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Heretic Kingdoms:
The Inquisition
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Review by Ugur Sener
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The scar on your face is not the result of an ordinary accident. You have carried it your entire life. It is a special mark that appears on newborn children. The scar is the symbol of a dead god. It is said that those born with the mark can acquire tremendous power. In the guise of a simple scar, the mark can be a harbinger of great destiny.
Yet even though you carry the symbol of the dead god, your very mission is to destroy religion. In the realms of the Heretic Kingdoms, religion is considered heresy. You are a member of the Inquisition. The organization exists to destroy all forms of religion that remains in the world. The Inquisition’s motto is simple: “Religion is death. And death to religion.” A devoted member of the organization, you are now on a journey to destroy an artifact of tremendous power.
You arrive at the monastery to find it in ruins. The attack must have happened recently. Fires are still burning in the courtyard. Master Valkarin sends you in to look for the sword. You have come here to destroy the legendary Godslayer. In the hands of the legendary here Arkor, its power once brought upon the end of a deity. Later, the same sword gave a descendant of Arkor the opportunity to seize control of Heretic Kingdoms. Drawing power from the mighty sword, Taryn the Theocrat ruled the lands for almost three hundred years.
The weapon is too dangerous. It is a force that should not be wielded by any single being. With the death of Taryn, the opportunity to finally rid the world of the Godslayer seemed to be finally at hand. But with the monastery in shambles and all the monks butchered, your journey may have been in vain.
As you look through the ruins, it is clear that the attackers have done a thorough job of annihilating all the monks that were guarding the sword. You quickly make your way into the inner chambers. But it is too late. The Godslayer is missing. You can only assume the attackers stole the weapon. A terrible evil might be on the verge of being unleashed upon the world.
You return to the gate to tell Master Valkarin the sword is missing. Your mentor knows that there is no time to waste. You have to track down the weapon. Yet there aren’t many clues left among the ruins of the monastery. Ordinarily, it would have required a more formal ceremony. But there is no time for any of that right now. You have to be inducted into the way of the mage. You have to discover the Dreamworld, the realm of spirits. Valkarin helps you open your inner eye. It comes so easily and naturally. You watch your surroundings transform as you step into the Dreamworld for the first time. Now you are able to see the spirits of the dead. Perhaps you will find answers in this mystical realm. And thus, your journey to find the missing Godslayer sword begins.
Developed by 3D People, Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition is an RPG set in a highly imaginative world. Taking a quick look at the screenshots, it is easy to dismiss Heretic Kingdoms as a typical medieval fantasy affair. But there is a lot more to the game than that. The realms of the Heretic Kingdoms have an interesting history revealed throughout the course of the game. Instead of nations making war upon each other in the name their religion, we are presented a society where belief in gods is shunned by the authorities. Playing as a member of the Inquisition makes your character directly contradict clerics or paladins present in many other RPG’s, offering unique motivations and a distinct perspective. At the same time, methodically spreading the word of the Inquisition does not feel altogether different than preaching the words of a prophet. It is quite interesting to see how different races have managed to cope for their need for spirituality while trying to obey the Inquisition. Throwing a conflict between two powerful factions into the mix makes for an intriguing setting.
While it may not be exceptionally well-crafted, the story behind the game should still manage to capture your interest. As expected, the journey to find the missing Godslayer sword does not prove to be an easy one. Twists and turns wait along the way to question your character’s belief systems and motivations. While some of the plot twists may not be entirely unexpected, the game still has its great moments. It also helps that players get to make decisions with regards to how they handle certain quests in the game. Some of these decisions are relatively minor and do not have a very significant impact on the overall storyline. And the biggest decisions you face are not revealed until the very end of the game. Nevertheless, having an opportunity to dictate how your character will influence other people’s lives is still a plus.
Along with its unique setting, Heretic Kingdoms also distinguishes itself with its character advancement mechanics. The character creation process is simple and straightforward. The game’s story requires players to control a female character. At the beginning of the game, you are given eight hundred points to distribute across for key statistics. In addition, you have to choose two starting attunements to give your character advantages on the battlefield.
Heretic Kingdom does require players to choose a profession or class for their characters as they would in a Dungeons & Dragons setting. Players will not have traditional stats like intelligence, stamina, dexterity, or charisma either. Instead, you improve your characters effectiveness on the battlefield by increasing your rating in the melee, ranged, magic, and speed stats.
Predictably, the melee stat dictates your effectiveness in handling close-combat weapons whereas the ranged stat determines your proficiency with bows. The magic skill indicates your adeptness in casting spells and applies to all the different schools of magic featured in the game. Finally, speed determines the rate at which your character will be able to attack her opponents. By improving your stat in melee, ranged, or magic you will be essentially choosing what type of character you will be controlling. It is possible to fully focus on only one of these skills, making your character an effective warrior, archer, or sorceress. It is also possible to create a more balanced character by improving multiple stats.
