Etherlords 2

Let's put it simple - it just Etherlords, but better. There is no annoying castle defending, more spells, more interesting plot (in my opinion) and... that's just it. If you played the previous part and like it, you should buy this one as well. Basics are the same, just some small differences. I spend much time just challenging myself with computer and I'm definitely going to repeat it. :) If you do not know Etherlords at all... well, then I recommend watching gameplay - this game have its charm, but not for all. It's like... Magic the Gathering - you have card-spells, which you collect in single player campaign (in other game modes you can creat your deck with all avaible for your race spells) and with them you fight agains other 'heroes' and creatures in turn based combat. As you proceed you will gain experience, level up getting, of course, stronger etc. etc... Honestly, go check it - it can sound strange, so one must see it on his/her own eyes. Fighting is the 'main event' here. Fighting and creating more and more cleaver decks, because possibilities are limitless. Whitch one you will play? "Black" Synthets, depending on your abilities to rise from the grave units you just sacrificed? Or maybe the "best defence is a good offence" Chaots? Anyone should find something for them, so... I strongly recommend giving this game serie a chance. Especially Etherlords 2. :)

The plot is thin, the voice acting is fair to horrible, the plot is strictly on rails, the music is forgettable, and the online servers have been taken down; yet, I cannot pull myself away from Etherlords 2, and find myself chanting "just...one...more...battle" like a mantra. Please check out my full review at the GoG Etherlords 2 forum as it's too long to post here (c'mon GoG; if you're going to restrict the length, then at least let me link to the damned review. We do these out of the goodness of our hearts!) The bottom line, though, is this: EL2 is a solid Trading Card Game (TCG) that doesn't really feel like a TCG. As such, it should appeal to a much broader variety of players, including TCG fans. If you have someone with which to battle over LAN, this is a five star game. If you're only playing solo, then bump it down to four stars, as there is little replayability here. That said, you've got a lot of hours worth of turn-based fun for less than the cost of a movie ticket. For fans of TBS, TCGs, or RPGs, this is a must own.

At the root of catharsis is overcoming insurmountable odds through your own ingenuity, and the great and terrible thing about Etherlords 2 is that it has plenty of horrible odds in spades. If you've ever dabbled in Hearthstone or Magic or any of the other "so unbalanced it's balanced" style trading card games, you can quickly grasp Etherlords. You have four opposing factions, with faction specific monsters, heroes, abilities, and so forth. Each have their own gamebreaking mechanics, and the AI in the game knows every single trick. You don't, and you have to learn. The game is a lovingly complex puzzle game with some basic dark fantasy trappings, and you have to utilize the tools available to you to get through even the most basic of encounters. After playing through a good portion of the campaigns, I think there were only two instances where I had any "easy wins." It's thrilling to solve them and progress, but when you get stuck, you can get stuck. One of the worst aspects is that some enemy types utilize a "victory through attrition" style, and while it is an absolutely viable strategy, it can be soulcrushing to be on the recieving end. One of the most unique things I've seen from this game is the fact that most stat debuffs are completely permanent. There is a reason why you don't see this often: you get an unpassable enemy who has 5 debuff spells that subtract damage from every card on the board, and it casts all of them in succession so even your strongest monsters become worthless. Oh, and it applies to monsters you haven't even casted yet. There is absolutely no way to win this fight if it takes you too long to get your monsters out. This single fight took me hours to beat and made me rethink everything to the point where I loaded an earlier save. If this reads as compelling and exciting to you instead of an absolute hair-pulling nightmare, then you should play this game. If you're not that kind of person, then this probably isn't your kind of game.

First off, I want to thank GOG and the community for helping to bring this game to the list. I saw it on the list one day and I immediately bought my copy. Before this game made its way onto GOG, I was praying for a community-based revival of the game, because it clearly has a lot of potential. The gameplay was a little tricky to learn and master at first, but the fun and challenging experience more than makes up for the learning curve. I loved being able to change the cards in my deck before each battle, so I can pick a deck which gives me an advantage over each enemy I fought in the campaign, by studying the enemies I was about to face, the environment I was in, and what the enemy's specialization was. Later, I discovered that I can actually learn certain specializations from my opponents during the campaign by letting them trigger it at least once during each battle. I would easily recommend this game to anyone who has played games like Heroes of Might and Magic, since the gameplay, especially in Etherlords 1 is quite similar. Etherlords 2 is more suitable for players who enjoy having control of a single hero rather than having to manage many. Etherlords 2 also focuses on the survival of the hero, so the burden of having to protect a castle like in Etherlords 1 is gone. Again, thank you GOG and everyone who put this game on their wishlist. I'm so glad to have this game again, with the chance to see fan-made improvements and additions to the game and its content.