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Lavapotion’s Songs of Conquest is a modernized take on the PC classic Heroes of Might & Magic series and has a unique blend of exploration, strategy, and RPG elements. Be it in a series of campaigns, or conquest mode in a randomly generated map, the player starts with a home city and hero unit and must defeat and conquer the other heroes. This is accomplished by exploring the map and gathering its riches to build up your town and raise troops for the war.
Perhaps the most addictive element of the game is the exploration aspect. Upon the start, only a small portion of the map is uncovered with glittering piles of gold, resources, and powerful artifacts lying in wait guarded by stacks of enemy units. Amongst the riches are resource generators to conquer, troop dwellings to swell the ranks of your unit, and obelisks of power that give stat growth or experience points to your hero. The decisions of which resource to target first or which powerful artifact to uncover versus the risk of fighting the units guarding those items all add an additional strategic layer. All of these elements are blended superbly to make Songs of Conquest a standout gaming experience.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is absolutely stuffed to the brim with player engagement. There is a vast array of minigames, including a new card game that puts Triple Triad to shame and even a light dalliance with a relationship system that helps determine which Gold Saucer date Cloud goes on. There are Chadley missions to complete, Gold Saucer minigames, and a theatre to stimulate players — and several large zones full of towers, crystals, and more to dig through. It’s all so much – on the verge of too much, even — but it’s laid at the player’s feet to engage with as much or as little as they choose. An embarassment of riches in the best way possible.
In spite of its structural issues, there’s no denying the playground that is Dragon’s Dogma 2. From the wide selection of playstyles to the number of party combinations that can be put together to varying interactions between the environments and its denizens, here is a game that pushes experimentation wherever it can. Fires catch fur and grasslands alike. Players and pawns alike throw themselves at giant monsters, clinging for dear life. It’s not uncommon to see battles already raging as one crests a hill. The player has very little time to think about what to do next before the game presents another opportunity for them to test their chops.
by Johnathan Stringer, Paul Shkreli, and Zack Webster
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