You start with a score of F in each skill. You will have to distribute the starting eight hundred points to prepare your character for the adventure. The cost of improving a skill by one rank is one hundred points. For instance, spending one hundred points of magic will improve your rank from F to E-. Another hundred points is required to increase your ranking up to an E. Before you can get to the D ranking, you are required to attain E+ and D- first. Continuing in this pattern, it is possible to raise each of your skills up to level S, which happens to come after A in Heretic Kingdoms’ stat system.
While it may seem tempting to distribute your starting points evenly to create a well-balanced character, there are great benefits to specializing in melee, ranged, or magic. It is also recommendable to enhance your character’s speed. As such, while technically four different stats are available and the game allows for improving more than one style of fighting, you will most likely focus on only two skills throughout the game. After all, why try to deal with the strongest enemies as a mediocre archer and sorceress when you can unleash the full potential of each skill by exclusively focusing on it? The stat system can be overly simple for gamers used to more complex mechanics from other RPG’s. But thankfully, Heretic Kingdoms brings in additional complexity and a great deal of customization opportunities with its attunement system.
Each item you can equip has a certain attunement that can be unlocked. The idea is that after using the item for a certain amount of time, you learn how to unleash its inner magical power. Once the attunement is unlocked, you can start actively using it after the next time your character sleeps. Players are not required to keep items equipped to benefit from attunements. Once you unlock an attunement, you permanently have access to it.
There are a large number of attunements that offer various different benefits. In general, the type of item you are using dictates the benefit. For instance, certain melee weapons will help you unlock the outclass attunement, which reduces the chance of your enemies to block or dodge your attacks. Another melee fighting attunement, called way of the warrior, increases your chances to land a critical strike. A particularly strong attunement called soulthief allows you to recover some lost health each time you attack an opponent.
In order to learn magic spells, you will have to equip focus items imbued with different elements. The four schools of magic include fire, water, air, and earth. Each focus item that carries the mark of one of these elements is by default capable of releasing small bolts to hurt your opponents. Once you unlock the attunement from these weapons however, you will be able to cast powerful spells. Four spells are available for each different element. While each spell inflicts damage upon your opponents, they also have specific effects based on their element. Fire element is the most destructive one. On top of the considerable damage inflicted with the initial attack, fire spells also allow players to set their enemies in flames, delivering heavy damage over a period of time. On the other hand, water magic spells allow you to slow down your enemies, which can be a great advantage in certain situations. As expected, the first spell available for each element is relatively weak and deals damage to a single enemy. On the other hand, the powerful fourth spell of each school hits all the enemies in the nearby area.
Casting spells is not the only way to take advantage of elemental powers. There are melee and ranged weapons available that are also imbued with different elements. By using these weapons, it is possible to unlock attunements that deliver extra elemental damage to your enemies. For instance, the thunder arrow attunement allows you to deal lightning damage when you equip a bow imbued with the air element.
On top of all the different weapon attunements, you can also take advantage of powers accessible through equipping different types of armor, shields, and other miscellaneous items. Various shields will give you access to the quick study attunement, which gives you a bonus to the amount of experience you earn. The luck of the rogue attunement reduces the damage dealt by your opponents. The exceptionally powerful fortitude attunement doubles your hit points. You can also unlock certain elemental powers by equipping magical rings. For instance, the air-based levitation attunement allows you to avoid traps. By mixing and matching different types of items, it is possible to find a great array of powers that will give you significant advantages in combat.
The process of acquiring and using attunements does have some restrictions. In general, you will earn a number of attunement points each time you strike an enemy. If you have any equipped items with unlocked attunements, these points will be automatically spent towards revealing the hidden powers. However, for you to be able to earn the points, you have to meet the requirements defined for the item. For instance, some attunements require that no elemental powers are equipped. Others call for you to equip heavy or light armor. You may even encounter some items with multiple requirements. These requirements force players to carefully choose the types of items they equip in order to gain access to different attunements. There are a large number of possible combinations, leaving plenty of room for customization.
Once you unlock an attunement, using will also have certain restrictions. For instance, even if they are unlocked, you cannot cast fire spells unless you equip a fire focus item. Similarly, ranged attunements will not work unless you are fighting with a bow. The game also restricts the total number of attunements that can be active at any given point. As you gain levels however, you are allowed to activate more attunements at the same time.
The process of unlocking, activating, and successfully using attunements may initially seem confusing. Once you play the game for a while however, you should get the hang of the system and realize the degree of customization it makes possible. Naturally, certain combinations of powers will be more effective than others. Nevertheless, there are a good number of viable options giving players a chance to experiment. The game also helps players by color-coding attunements. If a power will not work with your current equipment, it will be listed in red font, warning you that you can’t take advantage of the attunement unless you make some adjustments.
