Got character? (cntd.)

Fortunately leveling your hero is quite satisfactory. There are boosts to your speed on the map, speed in the arena, strength, various resistances and much more. On many maps a trainer can be found that will offer to train your heroes up to a higher level for a hefty fee. This is only useful for your main hero as your army, including any storyline characters, is reset upon arrival on a new map.

Of course most of your leveling up will be done by fighting enemies. Combat takes place on dynamically created ‘arena maps’ that offer a variety of obstacles and special features. The map may be riddled with rocks or crevices, creating natural choke points, or fairly open. It may also have one or more focus nodes in the form of perches for your ranged units, a runed stone for your warriors or a place of mystic power for your spellcasters. Each focus node doubles the effectiveness of the person standing on top of it, giving you an edge over enemy units.

The difficulty of arena combat changes as you progress on the map. Early on you will likely bump into strong opposition. Each conquest is a struggle where every last spell and potion is a much-needed resource. In the later stages you won’t need these anymore as you just waltz over your enemies as if they aren’t even there. Fortunately combat never gets boring. Gorgeous unit animations, ever different floor plans and varied opponents will make the arena look and feel like a refreshing place throughout the game.

Forging an empire

While strategic combat is Disciples III: Renaissance’s bread and butter, there is an element of empire-building in it as well. In order to promote your units to a more advanced stage, you will need to upgrade your city with a plethora of buildings. For building, you will need to gather gold and stones while mana is required for researching and casting spells.

In order to gain control over resource production centers, you need to capture 'control nodes' that can be found throughout the land. When in control, resources are sent to your global stock every round, with the added bonus of seeing the surrounding lands transformed to lush fields, barren wastes or leaf-filled forest floors depending on what suits your faction best.

Once a new addition has been built in your city, experienced enough units will automatically upgrade to their next iteration. Warrior units for example, start out as simple grunts. Depending on your faction and your chosen building path, they can be raised up into either zealotry or righteousness. Each path offers different special abilities and stats.

Places to go, people to see

Disciples III is powered by an engine that no one in their right mind would call state of the art. That doesn’t mean she isn’t a head-turner though. The masterfully crafted artwork does a remarkable job of making you forget about the quality of the graphics and the visuals are absolutely stunning. I found the dark, gothic style with mainly red to accentuate very appealing indeed. The music on the other hand, is a little limited for such a long game. The loops are short and feel repetitive soon, even if the mood complements the game’s setting perfectly.
The game is not without its quirks but none of them detract from the overall appeal. Compelling lore, great storytelling, exceptional graphics, dynamic combat and multiple ways to develop your units keep the game fresh throughout the 60+ hours you will be spending with it.