Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Review

[@MandaloreGaming]

THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo Game is known by some publications as "The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot Deathboot in the Land of the Conspicuously Placed Spike Racks".

[@EmnelGaming]

I see you don't have Earth 21X0 series or Guild 2 on the list. Should totally add them.

[@DiabeticNecromancer]

When you were trying to block that orcs hit your love interest hit you with a fireball

[@SpecShadow]

Boiling Point - Road to Hell. Not even a question. Why made videos about something most people know when you can talk about hidden gems like this one. It's a pity othe Deep Shadows' games are on Steam except this one The other titles? Underrail was criminally underrated and it's getting DLC next year. MAybe VtM Bloodlines, PAth of Exile (I commited a sin and bought stuff for F2P game, something that I never though could be possible),

[@Shoshk3]

Why did you use AoM music? is it an omen of things to come?

[@mrdufflebag1234]

Judge dredd: Dredd vs Death. It's just a stupid fun game set in the judge dredd universe. I remember having to actually follow protocol and if you break too many laws you get a game over. Pretty fun game.

[@pikistikman]

Lawful Mandalore vs Chaotic Sseth

[@carlirvinenicolas7874]

This game will bring out your inner trickster.

[@jeck988]

Sseth gets the bet, that lovable African warlord...

[@knavenformed9436]

@@carlirvinenicolas7874 Or executioner, either way you'll end up feeling like a bad ass with a space between for punction.

[@blankblankpog]

@@jeck988 So basically Mandy still gets his money

[@jeck988]

Blank Blank he do but he does it with a lack of sseths finesse. The merchant guild is most displeased

[@cl1cka]

"And it turns out the spirit in your head is a succubi.....I can feel most of you already opening the Steam game page, but wait a bit....." Still laughing......

[@Minderz]

He wasn't wrong though :)

[@jesserodriguez7588]

I really wasn’t expecting it, I’m in the same boat as you.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Already did open the Steam page even before this came out, but never did that for the demon lady.

[@jk3jk35]

when I was a wee lad I downloaded her game model to be part of my uh...adventures in Garry's Mod

[@PasiX2]

It is honestly a shame that no other games really picked up on this type of combat system, using environment and physics to your advantage.

[@fraundakelmbrilpondaprost90]

Dying Light utilizes a lot of similar mechanics.

[@DajuOnYoutube]

Well when hearing that it was made by the developers of Dishonored I felt like I could definitely see the similarities. I have admittedly not played Dishonored myself but I think I have a pretty accurate idea about what kind of games they are. So I don't know for sure but I think you can do similar combat in those. I guess that the same developer using it again isn't exactly "catching on" but atleast it's not true that no modern games retain that gameplay. Oh yeah personally I feel like it's kinda similar to how Zelda Botw allows you to fight enemies in creative ways with the tools they've given you.

[@fraundakelmbrilpondaprost90]

@@DajuOnKZbin Yeah man, I hugely recommend the Dishonored games if you think the combat looks fun. You have lots of different tactics and tools to use, and you only need to do a cursory KZbin search to see how crazy people can get with it. The stealth mechanics are also solid, particularly in the second game. Most of all, though, the world and smoothness of the gameplay all-around makes Dishonored 1 probably my most-replayed game.

[@empirepolice8313]

Bioshock

[@rabidredpanda2888]

Botw?

[@YourPalKindred]

6:33 The attack was actually blocked. When Mandalore turns around, you can see the remains of a fireball spell hitting something, and that girl whatever her name is I forget. What happened was that she attempted to cast at the orc, but miscast and hit Mandalore at the same time it looked like the orc hit him.

[@axelschmidt9353]

also could be as intended and there is missing an animation, as a melee skill allows you and possibly fighter enemies like orks to occasionally break parry (Melee Skill Lvl 3: Break Parry: Enables Flurry of Blows to sometimes break enemy parry.) In this case it definetely was the fire spell, though.

[@freakrx2349]

Sareth: *breathes* Xana: That’s hot Dark Messiah in a nutshell

[@StrikeWarlock]

Tfw no Xana irl

[@kirillholt2329]

@@StrikeWarlock I feel your pain from the bottom of my heart my man

[@bradley9191]

This is what being attractive probably feels like

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

@@bradley9191 Yeah the thing is women actually do behave this way, but only if you are hot. The reason so much bad advice for dating is out there, is because usually the "successful" men giving it are playing an entirely different game.

[@nmf0]

In this game you can feel like Kenobi on high ground

[@syrelian]

Its Over Everyone, I have the High Ground (hell thats how I beat the final boss, hide in the rafters and take potshots till he finally died, BECAUSE I WAS NOT FIGHTING UNDER THE WATCH OF THE GIANT DRAGON!)

[@killertruth186]

NMF He used the force.

[@nerdler7468]

You are a bold one

[@shammytv]

Fuckin' hell that combat system looks Legendary

[@TheFlyinSquid]

Oh hey man, didnt expect to see you here. I'm a big fan, the immersive chapstick mod you made totally changed the way I think about games as an art form.

[@Thumbednail]

Oh look, it's the owl man

[@blahblah7720]

You are a Raider!Legendary!

