I'll start this review by admitting that I have never played the first game, which is regarded as a classic. Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny is one of my favorite games off all time, even if it plain shouldn't work. I mean, the game design is plain amateurish at times. The levels are huge, but they're remarkably empty. There aren't all that much characters around to interact with, be they friendly or hostile, especially early on. And even then, there's so much wasted space. I mean, the Dracoid Ruins? Apart from fighting those multi-tailed dracoid mutants, there's very little to do there. The shape-changing mechanic is much more annoying than helpful, indeed, after I got the curse control spell, all I ever did was stop myself from transforming And of course, it's a very early 3D game, so graphically it hasn't aged well.
No, Guardians of Destiny is not a particularly well designed game. So why do I love it so much? Because it's immersive. Most fantasy videogames feel like some levels that some guy just made up. But the world from this game feels like another world that's actually out there, even after I shut off the computer. It's interesting to contrast the game to Lands of Lore 3, which I feel is actually better designed but completely misses that immersive feeling. Lands of Lore 3 is just a game. Guardians of Destiny is an experience.
Lands of Lore 2: One of my all-time favorites, even if it is badly designed
I'll start this review by admitting that I have never played the first game, which is regarded as a classic. Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny is one of my favorite games off all time, even if it plain shouldn't work. I mean, the game design is plain amateurish at times. The levels are huge, but they're remarkably empty. There aren't all that much characters around to interact with, be they friendly or hostile, especially early on. And even then, there's so much wasted space. I mean, the Dracoid Ruins? Apart from fighting those multi-tailed dracoid mutants, there's very little to do there. The shape-changing mechanic is much more annoying than helpful, indeed, after I got the curse control spell, all I ever did was stop myself from transforming And of course, it's a very early 3D game, so graphically it hasn't aged well.
No, Guardians of Destiny is not a particularly well designed game. So why do I love it so much? Because it's immersive. Most fantasy videogames feel like some levels that some guy just made up. But the world from this game feels like another world that's actually out there, even after I shut off the computer. It's interesting to contrast the game to Lands of Lore 3, which I feel is actually better designed but completely misses that immersive feeling. Lands of Lore 3 is just a game. Guardians of Destiny is an experience.