Pagan Online. Solid Diabloid from Wargaming.
It’s not often that the stars align so well that vacation + free time + a bunch of good games available. This Steam sale was amazing. One of the joys was that the price of a new game under the auspices of Wargaming – Pagan Online, was not only halved, but is now being offered at a 20% discount. All these factors made me look at the game again and decide to buy, which did not disappoint. But first things first.
The game Pagan Online is being developed by the Serbian studio Mad Head Games suddenly under the wing (now of course everyone knows this, but when I heard about it for the first time, I went to double-check the information) Wargaming. You can feel whatever way you like about the main brainchild of the locomotive of this development, but one cannot help but admit that the company is large and reputable, which, in addition to fear, also inspires a certain optimism. Dispelling fears, Pagan Online, contrary to today’s obvious trends in riveting F2P donation garbage, has rolled out a decent, paid distribution model.
I confess, before playing myself, I thought for a long time whether it was worth it, because there are plenty of strong competitors. And user reviews, to put it mildly, inspired skepticism. But in the end, the thirst for studying Diabloids overpowered.
Now the game on the market is in a rather interesting situation. Check out the not often seen combo: Large publisher + Decent game (more on that below) + Cool user reviews (60-65% positive according to Steam) + No online. In general, not a game, but a complete contradiction.
But let’s move on to the patient himself.
Pagan Online immerses us in the world of mythology of the Slavic peoples. I won’t undertake to judge how well this component is conveyed because, I confess, I’m not very versed in Perun and Svarog, but the atmosphere of the game is saturated with good paganism and barbarism. Our task in the game is to figure out where the gods went from their thrones. I haven’t figured it out myself yet and I won’t spoil it for you. In addition, they promise to add several more acts this summer. Regarding the plot, I can only say that for Diabloid it was presented well. Doesn’t end in five minutes. It is served in fairly small pieces, but still catches you. Our heroes are naturally fallen heroes who are called by divine forces to the Pantheon – the habitat of the said divine forces.
The actual gameplay is what everything in this genre is built on. The process delivers, hordes of enemies are available, mountains of loot are available.
It would seem suitable. https://airbetcasino.co.uk/games/ Yes, but with a number of reservations. There are problems with loot and management. Moreover, both problems are not immediately obvious and can only be seen by a fairly experienced player. More about this in the cons of the game.
The gameplay here is completely unusual. Unusually small levels. But at the levels you can find tasty things in the form of altars, chests, walls falling on enemies. Diablo 3 had everything the same and tasted better? Yes and no. Here the walls fall on the enemy more beautifully and effectively. Few? I agree, there should be more of this. But there are, for example, chests with a timer. The timer starts when you enter the level and the treasure chest is not very clear. Didn’t have time to get the desired prey – you’ll try another time, but now the shop is closed. In Diablo 3, chests have more interesting mechanics, but here they force you to hurry up and complete the level faster.
The level map is divided into sections with brawls or challenges. This is unusual in 2019. These are not even gut-shaped levels, but small gut-shaped levels divided into rooms. But it’s still interesting.
The developers took a big risk by introducing a control combination with WASD that is atypical for such games, but we must admit that if you want, you can get used to it. Personally, I got used to it, moved a couple of buttons to more convenient ones and destroy enemies with gusto.
There are currently eight heroes “available” in the game. Why in quotes? And you try to open them all! After 8 hours of leisurely, but nevertheless intense play, I couldn’t even bring one hero to the maximum level. And that’s cool! This makes it possible to thoroughly understand each unit that comes under your control, dress it up, and reveal its strengths and weaknesses.
Let me summarize. In terms of gameplay, it is a tangle of contradictions and unusual solutions, which is nevertheless catchy, playable and, moreover, interesting.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of the game.
+ Great game in the genre. Complies with all the canons of the genre. Mountains of loot, hordes of enemies, hero development. Several completely different characters.
+ Excellent soundtrack
+ Excellent Torchlight-style graphics.
+ The combat is interesting, which I think is generally the main thing in this genre.
+ The developers have quite serious plans for the development of the game (this is the roadmap for summer 2019):
Taking into account the fact that they have a serious roof, there is a high probability that the announced plans will be implemented.
+ The price tag for the game is simply amazing given the current situation on the gaming market. Considering the discount from Grandpa Gabe, it’s worth taking it right now.
+ You can play in co-op
Pros that are near-pluses
+- Short gaming sessions possible. It’s quite possible to complete levels 3-4 in 15 minutes. Which does not negate the opportunity to play for dozens of hours in a row.
+- There is, albeit incomplete and only text Russian localization. They’ll finish it for release.
Cons and about cons
-+ Small hero inventory. Often you just can’t collect all the rewards. Even if it’s not very much, it’s upsetting. Specifically in this game it would be logical to collect everything.
-+ The controls are unusual and a little slow for me. Although I run around as a man with a big two-handed axe, maybe it’s not a bug, but a feature.
— Loot. The unassuming eye will not see anything negative. However, if you look more thoughtfully, then alas and ah, the loot looks like objects with the same stats, which (not all) we can only slightly correct with enchantment. I like it when things can differ radically in their properties, this is not the case here. Of course, maybe at the end of the game I will change my mind, but for now this is how it is
— Craft. We can enchant white objects to turn them blue. We can also reforge the properties of crafted (and only crafted) items. The functionality is weak to say the least. I would like to disassemble unnecessary items into materials, obtain items with random properties, and reforge individual properties of all items. Crafting essentially cuts out a whole layer of intermediate green quality items from the game. What’s the use of them if the blue item is more powerful and can be crafted?? Thus, the poor (for now – it is pumped up in the form of levels and its potential has not yet been fully revealed by me) craft also negatively affects loot.
Conclusions
The game is controversial, unusual, not without its drawbacks, but I think it will take its place in the hearts of true Diabloid connoisseurs. The game has a lot of controversial, risky, experimental mechanics, but personally I liked it. There is more than enough content in the game even at the early access stage. Fans of Diabloids are strictly recommended to read. My rating at the moment: