Kult: Heretic Kingdoms

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In "Kult: Heretic Kingdoms," become a female inquisitor on a mission to destroy a relic, leading you into a conflict between mages and a cult seeking to resurrect a Dead God. Your choices and actions will shape your morality and steer you toward one of six endings, allowing you to either suppress or salvage religion. The story offers moral complexity and encourages players to ponder the consequences of their actions.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 118 reviews

story28 positive mentions

character development3 negative mentions

The game features an interesting story with morally grey characters and a unique setting that explores themes of power and belief.
The attunement system allows for character customization and encourages players to experiment with different play styles and equipment.
The visuals, particularly the pre-rendered backgrounds, are appreciated for their charm and contribute to the game's nostalgic value.

The gameplay is often criticized for being clunky and repetitive, with combat mechanics that feel dated and unbalanced.
There are significant technical issues, including low resolution support, poor inventory management, and a lack of modern conveniences like a proper map or quest journal.
The level design is considered weak, with environments that feel either too open or maze-like, detracting from the overall experience.

story
90 mentions
31 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, featuring intriguing plots, strong character development, and non-linear choices that lead to multiple endings. While some players find the narrative engaging with good twists and world-building, others criticize it for being underwhelming or filled with clichés. Overall, the story is seen as a highlight, especially for fans of isometric RPGs, despite some gameplay-related frustrations.
- “Limiting our choices and giving her an actual character helps that narrative shine, and makes it seem like she forms her own worldview and comes to her own conclusions, even if those conclusions can be drastically different depending on how the story unfolds.”
- “The story is really interesting too, and pulls no punches as far as messed up mature themes.”
- “It has incredibly natural dialogue writing, an intriguing story, a fleshed-out world, beautiful 'no copy-paste' background art, and an unbelievably good soundtrack, as well as two unique design ideas that really improved the stale action RPG formula I've never seen being adopted by any other game.”
- “The story is all about some boring names and prophecies; it's way too small, it's way too dull, and it sure isn't as unique as it makes you believe at the beginning.”
- “Also has a decent story on paper, which transforms into a list of cop-outs in practice.”
- “However, for myself, whilst I do like a good story, if the gameplay is boring or awkward, my interest in the story isn't going to glue me to the game during those awkward or boring gameplay moments.”
gameplay
38 mentions
11 % positive mentions
82 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Heretic Kingdoms" is often criticized for being repetitive and lacking the depth found in similar titles like "Diablo," with some users noting below-average mechanics and unimpressive graphics. However, unique features such as the dreamworld mechanic and unlockable skills provide some innovation, encouraging diverse play styles and repeat playthroughs. While the narrative and visuals are praised, the gameplay may not be engaging enough for those who prioritize action over story.
- “Mechanics-wise, what makes this game interesting is the unlockable skills you gain by equipping items and fighting with them.”
- “The dreamworld aspect of the game is also clever, and is woven into the mechanics of the game in an interesting way.”
- “In terms of gameplay, this system encourages you to juggle outfits and diversify your play style.”
- “The weakest aspect of 'Heretic Kingdoms' is its gameplay, which is a bit of an issue when it's a video game. It can be compared to 'Diablo', but it lacks some of the features that make that series of games so addictive.”
- “Below average action RPG - unimpressive graphics, exploitable mechanics, weak plot, lack of a large map... it's just worse than the original 'Diablo' in every aspect.”
- “If you're a fan of the series, the story may well be enough to keep you interested, but if not, it's not enough to carry such dated gameplay.”
graphics
18 mentions
22 % positive mentions
61 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally considered dated and unimpressive, with many reviewers noting that they have not aged well since its release in 2004. While some aspects, like character customization and painted visuals, were praised, overall feedback indicates that the graphics fall short compared to modern standards and even to its predecessor, Diablo. Despite these criticisms, the game remains playable and may appeal to fans of isometric RPGs.
- “While the graphic resolutions haven’t aged well, the game is still playable, has a great story, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes isometric RPGs.”
- “The painted graphics in some of the levels have a lot of charm.”
- “In 2004, I think the graphics and character customization would have been excellent (all items equipped change the character’s appearance); however, it is starting to age now.”
- “Sound and graphic tearing, poor resolution options, and a dated combat system make this game a miss for me.”
- “The graphics do look very dated now, so I won't be playing it again (got it for free with the new Heretic Kingdoms game), but if you have never played it, it's worth a look.”
music
18 mentions
44 % positive mentions
39 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The music in the game is praised for its tense and ominous tone, fitting well with the dark fantasy theme, and is described as having a great soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. While some players noted that the music can become repetitive, many found it to be impressive and well-integrated with the game's writing and art direction. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing significantly to its unique atmosphere.
- “It has incredibly natural dialogue writing, intriguing story, fleshed-out world, beautiful 'no copy-paste' background art and unbelievably good soundtrack, as well as two unique design ideas that really improved the stale action RPG formula I've never seen being adopted by any other game.”
- “The experience holds up and stays solid upon the pillars of its good writing, soundtrack and art direction, but the two gameplay mechanics mentioned above and not to be seen anywhere else, elevate this game above the crowd, making it a quite unique experience.”
- “The music can get very repetitive.”
- “There is also a soundtrack, and since this is a dark fantasy title it will be a bit tense and ominous; anything else would be unsuitable.”
- “The soundtrack is fairly decent, and a lot of effort was put into the voice acting.”
character development
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is initially simplistic, focusing on basic stats like melee, ranged, and magic, which are linked to weapon types, while speed affects attack rates. Despite its old-school RPG roots, the system incorporates unique ideas that contribute to a cohesive experience, though some players find it unconventional. Overall, the character development is seen as solid but may feel limited to some.
- “Character development is strange but everything fits.”
- “Character development and stats start off very basic - the only stats you can manipulate are melee, ranged, and magic which are directly tied to their weapon types while speed increases the attack rate of all.”
- “Character development and stats start off very basic - the only stats you can manipulate are melee, ranged, and magic, which are directly tied to their weapon types, while speed increases the attack rate of all.”
- “Character development is strange, but everything fits.”
- “Good solid old school RPG, with unique ideas about character development.”
optimization
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
The game generally runs smoothly on Windows 2010, with an engaging story and character progression mechanics. However, players have reported significant screen tearing due to the lack of built-in VSync, necessitating manual adjustments through the NVIDIA control panel to mitigate the issue.
- “The game runs smoothly on Windows 2010. It is easy to understand the basics, you can switch between our world and dream world. The story is non-trivial and interesting to follow. The character progression is very engaging as you obtain new skills and perks by gaining experience while wearing certain items, mostly by defeating mobs. You also need to meet the requirements of the items, such as not equipping shields or being attuned to one of four elements: fire, earth, water, or air.”
- “Terrible screen tearing due to the absence of VSync. I used the NVIDIA control panel to add the game to configurations, choosing: 'triple buffering - on'; 'anisotropic filtering - 16x'; 'texture filtering - negative LOD - fixed'; 'texture filtering anisotropic optimization - off'; 'texture filtering trilinear optimization - off'; and 'vertical synchronization - on'.”
grinding
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, especially in the mid to end game where enemies become bullet-sponges and combat feels slow and unbalanced. Despite these frustrations, some reviewers note that the grind does not persist throughout the entire experience. Overall, the lack of engaging enemy mechanics and poor map design contribute to a less enjoyable grinding experience.
- “Toward the mid/end game, it can become a bit tedious as some of the enemies are real bullet sponges, but it doesn't remain that way thankfully.”
- “Combat is slow, tedious, and extremely unbalanced (some skills are plain broken). The map design is poor, and monsters barely have any skills or abilities – even the bosses just run at you.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally well-crafted, offering a few chuckles throughout, though it may not elicit outright laughter. Overall, the writing is appreciated for its quality, even if it falls short of being consistently hilarious.
- “The writing is pretty good in a few spots and while not laugh-out-loud funny, it provides a few chuckles.”
replayability
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, despite some limitations in character creation options. Players find that the variety of gameplay experiences encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “It has a lot of replay value, even if you are somewhat limited in character creation.”