Disciples: Domination Review - The Empire Strikes Fantasy
I, a long crusted on PC gamer, feel like the world is coming around to my point of view. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Pillars of Eternity have made the classic CRPG cool again, and I couldn’t be happier. I feel a bit like a PC Hipster, wanting to tell everyone that I loved this sort of game before it was cool. So when I got the chance to dive into another CRPG, especially one that comes from a lineage that dates back to 1999, I just had to say yes. This is how I found myself lost to the charms of Disciples: Domination, and this is how I find myself once again pleading to the masses to give a smaller, double-A RPG a fair go.
Let me start by saying that Disciples: Domination is no Baldur’s Gate 3. To suggest otherwise would do both games a disservice. There are similarities, no doubt, but these are two very different titles coming from different places. In fact, I would say that Disciples has more in common with the classic Ubisoft franchise, Heroes of Might and Magic, than it has with anything created by Larian, and frankly, that is fine by me. It takes a mighty ballsy studio to take on that behemoth, so Disciples continues to, wisely I might add, walk its own path. That path is a mix of real-time, isometric exploration, unit-focused turn-based combat and a City/Society building meta that all comes together in a satisfying 40ish hour adventure that had me hooked from start to finish.
I have to start with an admission, though. This is the second game in what will clearly be a trilogy, and I pretty much missed the first title. I dabbled a bit, but never saw it through to the end, a fact I plan to rectify as soon as possible. That said, Domination does a great job of catching players up on the story, and while there are clearly bits and pieces of the tale that will mean more to players who have played the first title, Liberation, I never felt like I was missing anything important. It starts with your main character, Avyanna, who became Queen of the world at the end of the last game, getting roused out of a reclusive existence when a past companion reaches out for help. From there, she discovers the world is slowly being corrupted by a malignant force, and it is up to her to shake off the doldrums and once again face the gods.
It is all classic high fantasy stuff. The usual suspects appear: gods, dwarves, elves, the undead and even pompous religious humans, so anyone who has ever dipped their toes into anything post-Tolkien will feel right at home. It has a strong grounding in common fantasy tropes (in a good way), but sometimes the writing feels like the weakest part of the game. The overall story was absolutely engaging, and I had to see it all play out to its satisfying, yet inconclusive end, but the moment-to-moment writing left quite a bit to be desired. Some of the conversations between characters felt almost simplistic and small story beats that often give weight to the larger felt a bit hamfisted at times. The same goes for the voice acting. All the characters were voiced well, but there were times when their line delivery felt off, perhaps a bit forced or even contrived. It really stood out, and it was something I had to actively ignore to continue enjoying the game.
But I am glad I could because I had a blast with the game. Combat is a wonderful spin on the classic army hex-based combat you find in games like the Might and Magic franchise, with players putting together a group of units to take on whatever comes their way. It is here that the game really excels. A lot of the problems these sorts of games have is that the information needed to build the right group for the right situation is often obscure or hidden, and players only learn through trial and error. Not so with Disciples, because it is easy to see before each battle which units will be effective or weak against the opposition, and it gives you a chance to adjust your group to compensate. The game presents this information in a simple, clear way, yet it never feels like it is dumbing things down. It really is a smart move that will bring in new players that could possibly be daunted by the complex systems without alienating those who have been playing these sorts of titles for years.
Outside of combat, the game features all the classic RPG trappings you have come to expect. Companions, side quests, romance and exploration. In addition, though there is a wonderful meta element where you need to manage both the capital city and the five different factions of the world, after all, you are playing as the queen. This involves making choices, spending resources and juggling allegiances to try and keep the citizens of the nation happy, while building and upgrading your capital city so it can provide you with better units and boosts. It is a deep, yet easy-to-understand part of the game that really adds a bit of a unique spin to your classic CRPG. I really enjoyed listening to my subjects’ grievances and then ruling on how they should be handled; it added to the power fantasy element while at the same time providing tangible benefits to my playthrough.
I also want to mention the technical performance, which has both its pros and cons. The pros are that this is a game that works on a massive range of systems. It worked perfectly on my Xbox Ally X, my laptop and my gaming rig, with no issues at all. In fact, the system requirements are so low that I can see just about anyone with a post 2018 computer being able to happily play without issue. That said, some little technical foibles popped up from time-to-time. Audio distortion, graphical glitches (especially on my ultrawide monitor) and the occasional crash all stopped by to say hello on occasion. I have to say, though, these issues all feel like the sort of thing that gets sorted out around the day one patch, so it could simply be because I am playing on a pre-release build, and the general public will never have these issues.
The final thing I have to say is that playing Disciples: Domination in large chunks is probably not the best way to go. It can get a little repetitive if you are playing it for multiple hours at a time. It is a 40ish-hour game, and if you try to play it from start to finish with no other games in between, I think the repetition might get to you. It is the perfect title to play in between other games, breaking it up and letting the repetition lessen. That is in no way a bad thing; it is just something to be aware of if you are the type of person who likes to mainline a game from start to finish with only food, poop and sleep to break things up.
For all its double A trappings, Disciples: Domination punches well above its weight, offering a confident, engaging and satisfying CRPG experience that is both deep enough for genre fans and welcoming enough for those looking to dip their toes in. Great, strategic combat, easy to understand concepts and an overall story that gets its hooks into you easily outweighs the few tech issues, occasionally naff dialouge and repetitive nature. I am not only looking forward to the next game to finish off the story, but I fully intend on going back and playing the previous game, Liberation, so I have all of the lore down pat. It probably won’t win any awards come GOTY time, but Disciples: Domination is a wonderful CRPG that both deserves and respects your time and should you have any inkling towards games of this nature, I have no hesitation in recommending it to you.
Disciples: Domination was reivewed on the PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
