Review: My thoughts after 4 hours of gameplay

[Ciocolici]

I played the demo for around 4 hours, and I think I’ve had enough to form a first impression. I have no idea how long the demo actually is—it might have taken me a while to hit its limitations—but I think I have a rough idea of the game, at least if the final version stays true to what’s in the demo.

Since there’s no Steam page for the demo, I’ll write my thoughts here.

I don’t play mobile games—at least not of this caliber—only tiny ones when I’m out and about or just killing time. But if mobile gaming has evolved to this level… damn.

From the start, I could tell this was a mobile-ported game—the character movement and certain limitations gave it away. It sure does not feel as an AAA or even AA RPG game. But honestly, the limitations weren’t as bad as I expected. I was actually surprised by how good the game is. That’s probably because I knew it was a mobile port. And for a game ported from mobile… it actually feels playable. Sure, it has optimization issues and visual glitches here and there, but it’s a demo. And for a demo, it does exactly what it should—it gives a taste of the experience. And I had fun.

I’ve always dreamed of having a Game of Thrones game of this caliber to play, and I was hyped when I saw the announcement at The Game Awards. I wish this were a fully-fledged console/PC game instead of a mobile port. But even so, it’s pretty solid. The animations, the voice acting (everything I played seems voice-acted—wow), the combat—it’s all well done. The game takes a lot of inspiration from other RPGs like Assassin’s Creed. There’s nothing groundbreaking or new here, but it executes familiar ideas well. That said, it still needs optimization, better lip-syncing, and a lot of fixes across the board. And the interface controls need serious improvement. But if they get it right, they really can make this work. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually hopeful.

What scares me, though? The mobile stigma and its business model. I don’t know what model they’ll go with, but I do know that what I’ve already seen in the demo is concerning. I don’t care how it will be on mobile, but on PC, it must not follow the same monetization trends. It needs to be a normal RPG. Yet, even with just 4 hours of playtime, I’m already getting bombarded with daily-this, reward-that—all the time. Like every other mobile game. And that’s what worries me the most. If the full game is like that, I’ll pass—no matter how much I want to play it.

[MrApocalyptic]

I totally agree with you man, especially the last part of your review, it's such a shame...

[Moldi Stromboly]

So glad you posted this. I'm not even going to bother installing. I'll watch it for the full release but if that kind of crap is in it theres no way I'm buying

[lukewarmcoma]

Seriously. Being bombarded with constant rewards, currency, new tutorial notifications, etc...really killed the demo for me. Not to mention that any visual customization outside a standard character creator, is only done through buying skins, is a huge miss. For instance, I picked up 3 different rarity axes for the sellsword. common, uncommon and rare...zero difference in appearance. Same with armor, gloves, boots, helmet, etc. Even with it being a mobile port, that's just lazy and uninspired. It's 2025. Overall, It feels like a cheap, single player version of a MMO, and if it's targeting a Q2 release, I fear a lot or all of these systems will make it to final release. Shame..... Shame..... Shame.....

[Sal_Mohn]

Yeah, I was fairly immersed in the game up until the point I got bombarded with mobile game popups and junk.

Shame, could've been a great single player rpg with optional coop elements.

I'll still keep an eye on it, but still.

[CheckRaise]

I could live with ports from console to PC and vice versa...but this trend of porting from mobile to PC is troubling. This could have been a homerun if it was built from the ground up. I am disappointed that it is just a mobile port :(

[vband0]

Equipment not changing your appearance actually killed this game for me. The story, voice acting is decent, I like the combat too, as simple as it is but having to (most likely) pay real money to change the appearance of your gear is such a horrid design, even for a mobile cash grab.

[RexAnglo1066]

As a fan of GoT I reluctantly have to admit this game looks utter garbo.

[Sjakkoo]

Originally posted by Sal_Mohn:

Yeah, I was fairly immersed in the game up until the point I got bombarded with mobile game popups and junk.

Shame, could've been a great single player rpg with optional coop elements.

I'll still keep an eye on it, but still.

same here. why the heck make it a mobile game like.... i think the game is pretty fun but damn sad to see all these currencys and daily login things... totally not interested in mobile games eventho GOT is my favorite franchise.... i will probabbly play this gmae on launch but will gquit the moment i have to take out my wallet.