Achilles: Legends Untold Review – A Greek Legend Rough Around The Edges

The Achilles: Legends Untold is a game based on ancient Greek mythology. It is an open-world ARPG that allows you to roam aimlessly around the map, exploring dungeons and slaying mythical creatures. Although my experience with the game was quite admiring, it has some tedious mechanics and UI features that I hope ultimately improve.

Story And Setting

The game features the mythical world of Greeks, where we play as Achilles, a sturdy Greek warmonger. The story takes place when a war breaks out in Troy. Due to conflict between kings, countless lives are at stake, and they fight hopeless battles.

Players must first go through a short chapter covering the game’s tutorial. However, I did not find the tutorial helpful, as it only covers the most prominent cases. I figured out how to manage inventory, fighting tactics, or complicated combat-related mechanics independently. 

Yet, the story aspect was something I enjoyed most in the tutorial. It involved no fantasy drama; instead, it was a straight-up clash of strength and steel between two great clans. Later on, the story diverts into the mythical plot after Paris defeats Achilles in a fair duel.

Moreover, only the main questline is worth playing because the side quests consist of dull lore, and the NPC overhaul appears lifeless.

In my opinion, the story has its ups and downs. In some parts, you may enjoy unpredictable plot outcomes. Sometimes, you will mostly run around chasing someone or being someone’s errand boy. Moreover, only the main questline is worth playing because the side quests consist of dull lore, and the NPC overhaul appears lifeless.

Gameplay

Achilles: Legends Untold holds most of the fantastic features in its gameplay, yet I have also faced some tedious ones here. By the point when you are engaged in its thrilling gameplay, you will sense instability when things indulge into the advanced stage.

Regarding the game’s open world, the map is vast and has a lot of areas to interact with. However, I did not find them amusing as most are just recurring activities. 

What I like most about the gameplay is the interaction with the environment, where walls can stop projectiles or set your weapon on fire from the surroundings to deal burn damage to your enemies.

Furthermore, the rewarding mechanics favor players who love exploring or focusing on the main story. Gears are scattered across the map in different categories, each with a different set of animations. 

Playing an ARPG, you are bound to get surrounded and cornered by foes, and escaping that hellish spot will become a tremendous challenge as your movement gets interrupted occasionally.

Regarding the game’s open world, the map is vast and has a lot of areas to interact with. However, I did not find them amusing as most are just recurring activities. 

Moreover, the game uses Poise features in its combat. Meaning you can stagger some foes by delivering an impactful blow. But I find this feature quite frustrating because it also makes you vulnerable.

Playing an ARPG, you are bound to get surrounded and cornered by foes, and escaping that hellish spot will become a tremendous challenge as your movement gets interrupted occasionally.

Also, the skill tree does not provide diversity in skills but only levels up a certain attribute repeatedly, eliminating the vital reason to level up in an ARPG. The game diverts more toward real-time combat rather than hack-and-slash tactics.

Is Achilles: Legends Untold A Good Example For ARPGs?

My only concern with the game is why it doesn’t feel like playing an ARPG when it is meant to be one. Achilles: Legend Untold’s gameplay does not match its game design well.

Engaging at the horde of enemies without hack-and-slash dynamics, or the pointless and unwanted skill tree upgrades makes the progress appear desolated. So, my answer to whether it is a fitting addition to ARPGs is no.

I did not find the controls as convenient as any ARPG should exhibit. Button mapping seems to reflect open-world game dynamics, whereas the gameplay’s core theme is ARPG dynamics.

Button mapping seems to reflect open-world game dynamics, whereas the gameplay’s core theme is ARPG dynamics.

For example, swinging your blade around will track the location of your cursor if you have not set your aim on a target. This will cause huge nullification in your actions and aggravate you in combat scenarios. Rather than making a fast-paced combat, the game locks you in sluggish combat, which does not coordinate well with an ARPG.

Moreover, I did not find the game’s UI helpful. As the combat system is more open-world RPG-based, switching your gear is frequently required (from what I have experienced).

The game has staggering mechanics that allow you to take advantage by using a blunt and heavy weapon. Sometimes, agility is a more significant approach and requires swift action, which a light weapon can do well. For that, opening the inventory repeatedly and quite often breaks the fight’s tempo.

Overall, I have mixed remarks about gameplay. However, I believe this game can do exceptionally well if it adopts the relevant characteristics of its genre that make it so appealing in the first place.

Visuals And Performance

The world of Achilles: Legends Untold appears a bit off the track as it does not ordinarily demonstrate the architecture of Greek mythology. This is because you will wander in creepy woods or often explore unsafe dungeons. 

I consider the game pretty decent in terms of its visual factors. As for the performance, I have no specific trouble other than minor bugs disrupting a delightful experience.

However, the equipment and creatures’ design flawlessly replicate the mythical world. Sturdy-willed soldiers, funky-looking skeletons, and ferocious monsters perfectly capture the outlook of mythical tales.

I consider the game pretty decent in terms of its visual factors. As for the performance, I have no specific trouble other than minor bugs disrupting a delightful experience.

For several moments, I had to face when my character’s movement glitched, which was locked in a random direction. Also, there were times when I encountered random lags, and most of the time, the rendering fell apart whenever a cutscene occurred. 

I believe these issues are based on the optimization factor because I was playing the game on a high-end PC. However, I will say that regardless of the components, it can work somewhat decently in its current performance state.

Verdict

Achilles: Legends Untold is a great narrative of Greek mythology, but its gameplay dynamics contradict an ARPG’s. If we overlook that it belongs to a certain genre, I believe the game stands its ground in being a marvelous action game.

I would not suggest the game to players expecting an offhand ARPG experience. But, if you are eager to try out a new perspective of an ARPG, then the game will somehow keep you entertained. 

Apart from its misplaced fundamentals of gameplay mechanics, the game can offer a delightful walkthrough to players who wish to pursue the main questline. 

This has been my review of Achilles: Legends Untold. Be sure to check out more of the reviews from the list below:

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