In addition to exploring the realm of the living, players will have access to the dreamworld in Heretic Kingdoms. With a simple tap on the D button, you will be able to step into a parallel reality. If you have played any of the games in the Soul Reaver series, this will most certainly look familiar. As you step into the dreamworld, things shift and you are presented with a warped reality. Just like the spectral realm in the Soul Reaver games, the inhabitants of the dreamworld are magical creatures. Even an area that is perfectly calm outside of the dreamworld might be infested with these magical beings. As expected, the creatures are highly hostile and will attack you if you enter their realm. In addition, certain creatures who are powerful magic users are visible in both the real world and the dreamworld.
Besides the obvious benefit of offering an alternate dimension to explore and more enemies to defeat for extra experience points, players have three main motivations for stepping into the dreamworld. First of all, you will encounter the occasional non-hostile spirit in this realm that may be able to help you with a quest. In addition, every creature you kill in the dreamworld releases essence. When you collect the essence, it is converted into attunement points. Thus, by fighting in the dreamworld, you can unlock attunements much more quickly. Finally, there are a myriad of hex marks spread throughout the dreamworld. These hex marks give you extra points that can be used to advance your key stats. Each hex mark is worth ten points. When you acquire one hundred points by using ten hex marks, you can improve one of your key stats by one rank.
Of course, accessing the dreamworld to find hex marks is not the only way available to earn advancement points and improve your skills. As you earn experience by fighting and completing quests, your character will gain levels. At the early stages of the game, you earn one hundred advancement points with each level. As you become stronger, it will take a lot more experience to gain a level. However, you will also be awarded more advancement points.
While Heretic Kingdoms certainly has many interesting aspects, the game is not without its share of problems. For starters, there seems to be some minor but nevertheless frustrating stability issues. Despite the multiple patches released for the game, occasional crashes to the desktop were experienced on the system used to play the game for this review. Fortunately, it seems to be possible to work around these problems by fine-tuning the graphics options. Even though patches have been released to specifically address this issue, the load times can still be a bit too lengthy at times. Luckily, the technical issues are relatively minor and should not take away from the experience.
Heretic Kingdoms also has a number of problems with its interface. First of all, the attunement list should have been presented in a better format. The available attunements are simply presented in a lengthy list. There are no dividers or headers to identify different groups of attunements. This is not much of a problem at the beginning, but by the time you reach the end of the game and acquire a long list of attunements, it might get rather difficult to find a specific one when you are configuring you are selecting active attunements. The game would have also benefited from a map feature. There is a large map that can be used to travel between different locations. However, it would have been great to see smaller maps highlighting key spots once you actually arrive at a city or town. Fortunately, these are once again minor problems and should not hurt the game play experience significantly.
If you look at the box for Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition, two highlighted features are the game’s six available endings and fifty different quests. This information can quite easily lead you to believe that Heretic Kingdoms is a lengthy RPG where decision-making is very important to the progress of the storyline. Unfortunately, while you will indeed have to make a few decisions throughout the course of the game, Heretic Kingdoms does not really create the impression that you truly have a great degree of control. The biggest decision is reserved until the very end of the game, making it almost trivial that Heretic Kingdoms has multiple endings. A larger number of decisions made throughout the course of the game leading to the ultimate conclusion would have made the experience more fulfilling and given the game additional replay value.
The fact that the game has around fifty quests does not really mean much of anything either. A large number of these quests can be completed very quickly as they require a very small amount of exploration or sometimes even a single fight. There are relatively few quests that are truly involved and put your role-playing skills to test. The game could have benefited from a few more places to explore and some more detailed quests. Nevertheless, Heretic Kingdoms does feature a highly entertaining segment that takes place in a city. The section puts the emphasis on role-playing and investigation rather than fighting. You get to talk to a variety of different characters as you seek information to aid you in your quest. You become involved in a conflict between two criminal factions which leads to a number of small quests and offers some rather entertaining sequences.
Heretic Kingdoms is a fairly entertaining game that is somewhat lacking in polish. The mouse-driven controls are simple, the graphics are good enough to get the job done, the combat is relatively fluid and very easy to learn. The game takes place in an imaginative setting, offering a fairly engaging plot. The attunement system and the dreamworld make for some interesting dynamics. Players have access to a good amount of customization for their characters. But at the same time, the game has some minor stability issues, somewhat lengthy load times, and an attunement list that becomes difficult to manage. Some of the environments you explore could have been a little more detailed and a number of the quests should have been a little more involved. The decision-making involved could have also been spread throughout the game in a better way. Heretic Kingdoms is not exactly a hallmark RPG experience. Nevertheless, especially considering the game’s highly reasonable current price, it might still be worth a look. Without a doubt, some good ideas have gone into Heretic Kingdoms. Especially if the game’s setting and the attunement system sound interesting, consider giving Heretic Kingdoms a try.
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| PC System Requirements: |
| Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP |
| Pentium® 1.2 Ghz processor |
| 256 MB RAM |
| 32 MB DirectX® 8.1 Compatible Video Card |
| DirectX® 9.0a or later |
| CD-ROM Drive |
| 2 GB Hard Disk Space |
| Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers |
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