ThreadReview: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm
Note: At time of
review this game is still in early access, so some of the criticisms and
features may not be reflective of the final product.
I currently live in rural England. Rural England, for those
who do not know, is deprived of some of the now basics of modern life; such as
a solid internet connection, cash machines and public transport that arrives more
than once a month. Among many things it means the ability for me engaging in
online games is utterly limited. I saw a few developers playing through Idle
Champions and thought it might be a good game to download and play on my own.
The premise of the game is simple: It’s an idle clicker game
set in the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons and Dragons. You recruit
champions such as Bruenor Battlehammer, Minsc and Nayeli Goldflower to go
through side-scrolling adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Defeated foes yield
gold that is used to recruit new champions and level up the existing parties’
abilities. Like in adventure parties around the world, your champion’s
abilities can impact the damage of fellow champions. That, however, is
dependent on where they are positioned in the battlefield in a system called
“Formation Strategy”.
Despite the game being in early access there are frequent
events and content updated weekly: from damage bonus weekends to special events
to earn new champions. In particular, there have been a few events based around
recruiting members of Force Grey, with only at the time of writing there being
hints that you’ll be able to recruit Strix from “Dice, Camera, Action” in the
near future. There is also some DLC already available on the Steam Store for
more champions, equipment and chests (This games version of loot crates).
Yes…there are loot crates. These chests can be purchased for
gems, which can be found in game as rewards for defeating bosses (every 5
levels) and from completing quests. There are two levels of chests, silver and
gold, which drop gold, consumable items and equipment for your champions.
While
I do have issues around the use of loot crates in games, the way they are
implemented in this game if fairly balanced and doesn’t enter into any kind of
pay to win formula.
Since starting this review there has been a major update of
sorts to the game. Familiars are basically auto-clickers that can be assigned
to fulfil three different tasks: Clicking Monsters, Levelling up Champions and
Click damage and finally using Ultimates. There are six different familiars
currently available to buy and use; three of which are only available to be
purchased with actual money.
I’ve logged over 224 hours into this game already and loved
every second of it. The only issues I’ve encountered have been down to
connecting to the server for online save. That is something I hope
may change
down the line as this game develops. Bottom line: If you love Dungeons and
Dragons, free games and new content uploaded weekly then this is a game you
must play!
-Tim
