Rating

B-

Specific Ratings

GameplayB-
GraphicsA
Learning CurveB-
Replay ValueB+
SoundA

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Great graphics and sound
  • This PLUS version has patches and extra quests
  • The horse feature was well done
  • Able to enhance weapons and armor
  • Main quests as well as many side quests
Cons
  • Difficulty settings
  • Combat was too overwhelming at times
  • Needed more companions
  • Needed more ways to travel long distances
  • Not much of a tutorial or help options

Sacred Plus (PC)

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Summary

Sacred is your typical RPG full of quests and all kinds of evil to vanquish

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Description

Sacred makes an attempt to be the next Diablo, but in some ways, I think it falls short. This edition, Sacred Plus, includes all the patches, and additional quests.

The huge game world that this game takes place in is called Ancaria. It is full of villages and bigger cities that are willing to pay handsomely for your services. An evil mage has unleashed hordes of demonic monsters that are intent on laying wastes to this land, and your character has been chosen to take care of them. The game is divided into four acts, with a main quest to follow, and several side quests that can be done for more experience points and gold.

Gameplay
There was a lot of combat in this game, and most of the time it seemed very overwhelming. I do enjoy a challenge in my games, but when it gets to the point that I feel like every new confrontation is going to mean my death, than it tends to sour my enjoyment. The monsters constantly come at you, and what was even more aggravating, was that they would regenerate after you saved.

One thing that would have helped this situation would have been to provide more companions to join you on your adventure. At times you did get some friends, but they usually didn't stay long, and they were associated with a quest. There were only a few of these companions that would not die on you, and could resurrect themselves, but some had to be kept alive in order to complete the quest.

Another thing I think could have been improved upon was the ways of traveling from location to location. There was basically three different ways: by foot, by horseback, or by magical portal.
Now of course, the first one takes forever, and once you can purchase a horse, then that will be the more optimal method of travel. That brings me to the horse feature, which was one of my favorite aspects of this game. Riding a horse in an RPG game is truly unique, and I gotta give Sacred a big thumbs up on this feature. You could even buy bridles for your horse, which would improve its ratings. It would have been nice to provide your horse with its own inventory space. The third method of travel, by magical portal, was not that great. It did help when you could use them, but that was the problem -- being able to use them. You needed a rune stone to activate these portals, and most of the time these stones were very hard to come by.

Weapons and armor could be enhanced in this game, and that always provides for some fun. These improvements were done by the village blacksmiths, and unlike some other RPG's, it did not require a certain rune or jewel. If a weapon or piece of armor had a box under it's description, than it could be enhanced. Go to your local blacksmith, choose how you want it enhanced, and give him the right amount of gold.

Graphics and Sound
This was the best part of this game. Everything is very detailed. All the environments, the armor, the weapons, and the look of the game is easy on the eyes. The appearance of your character changes with each new set of armor you use, and I have always liked that. Spells are executed with bright flashes and loud roars or bursts. Your character makes comments all throughout the game, and the NPC's (Non-Player Character) have voices. Your interaction with the NPC's are given to you by text as well as their audio voices. I really enjoyed the background music as well. It was robust, and strangely eerie. It was not what you would have expected for an RPG like this, but it was still pleasant too listen too. There was a cloud of mist, somewhat like fog, that would sometimes come over the screen. I did not care much for this graphical feature, at times it made it hard to see were you were going and if deadly foes were ahead.

Learning Curve
This game lacked any serious tutorial or help options. There was some help at the beginning of the game, in which some pop-up screens appeared. These guided you along for awhile, but after that, you were on your own. But regardless of this, it was easy to figure out how to get to your journal and other needed options. If you held the mouse pointer over any weapon or piece of armor, than the game would provide a description of the equipment, so that helped.

Replay Value
There are six different character classes to choose from in this game. Each one would provide for a totally different gaming experience if you decided to play this game again. They are: Dark Elf, Gladiator, Battle Mage, Vampiress, Seraphim, and Wood Elf. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Difficulty can be adjusted in this game, but it does require that you play the game completely through once. The different difficulty settings were denoted as Bronze, Silver, and Platinum. Once again, you have to play completely through on Bronze level before the other two are unlocked.

This game does have it's qualities that sets it apart from all the other RPG's. It does have a big fan base, and seems to be liked by many gamers, so regardless of my bad experience with it, you might find it to be a real gem.

Your Fellow Gamer
Bobby

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