Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 28, 2021

  Pros: * Prettier than it's predecessor; * Cooler skills on paper; * Boss fight could be cool / interesting. Cons: * 50% shorter than predecessor; * Skillpoints were cut, so no point exploring, unless you want some colors for your virtual gloves; * Skills are even less tested for usability (takes forever to trigger) and are completely unbalanced - now only self-aiming fireball has enough damage to kill anything... until you get energy beam later and just melt everything. So basically 1 usable skill that gets upgrade later; * All enemies have ranged skills and only engage in melee when close by. But you don't want to be in mob of enemies - you want cover so entire combat is ranged only; * Almost nonexistent story with only 1 boss; * Whole game feels unfinished with lot of content cut (exploration, Interaction with NPC's, length of story, etc.) Verdict this is below average so not recommended - get 1st Wizards game or Raw Data. Multiplayer that's been announced 8 month ago won't save this empty shell unless they rebalance enemies, spells and add a lot more actual content.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 15, 2021

  I had to refund, because none of the controls were working for me (Oculus Quest 2). Same goes for the other Carbon Studio products (The Wizards and Tempestfall as well). Too bad, looked really fun.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 17, 2022

  You won't be a Gandalf screaming 'You Shall Not Pass' but in 'The Wizards Dark Times' you will undoubtedly be another powerful wizard taking on evil goblins and other creatures! Gameplay: https://youtu.be/unZbvqRAFBk A wizard is nothing without his spells and this time you will have access to a wide range of 11 powerful spells that will help you get through all or most of the challenges in the game. The environments sometimes also affect your spells, for example you will go through a level where it is constantly raining and here your fireball will become more or less useless. Not every spell has the effect of controlling a natural power, some spells also make magical weapons appear which again are a great help in some intense moments. When we look at the graphical aspects in the game we can also very quickly be convinced that good work and a lot of attention has been paid to the environments, beautiful combinations of raw nature and fantasy flora such as luminous plants undoubtedly bring us in an appropriate magical atmosphere. The monsters are all worth it from the first to the last, in the beginning they can seem a bit standard but the deeper you go into the game, the more dangerous, deadly and bigger they will appear. It may take a little patience to reach these enemies, so don't judge too quickly when you start the game.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 5, 2020

  Took me around 4 hour to finish and i must say, i'm impressed. The atmosphere and combat and graphic is on point. It's a bit buggy sometimes and some places killing the FPS but still i did not regret that i brought it because its just feels good to play it and i know they will fix the problems soon and add more content so i will love it in the future even more.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 5, 2020

  First game was good mechanically, but felt a little rough around the edges, This time the visuals are so much better: environments are beautiful, animations are improved greatly, spell casting visualy is just eye candy, especially in darker areas. When it comes to spell mechanics, this is the best spell casting power fantasy out there. Spell gestures are easy to learn and extremely satisfying to use. The targeting system has been improved so much it's illegal how satisfying it is, combined with gorgeous spell visuals. Story is nothing outworldly but it is more than enough to keep you going just to see places and get new spells. This game definately scratched the itch the first game gave me, where the original game was promising, Dark Times delivers. So worth the wait.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 7, 2020

  The only game I have ever played where the swamp section was the best section. Not enough content to justify the current price, though- breezed through the story and most of the collectibles in 3 hours or so. Wait for a sale, 25% or more.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 7, 2020