[@KonstantinGenz]

it is man, never had so much fun playin' a fighting game like this, good for creativity

[@HermanManly]

This is what I was hoping Skyrim would have before it came out...

[@crass340]

I love how in the goblin area, if you didn't hurt any of them, they just chill with you and don't even think of attacking you.

[@enlightenedterrestrial]

Wait, wait, wait. Really? I was always attacked first !

[@richardvlasek2445]

as a person that stood afk next to the goblins for like an hour, after some time they just attack you anyways

[@rawovunlapin8201]

@@enlightenedterrestrial Cauldron Joti?

[@enlightenedterrestrial]

@@rawovunlapin8201 Yep, that's my name. Rawov Un Lupin? :D

[@iug5672]

@@richardvlasek2445 I think the source engine can't really understand "passive" monster entities that are aggressive by nature. After a couple of time they WILL go back to their normal programming and attack.

[@Laxhoop]

“Sareth is remarkably bland, and I don’t know why.” Oh, I do. It’s because the writers knew the only real story options involved either damning the world or saving it, so Sareth was written to be a guy who would just as easily choose either option. So, you’ll regularly see him saying that killing people is bad, only to 20 minutes later say that he wants nothing more than to eat the hearts of his enemies. A character like this is only able to not be bland if the story acknowledges this bipolarism, but Dark Messiah not only doesn’t, it can’t, as the only character who spends enough time with Sareth to even potentially notice this, is the succubus inside his head, who was designed to love and worship him, so she’d never say anything. Or, I could simply be overthinking it, and they spent 90% of their development time designing the combat, AI, and environments, only to at the last minute realize they needed a story to link everything, and not upset the general world and lore of might and magic. It’s probably the latter, honestly.

[@Hemostat]

i'd always figured he wasn't exactly a person. More like, a ghoul. Just some body that your demon dad brought to life. I know there's nothing that indicates this, but it's not like there's much of a backstory. You just wake up-mid mission

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I'll pick the former, thank you very much.

[@WTFisTingispingis]

Who GIVES a fuck when the game has you kicking dudes over cliffs and shit?

[@kirillholt2329]

tbh I'm still crushing on Xara 13 years later

[@sofija1996]

@@Hemostat I've played the "prequel" story to this game (HoMM5 and its two expansions) and Sareth is supposed to be a half-human, half-demon born from, uh, non-consensual love-making between the queen of the human empire and the Demon Sovereign. He was taken from his mother at birth and that's about as much info as you get in those games. I haven't played Dark Messiah so I assume he was kept by remnants of the same demon-led conspiracy that got his mother kidnapped and briefly took over the empire until Arantir exposed them and a rather exotic coalition of human rebels, orcs, dwarves and wizards finally took them down. BTW don't play the HoMM5 campaigns, the game itself is good, if a little clunky in places, but the story is bad and the stock campaigns are an exercise in tedium.

[@hell4raizer]

"i seem to be surrounded by women who want things from me " lol

[@Adam-jn7nc]

we all are, we all are...

[@Thatonedude227]

xxjez I’m not. They all run away. Wanna trade?

[@CharlieWinterTV]

Randomly watching video after video from Mandalore and here's Electric Messiah cover art on avatar. Cheers! :D

[@Xeadriel]

i found that part pretty great for a video game. the main character was very relatable for once

[@dsandoval9396]

@@tehfoxxy9630 Harem.mp4 won't open because Reality.exe is already using the same resources. Do you want to end system process 'Reality.exe'? Ending this process will cause Life to become unstable or shut down. Are you sure you want to continue? [Shut down] *[Cancel]*

[@MacEwanMouse]

My favorite part of Home Alone was when Kevin lured that one orc to the top of the stairs, slipped it back down with an ice spell, and then leaped on top of it, beating it to death with a fire staff. That was a good movie.

[@susbedstain2900]

666

[@codered573]

Sounds about right.

[@dorpth]

I mean, he did use electricity to fry off Marv's skin until he was nothing but a skeleton. No, really. That happened in Home Alone 2.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

*Is.* Is a good movie. Oh, yeah, love that cartoon-like skeleton scene.

[@notinspectorgadget]

@@dorpth *"AHH!"* - Marv

[@RomualdFlibustier]

Nearly 15 years old and still not beaten by modern production regarding the melee combat gameplay nor the use of physics. If only Arkane could do another Arx Fatalis with this fighting system and a modern take on their magic gameplay, it would probably be a blast to play. I can only dream about this.

[@ytera8130]

Too bad Bethesda and Microsoft are gonna force them to make co-op shooters from now on.

[@blackcatpack]

they fucked up the redfall

[@bizznick444joe7]

You should try out Kingdom Come Deliverance. The combat system isn't intuitive like this but the overall gameplay is good

[@RomualdFlibustier]

@@bizznick444joe7 I liked it very much, one of my favourite game without a doubt 👌

[@FreedomFighterEx]

Holy shit. I'm in love with the combat system in this game. It hardly to find any game that allow you to use environment or objects around you as a weapon. This is like Jackie Chan's movie where he keep picking random stuff up and throw it around.

