Din's legacy

Not everyone knows Soldak ( we talked before about here and here, many years ago!), so brief introduction is needed.

Soldak make unique videogames, in every sense. They are indie, top down real time games with a strong focus on provide unique experiences, evolving and dynamic worlds.

So it's not a surprise if I talk on my blog about last work, Din's legacy.

Ten year after.. forests! And dead monsters too!

At first sight, nothing changed, but if you try Din's legacy free demo ( a free demo!! in 2019!! no drm, always online, pay for win!! You are my hero on this!) you will find a lot changed.

Trust me. New zoom levels, new resolutions, new models, no more a flat world, but hills and caves. A world more.. real. I don't want to say this is a graphic AAA title, sure not. But Soldak's work on graphic side is real.. and solid. I think that we ( as hobby developers indie .. whatever I can call me these days) we can learn from Soldak's approach: iterate every title, evolve, mutate and become a little better every time.

Game loop is the same, something we can understand quickly. You are the "hero" try to save the world solving quests, like every other game like this ( diablo anyone ? ). Start from a village, get quests, explore the world and solve them. Usually slaying monsters is primary choice, but you can work with your skills and try different tactics: be a powerful mage from distance? Check. Be a warrior slaying monsters with an axe? Check.

After a bit, something on Din's legacy gameplay change. You start noticing something: skills, okay, right. You kill monsters, get experience, raise stats and then.. unlock skills. But Din's legacy main feature are mutating skills.

A really dark dungeon, full of dead bodies, of course!

I've said selling point about Soldak's games are evolving dynamic worlds. But now even player avatar in the game is evolving. You get mutation points, then unlock new skills ( good or bad ) and this is always changing!

Personally I don't like this choice, in the past ( Depths of Peril or Din's Curse for example ) player choices are consistent. You unlock a skill and you can work on it. In Din's legacy this can change an players, used to a growing characters, can be overwhelmed!

just throwing old but good fireball around

As you can see from this quick review, I'm not an expert of Din's legacy, but I found it interesting: it's an iteration on Soldak's formula, something not so distant from what you have played in the past, but refreshing in some ways for sure.

But if you are bored to play always same game ( fps, strategy, diablo clone), try soldak games, you can find something new, and challenging!