I just got this a few days ago on Steam and I'm glad I did. I was and am still a huge fan of the original, but the DEVS did a wonderful job on this sequel. Here's my take on the game...
Pros:
Exclusive Character Mounts
Breathtaking Graphics (Truly Amazing)
Ability To Worship Certain Gods/Goddesses
Two Campaigns - Light and Shadow
Seraphim Is Back With New Classes
New Ways To Build Your Hero/Heroine
Massive Game World (20 + REAL Miles)
Over 600 Side Quests Alone
Enhanced Weather Effects
Tons of immersion & Realism
Revamped Leveling System
Massive Replay Value
Great Story (Prequel 2000 yrs before Sacred 1)
Cons:
Fan Patch is Needed To Fix Bugs & Glitches
Strange Camera Angles (but you get use to it)
Humor (jokes, music) That Seems Out Of Place For The Era
Traveling The Map Can Be Tedious & Confusing
I think that's about it. Despite the Cons, I love this game. Truly. The only thing I don't care for is some of the music. The DEVS decided to put music from Blind Guardian into the game, which just doesn't work. At least for me. You just don't put rock and heavy metal music into a dark age fantasy game. Hearing a bard playing rock music on his guitar when walking into certain towns makes me cringe. Any ways, other than that, this is a truly epic game, and I thank the DEVS for making it.
Sacred 2 is not for everyone. For me, it's a great game and with the release of the Gold Edition on ****, it's a stable game that has a lot to show and offers a plethora of things to do. The story elements could be tighter, but I really didn't play it for the story, I play it for the game itself, and the game play is fun hack and slash in the style of Diablo but with a greater emphasis on character customization and player choice.
That emphasis is both the games greatest strength and a crippling weakness because opening the world to the player has de-emphasized the story, and leaves you with a feeling of "I guess it's not that important."
The graphics are beautiful, even today. The water alone is spectacular and the watching a sunrise from a high cliff edge is an awe inspiring feat of graphical design, animation and lighting.
Enemies are a mixture of the familiar (Goblins, Werewolves, Orcs, Dragons) and the bizarre (Floating Elementals, Magic infused abominations) and you will find yourself battling hordes of similar enemies; usually when you've run out of healing items and have managed to aggro about fifty due to terrain and good old player panic.
What I enjoy most about the game are the ideas that it generates in a meta sense, both the meta of the game world and the meta of game design in general. For instance, Skeletons talk in Sacred; they have personalities and make decisions. In a fantasy world where magic is real the only way that can happen is if they still possess their **** suddenly the whole world seems a bit darker.
There is a great deal of environmental storytelling and if you are a fan of the original game, you can see how far civilization has fallen (Sacred 2 is a prequel, after all) and how even scores of centuries in the past, things were unraveling. The many books you can read and the great deal of lore you can discover offer a wealth of insight.
Summary: this is a game where you will get out of it what you want to; meaning that you may not like the set up and find nothing enjoyable, or you may realize that this is your newest favorite. Doesn't matter, you do you. For me, it's a solid 8.
A game that has so much of the base to make a brilliant game but turns it in to a big grind with an unappealing story and repetitive game play. Fans of ARPG will enjoy this.
I waited few years before launching the sequel on purpose: to have a calm approach and possibly bug-free game.
Unfortunately the whole production is a mistake, simply as that. Instead of fixing shortcomings of the first Sacred game, the sequel actually increases all of them beyond any measure. Even in a character department it feels broken, since the only one having any kind of theme behind her is Seraphin, the rest being some random dudes without any real character progress depth (hack'n'slash wise). The story is non-existant despite dozens of quests and many dialogues, because the game has no real theme behind it. Even graphically is screams "i'm so mediocre and irritiating".
You can have 3D looking game with a fixed camera angle that shows you everything, really. You don't have to make a mess this game is control wise.
It could be entertaining if not the fundamental flaw that questions the very sense of existence of Sacred 2. Everything and everyone is level scaled precisely to our character.
That means you can run through everything not caring and finish the game with a finger up your... nose. You will make it, since everything will be scaled down do you. Why bother to grind, farm and collect equipment? It doesn't matter at all, since everything will be scaled down/up to you and you will keep the same buttons all the time with no real feeling of progress hack'n'slash games are all about.
This game freezes the majority of computers that play it, and there is no fix. Thank God I got it on humble bundle for 25 cents. I would not recommend this game unless you use Windows XP (and if you do, why do you?).
SummaryExperience the world of Ancaria in its full glory with Sacred 2: Gold Edition. Containing Sacred 2 Fallen Angel and the awesome add-on Ice and Blood. Defeat countless dangerous enemies; capture powerful weapons and valuable treasures. Prepare yourself for the ultimate battle and become a legend.