The Hand of Merlin is a turn-based technique sport revealed by the staff at Versus Evil. If the identify “Merlin” sounds acquainted, that’s as a result of this title relies on the legend of King Arthur, Merlin being his trusted mage. The sport provides a twist to the fabled lore in a multiverse-spanning story that launched on Steam earlier than making its option to consoles. The one query is, has it been well worth the wait? It’s a little bit of a “sure and no” state of affairs.
Let’s begin with a number of the constructive elements. The Hand of Merlin options story-driven gameplay that follows your band of heroes via lands filled with hazard and intrigue. The narrative actually unfolds by way of an enormous guide, with new conditions revealed each few web page turns.
My favourite a part of that is the non-linear, choose-your-own-adventure storytelling model, with decisions introduced on the finish of every web page. Are you courageous sufficient to analyze that creepy tombstone? In the event you spot a baby at risk or come throughout two knights preventing, will you select to have interaction or quietly exit stage left? Some decisions merely transfer the story alongside; others supply rewards, like gold, meals, or mana. At instances your decisions rely on likelihood, and also you’ll be requested to attract a card from a deck to find out the end result. These could possibly be as severe as an encounter with witches or as frivolous as a sport of cover and search with some native kids.
Some conditions drag you into an precise battle. These type the second a part of The Hand of Merlin, going down on an isometric discipline with a turn-based method akin to Fireplace Emblem. As anticipated, you select and carry out your staff’s actions earlier than the enemy chooses and performs theirs, and so forth, till one total staff is defeated. The battles play fairly properly and make for a enjoyable distraction from the storybook scenes.
Now to a number of the negatives. My preliminary impression of The Hand of Merlin was one among annoyance. Firstly, the sport begins extraordinarily slowly, with a really lengthy loading display to welcome you. And by “very lengthy,” I imply virtually two minutes! These loading screens are a recurring subject, with delays greeting you earlier than every battle, albeit shorter in length.
Secondly, I used to be frequently annoyed with the person interface. There are a lot of choices when you’re enjoying, which appears nice, besides that they’re additionally complicated and poorly defined, regardless of a devoted assist web page. For instance, a “useful” pop-up stored reminding me to degree up my characters – how, precisely? There are menus in every single place, and none of them make sense at first. It’s extraordinarily cluttered and tough to navigate. Using a “+” image in a number of areas can be complicated – it doesn’t imply utilizing the + button, which I’d assumed. Actually, I’m nonetheless undecided what it means.
I get the impression this sport wasn’t optimized for the Change, which additionally explains the poor loading instances. For instance, one menu asks you to “hover” over sure choices for info. Nonetheless, that is unimaginable and not using a mouse. These points could possibly be forgiven if touchscreen controls have been included, however they’re notably absent.
Graphically, The Hand of Merlin fares higher, sporting a darkish aesthetic throughout battles that fits the medieval theme. The battles are additionally properly animated, with fascinating enemies to come across, together with some beastly beasts. The storybook method additionally works properly, although the textual content could be barely arduous to learn due to the way in which it slopes – it’s designed to seem like an open guide, in spite of everything. Every web page does embody some neat stills to accompany the textual content, although.
Total, The Hand of Merlin is a tactical sport that performs properly for those who can look previous the lengthy loading instances and person interface points. Whereas it initially put me off with its difficult menus, the respectable visuals and fascinating battles are enjoyable when you get the hold of them. It’s presumably a tad on the costly aspect, however followers of turn-based methods will probably discover some delicate enjoyment right here.