Aarklash: Legacy

About

Aarklash: Legacy is a single player tactical role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Cyanide Studio and was released on September 12, 2013. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Aarklash: Legacy" is a tactical adventure game set in a land of constant conflict between the forces of Light, Destiny, and Darkness. As a mercenary squad wrongly accused, you'll fight for survival and uncover dark secrets on an epic quest. Control four characters, battling across diverse lands with your actions determining Aarklash's fate, inspired by the Confrontation figurines universe.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 495 reviews

story81 positive mentions

grinding22 negative mentions

Engaging tactical combat that requires strategic planning and positioning.
Unique characters with distinct abilities and a flexible skill tree that allows for experimentation.
Beautiful graphics and a well-designed game world that enhances the overall experience.

Linear gameplay with limited exploration and minimal character customization.
Repetitive puzzles that can disrupt the flow of the game.
The story and voice acting are lackluster, failing to create a strong emotional connection.

story
262 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
61%
8%
The story in this game is generally viewed as underwhelming, with many players noting its linearity and lack of depth, often feeling like a mere backdrop to the combat. While some appreciate the initial premise and character backgrounds, the narrative quickly loses momentum, leading to a repetitive experience with minimal engagement. Overall, the story is considered mediocre, with many players suggesting that it fails to elevate the gameplay, which is primarily focused on tactical battles.
- “I thoroughly enjoyed the dark fantasy story and the distinctive, somewhat grim art style that brings the war-torn world of Aarklash to life.”
- “The story was interesting enough and the length was about right.”
- “The story is good and the combat is fun.”
- “The first act does an okay job of setting the stage, but each area just feels like another room that I'm supposed to kill a bunch of stuff in with only just the tiniest bits of story to entice me to continue.”
- “The story and characterization are more an excuse for the gameplay than holding merit alone.”
- “The story is nothing you will remember.”
gameplay
182 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
67%
5%
The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with some players praising its tactical combat and unique mechanics reminiscent of classic RPGs like Warcraft 3 and Dragon Age, while others criticize its linearity, repetitiveness, and lack of depth. Many reviews highlight the effective pause-and-play system that allows for strategic planning during battles, but also note issues with AI responsiveness and a lack of engaging non-combat elements. Overall, while the combat mechanics are solid and enjoyable for some, the gameplay can feel shallow and tedious over time, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Nice tactical combat with unique characters and mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is fairly good, and easy to pick up (it doesn't really require that much tactics).”
- “A fantastic real-time/real-time-pause tactical RPG, for anyone who is a fan of the gameplay from Dawn of War or Commandos, you will not be disappointed.”
- “It is linear, the items are generic, you have 4 skills per character with minimal gameplay change as you progress, there are cutscenes before many fights that just set you up in an unfavorable position... this game is not worth my time really.”
- “On top of all the bugs you'll encounter, you can also expect the UI to be a generic minimalist mess, mostly terrible voice acting, both enemy and party AI getting confused or being unresponsive, and the main 'action chain' turn mechanic being sporadically ineffective by randomly canceling your strategically planned actions.”
- “The mechanics are clunky, and well, Dragon Age: Origins plays better, has better UI, better camera, and better graphical displays of what's happening on the battlefield.”
graphics
109 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
46%
6%
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many reviewers praising the beautiful art style, distinct character designs, and impressive visual fidelity, especially for an indie title. While some noted minor performance issues and a few subpar elements, the overall consensus highlights the graphics as a strong point that enhances the game's atmosphere and immersion. However, there are mixed opinions regarding the gameplay, which some feel detracts from the visual experience.
- “I thoroughly enjoyed the dark fantasy story and the distinctive, somewhat grim art style that brings the war-torn world of Aarklash to life.”
- “The visuals are pleasing, both from the characters and the environment, and the characters are very distinct in the visuals, both the ones you control and the enemies.”
- “The game has an absolutely gorgeous art style and character design.”
- “There are a bunch of good ideas mixed together with some absolute trash, gameplay that gets annoying rather quickly, and subpar visuals.”
- “My complaints on the game are the constant frame skips when a lot of enemies appear due to lack of optimization for the graphics and the simple options menu.”
- “The only bright side is sympathetic graphics and overall high production value (for an indie game), but who cares if gameplay is so poor and the game is boring and unexciting.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
45%
10%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its harmony with gameplay and atmospheric qualities, while others criticize it as repetitive and uninspired, often likening it to stock music. While certain players find the soundtrack enjoyable and fitting, many note that it lacks memorability and fails to adapt to the game's intensity, leading to frustration during combat. Overall, the music is described as average, serving its purpose without making a significant impact.
- “Excellent soundtrack.”
- “Attractive terrain/character design and immersive music.”
- “The game is graphically beautiful, with good soundtracks and good combat mechanics.”
- “Both the music and voice acting are pretty bad.”
- “The music seems to be just stock music endlessly repeated, which gets pretty annoying, especially when you enter combat and the music refuses to change even a little bit to more accurately address the intensity of action.”
- “The musical score, while inoffensive, was also inconsequential.”
grinding
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is largely viewed as tedious and repetitive, with an overabundance of puzzles and lengthy boss fights that detract from the overall experience. Many players find the character progression and tactical combat to be slow and cumbersome, often requiring excessive micromanagement and leading to a sense of boredom. While some appreciate the game's unique approach to RPG mechanics, the lack of traditional grinding opportunities leaves others feeling frustrated and disengaged.
