I don’t particularly enjoy turn-based games. I do love the classics like Persona and I really liked paper mario, but in general not my thing. Games like Final Fantasy, or Pokémon never really grasped me. Baldur’s Gate III, was genuinely a masterpiece, I spent hours in that game and I still couldn’t fully get into the games combat.
Familiar Setting, Familiar Feeling
Baldur’s Gate was one of the best turn-based games I’ve ever played. When it comes to combat I would put only Persona 5 above it and when it comes to everything else it far outclasses every other game in the turn-based genre. Luckily, Terrinoth Heroes of Descent, mimics Baldurs Gates combat system. Meaning for me it is already slightly more enjoyable than your average turn-based RPG. It is far easier than Baldurs Gate and other games of the genre though. I played on veteran and had only gotten hard stuck on an encounter once.
Art Direction and Storytelling
After booting the game up for the first time, I found myself genuinely impressed with the art direction this game took. The main cutscenes use stained glass tapestries to illustrate the exposition. I got to say they are stunning to look at. The character models themselves are good too. They’re not anything special, a bit generic, but they work with the artstyle and it gives off World of Warcraft vibes. At least it does for me, especially the dwarven mage, Aurta. The story from what I could tell wasn’t anything mind blowing either, but it was interesting enough to keep me playing.
Good Characters Bad Voice Acting
The main characters in Terrinoth are relatively likable. The writing is mostly generic fantasy banter at times and the characters act predictably based on their race and their class. However, I’m able to look past poor writing if the voice acting is good enough. Terrinoth’s voice acting just isn’t up to snuff unfortunately and that’s one of the biggest drawbacks for me. The story cutscenes sound fine, good even, but the in game cutscenes, as well as the in battle dialouge sound strange to me. Some of them sound stilted and others sound too animated.
Obstacles & Puzzles
Near the beginning of the game, you’ll be introduced to the games puzzles and obstacles that will be layered throughout the level. I think that these are neat and that they incorporate the games other mechanics in a fun way. For instance, much like in baldur’s gate, you have the ability to group up or split your party members. It isn’t as complex as Baldur’s gate though, your only options are to split the party or group up. Spliting the party makes it so the characters won’t move unless there’s a direct input from the player and grouping them up is self explanatory. There are also some obstacles. Like these tree root things, that in order for you to get past you’ll need to burn them. There are walls that need physical attacks to break them and there are areas only the rogue can get to with his grappling hook.
Enemies and Allies
There is a really good amount of enemy variety. There are vampires, undead, or mind controlled guards, spirits, Dragonfolk and many many others. I do think that a lot of the enemies can feel too similar. To be fair to Terrinoth Heroes of Descent though, I feel that way about most if not all turn-based RPGs. Sure all the enemies will have different attack animations or they’ll look different, but it all boils down to two types. Type 1 is ranged and type 2 is close quarters. Ranged enemies will shoot you with projectiles and close quarters enemies move in close and attack. With every enemy taking their turn to me at least it starts to feel a little boring. This happens for me for all turn-based games though. So I can’t fault heroes of descent and like I said previously it does make up for it by having variety.
Overall Thoughts and Conclusions
Terrinoth Heroes of Descent is a very good time. There’s 4 chapters each with 5 self-contained missions. The dungeons are decently large and can be labrynthian at times, but I very rarely found myself lost. The game is a good length. the dungeons are varied in both design and enemy types and even though turn-based games aren’t usually my cup o’ tea I did genuinely enjoy this fun little dungeon crawler. I would absolutely recommend this game. With a price of $34.99 you’ll get your money’s worth.
