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Junior Adventurer's Guild: June - Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Participate in a new RPG each month with other members of the HQ
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What should we play in June?

You can’t vote on this poll. Reason: You must have at least 15 posts to vote in this poll.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
9
26%
Elex
2
6%
Fallout 2
1
3%
Planescape: Torment
6
18%
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
2
6%
The Temple of Elemental Evil
6
18%
The Witcher
8
24%
 
Total votes: 34

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enisey
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Post by enisey »

Completed in 10-11 hours. @Oyster Sauce badge please.

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Thoughts

I played this around the time it came out. The physics, dismemberment, and use of the environment were mind-blowing at the time. Its age is showing, but I managed to enjoy it. The dark fantasy theme is right up my alley.

I do think there was a missed opportunity. More fleshed out RPG mechanics, an open world, and improved combat would have made it a much more enjoyable game as an RPG. If I instead classify it a relatively linear first-person action game with melee/environmental combat, RPG elements, and classic singleplayer FPS level design, it does all that fairly well, and the formula is decent, but it could definitely be better. I mirror a lot of the sentiments already presented here; poor itemization, not really an RPG, secret areas fun to find but unrewarding.

It does stand out as a pretty unique game, especially from that era, and I can appreciate the novelty. 65/100.


As a side note, has anyone tried The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot? Might try the demo.

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Post by Oyster Sauce »

@rusty_shackleford what do you think are its strengths and weaknesses compared to Arx?
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Oyster Sauce wrote: June 5th, 2026, 03:54
@rusty_shackleford what do you think are its strengths and weaknesses compared to Arx?
Been way too long since I've played arx to comment
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Post by Tadeusz »

It's hard to compare Dark Messiah and Arx. I can see game design continuity of Arx in Dark Messiah but Dark Messiah makes an emphasis on its physics engine. Dark Messiah is action-oriented and it improves in this aspect but it also lacks many interactions with the game world that were present in Arx Fatalis (side quests, crafting, economy).
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Post by Tweed »

Arkane carried everything they learned all the way on into Prey. I played most of their games in release order at one point for fun and that design philosophy worked out pretty well for them until they decided that gay race communism and fanfic writers were the better way to go.
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

Image

now we're talking...
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

Excuse me?

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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Some pirated copies have this, it's the French layout.
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Post by Tweed »

rusty_shackleford wrote: June 5th, 2026, 20:05
Some pirated copies have this, it's the French layout.
As if we needed another reason to hate the French.
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Post by Killagain665 »

Tweed wrote: June 5th, 2026, 20:08
rusty_shackleford wrote: June 5th, 2026, 20:05
Some pirated copies have this, it's the French layout.
As if we needed another reason to hate the French.
Yes there are mods calling it "the french bug" that fix it if I remember right.

for other here is a video from a person who isn't as old as your car is.

Quickie - Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
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Post by J1M »

Okay, maybe this is more of an immersive sim than an RPG.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

J1M wrote: June 5th, 2026, 21:01
Okay, maybe this is more of an immersive sim than an RPG.
It's an action-adventure game with lite RPG elements and half-life physics
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

rusty_shackleford wrote: June 5th, 2026, 21:05
J1M wrote: June 5th, 2026, 21:01
Okay, maybe this is more of an immersive sim than an RPG.
It's an action-adventure game with lite RPG elements and half-life physics
If it has a badge on the premier RPG forum that means it's an RPG
Last edited by Oyster Sauce on June 5th, 2026, 21:14, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

there has never been a game with good night vision
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Post by Finarfin »

Splinter Cell.
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Post by roldet »

So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
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Post by Tweed »

Prey is an RPG if System Shock 2 is an RPG and both are more RPGs than this is.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
Prey isn't an RPG because it's spooky so I never made it past the opening
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
it's not an rpg
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Post by Finarfin »

Alt + Print kept skipping the cutscenes so I had to do the old ghetto way of screenshots. Badge please @Oyster Sauce
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Post by J1M »

Oyster Sauce wrote: Yesterday, 21:44
roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
it's not an rpg
I've learned that real rpgs require npcs you can talk to about nothing of import and the ability to sell items to a shop.
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Post by Kolgrim »

roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
Do you mean the real Prey made in 2006 by Human Head Studios or Prey 2017 featuring black goo monsters and *******?
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Post by Finarfin »

Nominating The Witcher 1
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Post by Zess_T »

Has anyone ran into the audio just not working on load? It worked fine yesterday, then loaded it up now and nothing. This game is so jank
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Post by lucky-SVLLa »

roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
:mad: In fact, Deus Ex is a very good RPG. As for Prey (2017), its RPG elements are much weaker than those of Deus Ex. However, Prey (2017) is still a decent immersive sim/ARPG. As an ARPG, Prey is still better than Dark Messiah.
Last edited by lucky-SVLLa on June 7th, 2026, 09:33, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

lucky-SVLLa wrote: Today, 09:27
roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
:mad: In fact, Deus Ex is a very good RPG. As for Prey (2017), its RPG elements are much weaker than those of Deus Ex. However, Prey (2017) is still a decent immersive sim/ARPG. As an ARPG, Prey is still better than Dark Messiah.
I did not care for deusex.
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Post by Tweed »

Nominating System Shock 2, no I haven't finished the game yet, but it doesn't take that long so mark it down, I'm good for it.
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Post by Tinky Winky »

rusty_shackleford wrote: Yesterday, 21:41
roldet wrote: Yesterday, 21:35
So why this and Deus Ex are counted as rpgs but not Prey. It also has different progression systems and approaches to challenges, weapons you can main, inventory and different endings. Lack of social interaction?
Prey isn't an RPG because it's spooky so I never made it past the opening
This game is spookier than Prey though