Blending the style of RPG and RTS, SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest offers an engaging yet clunky fusion of genres.
Taking on the RPG side, SpellForce’s story and characters entertain with solid writing. The game’s RTS elements scratch that strategy itch with a variety of interesting unit types and combat.
In the intertwining of these elements, however, the two genres tend to collide. Either an RTS interrupts a large isometric character RPG or the RPG simplifies in-depth strategic combat. SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest is suffering from an identity crisis.
Game
SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest tends to overwhelm at first glance. The ambitiously deep mechanic means that Soul Harvest doesn’t teach the player much while playing.
With so many options at your disposal, reading a book on gameplay seems like a prerequisite for understanding what the hell is going on. The tutorial at the start of the game does a good job of introducing the player to the controls and systems, but the game assumes previous experience with both cRPG and RTS games.
The cluttered nightmare UI doesn’t give any hints as to what important actions the player should remember. This makes controlling your character feel like a chore before you get used to the lay of the land.
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