  while the Game Concept is REALLY cool, this Execution is not the best. Right off the bat I had 2 crashes with my Oculus Rift s and a lot of slowdowns even on medium settings. While I love the Gesture system for casting spells, but It Felt unresponsive at times. I had issues where some spells like the shield just wouldn't cast no matter how much I did the gesture, and most of the time accidentally do fireball. and in the heat of combat, it can be VERY annoying. resulting in me just flailing my arms around till it worked :( Level Design is Rather confusing, Lots of Dead ends with nothing at the end, unclear paths that rather lead to death or backtracking. No secrets or collectables. areas tend to be Empty of anything of note, and the two chests i found almost felt like scams, You completed the puzzle! but there was no reward? the narrator dude even says the money you found is worthless. Sound is almost non existent, with the same looping combat music every encounter. while the spells Look awesome, They Don't Feel powerful, and i think the sound design has a Lot to do with it, they don't sound powerful. And the majority of the time there just isn't any Sounds, no music or anything. gives everything a Boring/Off feeling rather than a WOW feeling. Enemy design is good, but again the sounds, they barely make any! i had 2 mushroom dudes sneak up on me and i didn't even know they were there till they exploded on me. the enemies need more sound queues to clue the player where they are and when the player is in danger. Like the Ice witch, You have no way of predicting when she will use a ability that will freeze you in place. especially if she is right beside you. Lots of Options for Movement and play styles! Very good!! but i wouldn't use continuous motion, you tend to get stuck on a lot of the geometry of the level, and the teleport can basically put you anywhere without hassle. I was hoping for something more like the Half Life alyx system, and you can get something very similar to that here, but Smooth teleport is recommended until continuous motion can be fixed up. If your looking for a spell slinging, sword battling, Monster slaying game,(and have a Oculus) I would reccommend "Asgard's Wrath" over this, much better polish. a steam equivilant would be "Blades and Sorcery" Much more fun with a Very good Combat system. While I wish the Developer the Best of luck improving the game, I can't recommend it to anyone right now.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 13, 2020

  I thought the first game was pretty fun so I decided to give the sequel a shot. Unfortunately it doesn't quite keep the good times rolling. The game feels hollow and soulless. I cant quite put my finger on what it is. It just isn't engaging. Its too 'gamey'. The developers did not try to disguise the gameplay loop at all. Walking sequences, combat sequences and disembodied voice dialogue sequences. In that order. On repeat. But that aside, its not really the reason I do not recommend purchasing this game. The reason I recommend you hold off on your purchase is because around the 2.5 to 3 hour mark I encountered 3 game breaking bugs in a row. First, I got stuck in the "home base". The portal back to the level simply did nothing. Second, when I was fighting the lightning boss, he got stuck in his lightning form, would not fight back, and could not be hit. Third during the sequence where you ride on the ogres back to cross the acid pit, I was teleported back to the start of the sequence when the ogre put me down. This left me stranded back at the start with no way to get across. I recommend you give the developers a few weeks or months to fix some bugs, and if they actually do, then it might be worth your money.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 14, 2020

  I want to recommend this game so bad, I really really do. As of this moment I just can't and here's why. The state this game is in just screams "early access". It has a solid foundation but what I've played feels like an unfinished product. -- The framerates are abysmal. I know that the previous "The Wizards" game had its hiccups but I can't even get a stable 80 fps with all settings on medium. This is on a 9900k w/ 2070 super, mind you. Not optimized at all and causes headaches after playing for just 10 min. I've even seen it stutter with settings on low w/ auto resolution. At this stage of polish "Dark Times" makes the original "The Wizards" feel smooth as butter, and that's saying a lot. Fortunately, I'm confident that most of the framerate issues can be ironed out on their end. Unfortunately, even with butter-smooth fps "Dark Times" is still left with the following... -- The sound editing is rough, at best. I'm regularly finding myself spinning around trying to find the source of something attacking me. The sound has poor directionality most of the time so when you're attacked by projectiles it sounds like a calamity of sound with no origin. Sound ques from enemies are almost nonexistent so suddenly there can be army of exploding enemies coming from behind and you won't know until you're in the blast. Also, areas of the game are super quiet or even totally silent at times making everything feel lifeless (and not in a mood setting way). -- Like the previous game your life meter displays on the back of your glove, however in "Dark Times" the death/danger indicators are not as bold. This results in lots of quick deaths that come out of nowhere. Worse yet, there is no death animation or splash screen to notify that you're dead... everything just fades to the title image before loading you into your previous save. Very immersion breaking and, again, just feels unfinished. -- Missing a lot of general instructions. What do the treasure items do? What is my base for? What are these flowers/pools for? Who are these assholes living here rent-free and why won't they interact with me? Granted, I was able to figure some things out via google but these should be implemented in-game. Seriously. -- Secrets in the game (if you can even call them that) seem pointless. I've yet to discover any exp/upgrade system in this game. Every "puzzle" I've completed that opens a chest has rewarded me with either a useless decoration or a lotus that allows me to customize the color of my gloves. The bonus shards of the first game are absent as far as I can tell, making me not really care much about exploring off the beaten track. -- While the abilities of "Dark Times" look/feel more impressive, their execution feels just as fickle as they did in the original. I still struggle to get lightning to register with even 50% accuracy. I'd say ~70% of all missed gestures result in casting fireball, convenient as it's the most useful ability in the game but still comically frustrating. If you're coming over from the first game there is a little learning curve as you're restricted to only gripping the triggers when making spell gestures, as having your hands on the grips will register a different new ability that I'll touch on later. It's a minor gripe and you get used to it pretty quick. Why I'm not asking for a refund... ++ This game has the foundation of something really spectacular. There are moments that are REALLY fun, spell-slinging (when it's cooperating) is even more spectacular than the first. This is mostly due to the simple inclusion of a force-push that's activated by squeezing the grips and gesturing accordingly. It's simple but adds a layer to the combat that's immensely satisfying. The gestures for super-charging certain spells is also a very welcome addition that adds god-like moments to battles. And I think most fun of all is the ability to summons spells with either hand - or both! ++ Absolutely there is a graphical upgrade here coming from the original "The Wizards". Your fireballs cast glowing lights and shadows around you. Overall great improvement to all assets and effects. But I'm not ready to start blowing the developers just yet as I stated in my first point that the framerate is currently a stuttery mess. A game's visuals are only as good as the viewer's ability to tolerate their streaming without making their brain vomit. That said, BJs all around for the devs if they can get those fps on par because when you're still this game does look very nice. ++ Clearly this developer has some headlining talent in their Narrator. The titular character of this game is a body-less voice that guides the player using jokes and sharp wit. The writing and performance is just as great as it was in the original and is delivered by what sounds like a AAA status voice actor. At times it can even feel like his voice acting is the most polished part of this game, it truly gives "The Wizards" franchise a life of its own and without it would not be the same. I'm hoping that by not refunding this purchase I'm at least helping to fund the fixes needed in order for "Dark Times" to be outright blast it deserves to be. Yeah, I'm a little salty that this feels more like an Early Access than a finished product. And yeah, It's out of character for me not to demand a refund on something that's pulled out of the oven before it's cooked. But truth is this game has so much potential. I feel that it can offer a totally unique experience, and the few bursts of fun I've had is some of the best VR since Alyx! Believe me, I really want to revise this review depending on some QoL changes from the developer - but as is this game is undercooked.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 15, 2020

  maybe its just not for me but I hate these blanket empty storys. its a 12 minute story stretched to I'm guessing 2 hours, I didn't even want to finish it. Nothing was really happening I just went into the same small easy fights and exploring this world that felt like it was just repeating itself. the spells with the gestures feel great, sound could be better, maybe louder make the spells feel more intense through the sounds. Overall I do NOT like these, no choice, invincible games, I just go through it plowing through enemies because I have these overpowered spells, and even if they just unload on me the game babies me and I can't die ever. there are no choices, its just one route and everyone gets through it exactly the same, maybe you favor one spell over the other but thats as far as your individuality goes playing this game. I'd say if these spells were a bit more polished in a game with a real story, and difficulty to it it would be AWESOME, but as of now, unless its like 99 cents I wouldn't recommend it