An unlikely relative.

This weekend, I got to try out Overlord 2 on both PC and PS 3. I only played for some hours, so I don't feel I know it well enough for a deep review, but I can say I like it, and I do think that it's an improvement over the already quite fun first part.

But what really struck me was that it plays very similar to Little King's Story I mentioned in my last post.

In both, you expand your residence. In both, you send your different minions via a button press in the direction you face to do various tasks. In both, your main tactic to defeat strong enemies is the timing of attack and retreat. In both you can (and should) lead a promiscuous life, and lastly, in both you strive for world domination. In fact, there are only three major differences I could make out:

1) The setting: You're basically Sauron in Overlord, while you're a cute little king, quite surprisingly, in Little King's Story. While the first is very pronounced in portraying you as evil, I actually like Little King's approach more. It all looks cute and cuddly, while you're actually genociding the local wildlive, agressively conquer other kingdoms and marry multiple princesses.

I find it quite interesting how the perception of a game changes based on how it looks rather than what you have to do.

2) The perspective: Overlord features an over the shoulder view, while LKS is top down. I prefer the first, because it's easier to aim with your minions and you feel more involved with the world.

3) The combat: Overlord features "The Scorcher" among other very visceral weapons. LKS has a sparkly scepter. No need to say more...

Another thing I want to adress are RPGs. Why do all modern RPGs feel so shallow? I am on the brink of finishing the first Mass Effect, and while it's a great game, it doesn't capture me like old school RPGs like the original Fallouts or the Ultima series.

That dawned on me after participating in this thread on the Tripwire Interactive forums and reinstalling Arcanum, which I actually never got into, despite it's heritage. And right now, I'm totally sucked in and I love it.

Another tip for old school RPG players, even though it's more a hack and slay type of game than a true RPG is Eschalon. Worth checking out, especially when you're rig isn't up to modern games.