- “The character progression is super tedious for a game where you don't have the option to stay behind and work on your equipment and levels.”
- “The harder difficulty levels are extraordinarily tedious and resemble the kind of grind in an MMO.”
- “Essentially - great ideas with tedious execution that just gets boring a couple of hours in.”
replayability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
47%
33%
The game's replayability is mixed, with some players enjoying the option to experiment with different characters and abilities, which can lead to varied experiences. However, many reviewers note that true replay value is limited, often only offering a couple of playthroughs or challenges at higher difficulties, and some feel it lacks significant incentive to replay after the initial completion. Overall, while there are elements that can enhance replayability, many players find it minimal, especially after unlocking all characters.
- “Some characters are a lot stronger than others, but that's half the fun - and gives it replayability as you can have a reasonably different experience (certainly in terms of challenges) by playing the 'back-up' roster.”
- “The replayability of the game primarily comes from using different characters or deciding to enhance different abilities.”
- “Overall, a pretty decent game that can be played in different ways with different teammates and skills, significantly changing the gameplay, on top of a difficulty level high enough to provide some replayability value.”
- “Unfortunately, that means that the replayability only starts about 30% or so through the game once you have all 8 characters.”
- “Though I would suggest only picking it up on a decent sale as it has little to no replay value.”
- “After you have completed the game, it offers little to no real replay value unless you wish to play at a different difficulty or if you missed an achievement that you would like to get.”
character development
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
Character development in the game is generally viewed as limited, with a simplistic system that includes only a few items and a minimal skill tree, leading to a lack of meaningful progression. While the character designs are often praised for their uniqueness and aesthetic appeal, players express disappointment over the lack of customization options and depth in character growth. Overall, the focus seems to be more on visual presentation than on substantial character development.
- “To me, an RPG absolutely requires character development.”
- “The story is decent, and the character design is a bit more unique than just another fantasy RPG game.”
- “The game has an absolutely gorgeous art style and character design.”
- “Character development is only 4 items with RNG stats and a tiering/affix system straight out of Diablo, plus a minimal skill tree.”
- “It's linear, and doesn't really have much character development (you do, however, level up skills (easy and free to respec) and find some items that just give you some basic stats), but the battles are pretty fun.”
- “Overwrought character design, yet highly limited abilities.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on various platforms like the Steam Deck and Lenovo ThinkPad without significant bugs or loading issues, some players report frame skips during intense moments and a lack of depth in optimization options. The graphics are impressive for an indie title, but there are concerns about performance issues, particularly when many enemies are on screen. Despite these drawbacks, many players find the game to be well-optimized overall.
- “Performance was flawless on both my Steam Deck OLED (running SteamOS/Linux, even the game installed on a micro SD card) and my Lenovo ThinkPad T480 (Windows 11), making it very accessible.”
- “The game runs smoothly, didn't notice any bugs, load times are minimal.”
- “It is a solid RPG with engaging mechanics; it seems perfectly optimized.”
- “The graphics are impressive for an indie game, but I found some performance issues.”
- “I was playing the game installed on a regular HDD rather than an SSD, but I have no loading problems on much more demanding games on a regular HDD, so there is clearly an optimization problem here.”
- “My complaints on the game are the constant frame skips when a lot of enemies appear due to lack of optimization for the graphics and the simple options menu.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
11%
33%
The game's atmosphere is often praised for its nostalgic ties to Warcraft 3, featuring beautiful graphics and immersive soundtracks that enhance the experience. While some reviews note that the story and writing can feel flat, the unique setting and character backgrounds contribute to a compelling narrative that leaves players wanting more. Overall, the atmosphere is described as fresh and engaging, despite some critiques regarding the visual quality.
- “Very nostalgic of the Warcraft 3 campaign, both in atmosphere and gameplay.”
- “Still today (2020) the game's graphics are beautiful, the story is great, the UI is polished, and the lore and overall atmosphere are fresh, unique, and simply amazing.”
- “What the game does get right is an amazing narrative that leaves me wanting more, from the character backgrounds to the immersive atmosphere. I’d love to see an expansion, sequel, or book (the ending certainly leaves an opening).”
- “The story, atmosphere, and voice acting are a little flat but okay.”
- “I must say, the story couldn't really capture my interest, but I played it for its RPG elements and atmosphere.”
- “The graphics and atmosphere are okay.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is criticized for being buggy and unbalanced, with frequent glitches and frustrating AI pathing. While some players find it fun despite these issues, many express disappointment due to crashes and repetitive gameplay, leading to a generally negative reception regarding stability.
- “Other strange glitches coming in and out of scenes.”
- “It's dull and boring; it's the same test over and over, with the most infuriating buggy pathing and AI in any ARPG to date.”
- “This game looks like it has a lot of potential, but it's buggy and plays like garbage.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while character banter and voice acting deliver some amusing moments and snide remarks, the overall story and dialogues are often criticized as cringy and uninteresting.
- “Character banter can be funny and amusing.”
- “The voice acting is good and the jokes and snide remarks are humorous.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
While the story and voice acting may fall short, players find emotional investment in the well-crafted characters and nostalgic combat, making the game enjoyable for those who appreciate a good challenge.
- “Most characters deserve genuine emotional investment.”
- “The story lacks depth and fails to evoke any real emotional response, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “Despite the game's attempts at emotional storytelling, the execution feels flat and uninspired.”
- “The voice acting is so poor that it detracts from any emotional moments the game tries to create.”