SpellForce III Reforced Review (PS5)

Spellforce III originally launched on PC more than five years ago. Now the Reforced edition brings the game to consoles by throwing in the mix all the DLCs released since, an updated looks, actualized mechanics and new game modes. But can a14 years old franchise, mixing RPGs and RTS’s still be relevant in 2022?

The answer is at least complicated. On PC, the formula is proven itself and the Reforced edition released for PC is no exception. But the console version feels clumsy from the very first moments. It feels like a port made by people who do not spend enough time playing on consoles in order to fully understand it. Beyond the combination of RTS and RPG elements that often do not mix seamlessly, the control scheme of the console version is one of the biggest shortcomings.

Just like the difference between a remake and a remaster, the console control of Spellforce III Reforced feels like trying to shove in the PC control scheme into a console game. Instead of focusing on how the control works with a controller, the developers tried to reproduce the scheme of the keyboard and mouse. The result works, but it is clumsy and lacks any elegance. If Firaxis was able to do it with Civilization VI, a game much more complex, Grimlore Games has no excuse for Spellforce III.

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The story of the game focuses on Tahar, who due to his father has to face a not exactly easy destiny. The lion’s share when it comes to the single player experience relies on the RPG elements. You will have to look out for a handful of heroes, develop their abilities and equip them with better and better gear by looting the remains of your fallen opponents. The ability and skill trees are not lacking in variety and offer the players the opportunity to build characters just as interesting as the personalities of the heroes they are attributed to.

The RTS while secondary was well integrated in the campaign but feel a bit basic. In the handful of missions where your heroes’ abilities will not be enough you will need to focus on gathering resources in order to build up your base and produce enough units so you can pass the challenge in front of you. The developers managed to break the pace of the game, so it does not feel monotonous, and the two elements work well together. But when you take a closer look at each one the things are not so rosy.

If the RPG part feels somewhat awkward, then the control of the RTS part is downright clumsy. When your party is joined by a small army it becomes a nightmare to track what is everyone doing and giving separate orders for different groups. This becomes really cumbersome if we add into the mix the lack of balance: most enemies do not represent a challenge, while a few of them can decimate your troops in a matter of seconds. The lack of the option to pause the game to give orders and the lack of AI in your troops will create a lot of frustrating moments.

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As a result, you will mainly focus on keeping your heroes alive. The story is pretty well written and as a result you will form a bond with your companions. On the other hand, the regular units will never be more than cannon fodders that can be easily replaced by farming enough resources. The game’s formula will turn the initially chaotic RTS encounters into a monotonous routine. Just like with the balancing of the units, there is no middle road here.

Maybe the most immersive new feature brought buy the Reforced edition is the Journey mode. It gives the players the ultimate freedom: create any character they want using any of the races and skill tress and then explore the world at their whim. The end goal is to become the most powerful hero by completing various quests. After you get tired of playing around with the limited AI you can grab your character and try your hand at Skirmish. Here you can test your might against other human players.

Graphically the game is not here nor there. The environments look very detailed, but the size of the maps is often small compared to what we expect from the current generation of games. Also, the level of details is often wasted since the max zoom out is the best option to follow what is actually going on. The animations and the visual style feel a bit dusted as well.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion