Great game with interesting bland of genres. But it is as good as it lasts, which is not as long as you might be used to
Now, the second part of the game consists of a large map surrounding your tiny abode that is filled with various critters and rogues who are after your village and the life of those living in it. But not if you get their lifes first ! So you take your hero (the main character and your avatar in the game) and some villagers for hit & run attackes in a simplified Diablo-style manner and kill, loot and gather.
On their own, both game areas would be way too shallow to entertain but in conjunction they make for an interesting genre mix, which many reviews I am afraid fail to give the proper Laurels to. There are many strategic decisions to make, such as which villagers to take along in as well as to the party, how to equip them and yourself and whom to let into your village in the first place, sure you need food, but you also need money, armor, potions etc., you get the picture. An annoying king will send you requests for resources, food and money which you will have to fulfl in order to receive fame and also to prevent your fame from diminishing.
The downside of this game is production value. Both graphics and sound are below par, slow in high resolution, no matter what your rig is and not very much to look at. Furthermore, with a game of that nature, you would expect the randomized (which is good) worlds to explore to be of more depth and lootability. But there are only a dozen different weapons as well as unique items in the game, so that the only replay value lies in different charater classes which give you minor bonusses or malus (earn more money, find more loot etc.) Yet, given the fact that all character classes have the same skill tree anyway, you can pretty much turn them all into the same character anyway.
The game could so easily be expandable and/or modable to include hundreds of weapon types and items, many more quests (King's requests), monsters, villager types and so forth.
The formula works really great is quite innovative but in terms of value, think of Diablo with only one act, not enough really, but the game is a bargain title after all.
It is similar to Majesty and Depths of Peril should anyone have heard of these or played them, they are great, esp. Majesty and its expansion.
River