening on sale, and Awakening is by far the better one of them. For me, playing Heretic Kingdom, was just a waste of time.

[The King Possum]

so I just need to buy awakening and not worry about this because awakening is this game plus it's self?

[Kvinden]

Originally posted by The King Possum:

so I just need to buy awakening and not worry about this because awakening is this game plus it's self?

It is not EXACTLY the same game. I prefer this one even if it is not the full story. The game is more polished but besides more boring hack'n slash repetitive sequences Awakening contains too many frustrating puzzles, the commands and the inventory are unpleasant.
Is it worth buying this one ?
Yes, if you don't already have awakening, since you get it for free as a bonus when you buy heretic kingdom.
Otherwise, no.

[The King Possum]

Originally posted by En ganske almindelig gudinde:

Originally posted by The King Possum:

so I just need to buy awakening and not worry about this because awakening is this game plus it's self?

It is not EXACTLY the same game. I prefer this one even if it is not the full story. The game is more polished but besides more boring hack'n slash repetitive sequences Awakening contains too many frustrating puzzles, the commands and the inventory are unpleasant.
Is it worth buying this one ?
Yes, if you don't already have awakening, since you get it for free as a bonus when you buy heretic kingdom.
Otherwise, no.

okay thanks for the info.

[MightyGrue]

I'm necro-ing this thread. I'm still not clear. Is this version more ARPG/Diablo like in it's gameplay? From reading above, this version sounds like it has less/none puzzles and more hack and slash with more enemies at once. Is that true?

[flixization]

Originally posted by bm3173:

I'm necro-ing this thread. I'm still not clear. Is this version more ARPG/Diablo like in it's gameplay? From reading above, this version sounds like it has less/none puzzles and more hack and slash with more enemies at once. Is that true?

No, the gameplay is basically the same in terms of combat/puzzles. The reason that Shadows: Awakening has twice as many puzzles is because it's twice as long as S:HK. They're still evenly dispersed throughout the chapters.

Awakening contains all of the chapters and story lines (including puzzles) from S:HK, then continues on and actually completes the story, whereas S:HK just leaves you hanging. S:HK feels very unfinished and incomplete. Even the upper level skills are unattainable since there's not enough content to level you up. S:HK feels like the buggy beta for Awakening.

This is a compare/contrast review with pictures I did for DarkMatters if you're interested in reading more: http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?/topic/24018-heretic-kingdoms-series/&do=findComment&comment=7017468