KING Art Games’ crowd-funded RPG The Dwarves has been consuming space on many a hard drive over the past couple of weeks, and since that has brought us a considerable number of critiques, it’s time to round them all up in one place.
IGN gives it a 6.2/10:
The Dwarves boasts a strong story that’s taken from a bestselling novel, and it generally honors that lineage with a cast of likable and ably voiced characters. It’s a good foundation, but unfortunately it’s not strong enough to make up for the deficiencies of its gameplay, which include unfulfilling RPG elements and a stubborn camera.
PlayStation Universe gives it a 6.5/10:
A strategy RPG that suffers from a distinct lack of technical polish and unsatisfying combat, The Dwarves superb orchestral soundtrack, intriguing narrative and charismatic cast almost make up for its technical deficiencies, lending hope that future instalments might improve upon what we see here.
GamePressure gives it a 6.0/10:
Admittedly, The Dwarves includes some original solutions and can be actually entertaining, but it is often laughter through tears – the joy of adventuring is sooner or later destroyed by broken combat or the awareness that there’s very little to do in this virtual world. And even if the narrative or the characters would happen to captivate you, making up for all the mechanical shortcomings, after all is said and done you will be disappointed with how quickly the adventure comes to an end. You can take a chance by joining the expedition of The Dwarves if you ran out of really good RPGs… but wait at least until the price drops and the developers properly patch their work. At the moment, there are one hundred better ways to invest EUR 40 than buying The Dwarves.
DualShockers gives it a 6.5/10:
The Dwarves has a lot of potential. If it was made on a AAA budget, I believe it could have been one of the best games this year. But it wasn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed my 15 hours with it, but I’m also well aware of its numerous, easily identifiable, shortcomings. If you’re a dwarf connoisseur, then I can recommend this game. If you enjoy fantasy RPGs, and don’t mind tactical (though it’s hardly that) combat, then I can also recommend this game. But if you don’t particularly love either of these things, then The Dwarves from KING Art Games, may not be the dwarves for you.
WCCFTech gives it a 6.3/10:
The Dwarves is a role-playing game that fails to reach its full potential. Its interesting battle concepts are marred by a mediocre execution, very limited RPG mechanics, and just too many technical issues on PlayStation 4. Despite this, the game still managed to be somewhat enjoyable thanks to the gripping yet not too original story, and charming characters. Due to gameplay and technical shortcomings, however, only die hard high fantasy fans may find some enjoyment in The Dwarves. Everyone else would do better in looking elsewhere.
The Sixth Axis gives it a 5/10:
There’s a lot of love that went into the creation of The Dwarves but the glimmers of brilliance are dulled by the numerous problems with the combat, as well as the conflicting nature of the narrative with the few moments where you are able to make your own choices. Chances are those who will enjoy this game the most are fans of the books, but it’s a largely forgettable game for everyone else.
Gaming Bolt gives it a 6.0/10:
Overall The Dwarves is a game that needed some extra development time. With another six months of development, a better battle system, more effective powers and abilities, and much less glitches, this could have been very enjoyable. But it wasn’t. If you’re just interested in the story then start the game on easy and make your way through a game with a great voice cast, and wonderfully epic music.
GameWatcher gives it a 7.0/10:
For $40, I feel like THQ Nordic might have an idea on their hands. If there was to be an integrated loot system, updates to the movement system, and general bug tweaks, I would be open to playing the game more. I love single player games and was really excited to try this out. However, I feel a little underwhelmed. It’s fun, and it has opportunity, but right now I feel like I was left with a half empty plate.
Zombie Chimp gives it a 78%:
Overall The Dwarves is a solid game full of great gameplay and a fun adventure. It lacks the polish of AAA games but is consistently strong across all aspect of the game. The Dwarves really could mark the start of middle tier games making a strong return to gaming libraries across the world.
Expansive DLC gives it a 6.5/10:
It has a very compelling story, there’s some great ideas in here, and it’s beardiful to look at and listen to, but the PC build, at least, needs a lot of work before it can reach its full potential.
PlayStation LifeStyle gives it a 4.5/10:
Almost everything from The Dwarves‘ gameplay to the presentation seems unpolished. It’s a real shame, since there are some good ideas, and the book it’s based upon is ripe for a video game adaptation. The mission objectives are far too rigid, the controls too cumbersome, and ultimately it’s a game that constantly gets in the way of itself. Every moment of enjoyment was quickly followed by bouts of annoyance, and this title clearly needed more time in development.
God is a Geek gives it a 4.0/10:
And that’s the biggest issue here: it’s not fun. There are too many problems, too many bugs, too many pointless ideas and faults that feel like omissions. The combat is implemented so badly that it feels almost amateurish, and the sloppy execution of almost everything else compounds the problem and makes The Dwarves hard to recommend even to fans of the genre.
Blot Gaming gives it an 8.1/10:
The Dwarves is an interesting RPG and strategy game. It focuses mostly on the strategy portion of it, with a few sprinklings of RPG here and there. Those who simply look for cruisey story-based games may want to give this one a miss. While the story is brilliant, with fantastic dialogue, plots and twists, the difficulty of the game, even on easy mode is something which a lot of players would not be looking for. But for those players out there who enjoy a good challenge and some fantastic fantasy action and stories, then The Dwarves has what you are looking for.
And True Achievements gives it a 3.5/5:
The Dwarves is a game that has a heavy focus on its strong story. Thanks to being taken from a bestselling novel, it doesn’t disappoint in this aspect; of course, being backed up by likeable and well-voiced characters doesn’t hurt either. Unfortunately, it is still not problem free even after a patch. Underwhelming RPG elements and character customisation, poor loading times and a map screen that now seems to have a mind of its own do hold back the game from being something great. Those with a penchant for a tightly woven narrative and tactical thinking will enjoy the experience, but it is difficult to overlook some of the more glaringly obvious problems.
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