1. A crpg made to be played from the point of view of the bad guys.
Evil already won, you have no choice but to follow the evil overlord, but how you do it is up to you. You can choose authoritarian order or chaos, slavery of the dissidents or execution and so on.
The campaign is short but made to be very replayable. At the beginning of each campaign you will make a set of guided choices that will determine the type of world you get to play in. Each time you play again, you can radically change the world by making different choices.
The companions are unique and interesting and the dialogue between them is very entertaining.
The combat is real time with pause with an extremely creative spell creation system that allows you to make the spells that suit you the Best.
The graphics are clean and colorful with beautiful pre render 3d environments.
The Dungeon Keeper III we always wanted but never got. And certainly better than what greedy Electronic Arts did with the IP after they purchased the rights.
Many level and mode expansions complimenting its longevity, plus a really good skirmish mode. Worth noting WftO goes on sale all the time.
My only core complaint with WftO as of 2023 is the Banner System but I have a now dated review explaining my gripes with the game mechanically, however also what I enjoy.
WftO did not release in the most polished of states yet that is many years ago now, and if I just point it out, WftO was made by a indie team of Modders, not trained or in-training game designers, they had zero experience actually building games and this was the first proper project after Modding Dungeon Keeper games for years.
Goes to show that when people rely heavily on Mods they don't take into consideration that they're working off the backbone of someone else's coding. A huge difference from the Mod scene and those actually making games.
Well anyway, WftO from day-one to now is very impressive, as they didn't just fix the game, it's a great game period, and for that reason it is very much a hidden gem.
@mrbojangles25: Yeah I've purchased all three, finished D2, they're. . ok. Don't have plans for Dungeons 4. Probably wouldn't go back to the three games ever again. I just think WftO is overall a stronger game and understands the template it was following. I'm all for a developer to try new things, but if we be honest with ourselves these games are trying to be Dungeon Keeper replacements. Maybe it was the clashing of Simulator and RTS that makes Dungeons feel to have an identity problem, always seemed at odds for what it wants to be, some people must like it because they have three sequels. It's just not for me and I don't think they hit a good balance.
Evil Genius is a good time, the first game has a lot more busy work. While the sequel, despite being slapped by the casual bug and its small length/ easy campaign EG2 is a fun game too. I like EG drastically different theme while the core is very Dungeon Keeper inspired. I have gone back to EG & EG2 a few times just because they are fairly enjoyable.
All three IPs have different spins on being a DK clone, but for a Dungeon Keeper successor WftO is the best of the three. WftO did launch in a much worse state than the other two IPs however.
Does its release state matter in 2023 though? People never played. . well many of these games on release, namely WftO which gathered zero attention outside Backers (I was a Backer). Can't even think of one major website that reviewed the game.
So only the current state really has any weight. And WftO is simply excellent, EG is good, Dungeons plays like an experiment that never learned, they refined what they had but I don't think it changed much for people who already felt it wasn't that great. I would say Dungeons is the weakest IP of the three because Dungeons didn't quite understand what made Dungeon Keeper a cult classic, even after two sequels. I'll give the team credit for sticking to what they wanted to achieve though, it's just not very fun in my opinion.
Codename S.T.E.A.M. (on the 3DS). It's a turn-based strategy game that has a steam-punk theme. You're tasked with stopping an alien invasion that shows up in England. You take turns moving through a given level and using your weapons to kill your alien opponents. It's got a lot of depth because you are constantly making decisions of whether you want to use up your steam to shoot point blank at your enemies or to take advantage of different tactical situations and use up your steam to hide.
The cutscenes are the best part of the game, though. It's the only game I've ever played that has better cutscenes than gameplay. There's Tom Sawyer, Queequeg from Moby Dick, the Lion from the Wizard of Oz and Tiger Lily from Peter Pan. I don't know if the developers had intended for the cutscenes to be so over the top, but either way, they're hysterical. Abraham Lincoln also makes an appearance in a giant robot; cause why not?
The Xenosaga trilogy on PS2 is one of my favorite games nobody ever played. It's an Epic space opera story with super in depth characters and an extensive battle system. Oh, and it has customizable mechs you can use in battle too.
@RSM-HQ: Yeah it's a shame the "Dungeon Keeper"-clone subgenre is not more popular, especially in light of The Sims commercial success (which it shares a lot of gameplay elements with, in many respects). I know that might seem like a stretch to lump them together but I think they really scratch the same itch.
I honestly can't think of many off the top of my head, just:
Evil Genius 1/2
Dungeon Keeper 1/2
War for the Overworld
Dungeons 1-3
I think there might be like a medieval tavern keeper "sim" out there that's in the same vein but I'm not sure.
@mrbojangles25: I can see why you would compare it to The Sims, feeding and keeping them alive, much like an Egg Watch (which are surprisingly popular again) but I don't think that's the aspect people really like in The Sims, at least not based on the DLC they make for the games.
The Sims is a Slice of Life Simulator. And most certainly a lightning in the bottle success, prior to The Sims, Farm Story & Animal Crossing showed gamers had a demand for a chill experience gathering food, daily life cycles, decorating houses and going with the flow in a gaming world.
Helps that most these games make a lot of the money from themed expansions. It's also why I think Stardew Valley is doing well. People don't always want extreme games about murder. And this is from someone who really enjoys Survival Horror, I've frankly been a AC fan since I first played one, and the new Animal Crossing is a game I have many hours in_
Trailing off aside I think God Sims are actually a little different. As they can be quite stressful, heat in the moment preparation and tactics.
Was always surprised Dungeon Keeper got so many fans going 'fine we'll do it ourselves'.
I didn't play Dungeon Keeper (the sequel DK2) until I want to say around 2011 (recall it being around the same time Dark Souls and Skyrim released) and it was the coolest retro game I played. I loved it, and its interesting take on RTS mechanics flipped on its head. I played a lot of Star Craft, War Craft, Command and Conqueror clones, but something about DK stood out to me. And that was the way it handles preparation and units.
And I certainly wanted more of that experience. That's when I became a little obsessed seeking out 'God Sims'.
Populous & Black and White count as the same genre as Dungeon Keeper 'God Sim', though with B&W2 I state that very loosely. Furthermore beats the purpose when all those games are created by majority the people who created Dungeon Keeper.
Populous: The Beginning is the one that I think stood the test of time well. And while I enjoyed the first Black and White, I find its sequel to be more about siege battles than the preparation aspect these other games focus on.
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