Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown Reviews

Fun casual dungeon crawler.

Legends of Amberland is a retro CRPG most similar to classic Might & Magic games. I think Might & Magic 3 must have been a strong inspiration because I had a couple of moments of deja vu while exploring the overworld. Not too many games like this are made anymore so I'm glad to have found it. It is a bit dumbed down compared to classic titles: Spells are few in number and simple in function. There isn't a great deal of equipment to find or buy. My spellcasters never upgraded from their starting weapon and kept most of their starting armor. Although there are plenty of dungeons, none of them are particularly big. There aren't really any puzzles to solve, and it also lacks the underlying sci-fi that many classic CRPGs had. The story is also a bit less deep than I had hoped for. There were 2 significant difficulty spikes that I found frustrating. Annoyingly, I've finished the game but I still have 2 Steam trading card drops left to get. There are plenty of classes to choose from. The world and dungeons are well made and interesting. It is generally worth exploring. The story was mysterious enough to keep me engaged. There isn't really any grinding to speak of - doing the things you're supposed to generally levels you up enough. A few aspects were disappointing to me, but that is because I expected too much. Legends of Amberland is good, worth your time, and tremendously appreciated - it just doesn't quite live up to titles like Might & Magic 3. I enjoyed it enough to wishlist the sequel which I'll get sometime soon.

This is everything I had hoped that it would be. After playing through 'Labyrinth of Refrain', 'Labyrinth of Galleria' and dipping my toes into the 'Etrian Odyssey' game, I'm really liking this genre of games. However, unlike the three titles I just stated this one isn't like them in one key way. The battles are live time action! You don't go into a separate battle-like screen like in original RPG games, in Amberland you fight the monsters live time, but in a turn based fashion. Very good set up, and one of the main reasons I'm instantly giving this game a recommendation. Game play feels nice, looking forward to playing this and the second game more in the future.