[@syrelian]

Ummm, thats a lot of dudes... *looks around* Barrels on a platform, that'll work *Breaks a support and snags a barrel as the rest roll over the orcs, and then throws the barrel at the last one standing* Problem solved The best part is that fights can just devolve into picking up the same five rocks over and over as you run in circles throwing them at people's heads, and it works

[@Aurilion44]

Don't forget immortal slipping on the ice trick. You can defeat an entire batalion that way :D

[@rambot_14o43]

Was that an insult or praise to jackie chan lol

[@badgermcbadger1968]

Play dishonored then

[@Kruwos]

This game really needed a sequel. Even if the story was unrelated the game play would be enough. Also, lightning bolt on mage in multiplayer was a tad overpowered but smart rogues could hard counter you. The real top tier class was archer. Even though archery was meh in single player you became a god in mp with drill arrows. Drill arrows tended to be harder to land on target because of their projectile arc but when you landed a head shot it was an instant kill. They also did more damage the farther they traveled giving you a great sense of accomplishment on hitting far targets.

[@riches3581]

I know right ? a sequel with Isabella in it.

[@Riverwood_trader]

You should try dishonored 2, its made by the same developers of dark messiah, its basically a dark messiah set in a fictional '800, im playing it and i feel like im playing dm.

[@HandsomeGamerGuy]

@@Riverwood_trader Dishonored is more Steampunk+Magic.

[@babbsan123]

i think a remake would be better.

[@sunfl0wer_988]

@@Riverwood_trader does it have a kick button tho?

[@reznolf]

Can we have a moment and appreciate those slick weapon switch / draw animations ? For a game that old they look so cool

[@neoqwerty]

Honestly this game is basically full of bugs in all the right places, and polish in enough places that between that and the bugs it's a great game.

[@cindervee478]

It's a bit on the annoying side when you're in a fight and have to switch from your spells to your weapon

[@reznolf]

@@cindervee478 I agree that it can be jarring and slow. However, a lot of games would have the attack animation cancel any prior one to keep the combat snappy and fast. Idk if this one has it but it's a good way of having both flashy animations and keeping the combat fun!

[@gabby3036]

And here I just commented how much I was reminded of Corvo's sword animation. Good lookin' out!

[@reznolf]

@@gabby3036 Yes definitely! I knew they felt familiar for some reason ahahah

[@GiantRobotIdeon]

Dark Messiah broke new ground. I watched the orc falling down the cliff and i clapped

[@XavIsOnline]

that meme... I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!!!111!!

[@IAmCaligvla]

IT TOOK TWELVE YEARS TO MAKE!

[@rubenfigueiredo3458]

Is this hack replacing the other hacks?

[@ahblooloo8639]

But can you see a cyclope ballsack?

[@agoose2511]

and then the cliff clapped.

[@theblackpantslegion]

This game pleases me. A lot. I must try it now.

[@sssogo]

I reckon this'd be right up your alley, Tex.

[@CHIKUNHED]

I beg you to do a LP for it... It's amazing.

[@theblackpantslegion]

maybe

[@luisgrilo492]

Oh shit maybe i should reinstall the multiplayer mode =) game is epic.

[@goatup2491]

BlackPantsLegion Yes its amazing! Even though i played the german version which made the game very complicated and i didnt know what the fuck i had to do i somehow finished it. 10/10

[@MagpieDynamics]

You really like that electrocuted Marv soundbite, don't you?

[@MarviNacho]

Goddamn it thank you, I've been wondering where that is from.

[@themilanguy1]

its in almost every mandalore video as a recurring easter egg. i love it

[@notaclone6888]

Who doesn't like it?

[@TheSectric]

Its like civvie and the "nice model!" Clip

[@drakewarrior1013]

Oh, I absolutely loved how the character moved! THe camera moved along with the body, "headbobing", you can see the whole body not being tied firmly to where you look. It just adds a lot to the immersion.

[@omega1231]

The DnD session everyone wants: Lord of the Rings The DnD session everyone gets: Dark Messiah of might magic ... and tbh i'm totally okay with that

[@Dead25m]

Player: "I throw a barrel at the Eye of Sauron!" Dungeon master: "oook.. You know you can't kill it right? Buuuuut... Roll for it?" Player: "Natural 20!" Dungeon master: "Eeeeh... The eye gets a lot of splinters and is now completely blind...." Player: "RUN FRODO, RUN!"

[@animeotaku307]

Honestly, players who use tactics straight from a game like this would be awesome.

[@icestrolo]

We started out as 4 travellers, trying to complete a couple of quest but ended up decapitating Goblins, using their blood as war paint for our faces and drinking their urine. Poor DM.

[@passingrando6457]

I am reminded of a one-off where the DM thought I was being chaotic stupid when I started collecting squishy bits from the undead we were slaying. Climactic showdown with the necromancer and his undead minotaur was much easier when the necromancer interrupted his invocation by vomiting around the ghoul eyeball I managed to toss in his mouth.

[@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286]

@@animeotaku307 You would need a DM who was more detailed with their descriptions so you could look for stuff to interact with mid-combat.

[@Tumoxa89]

9:46, there is a way to get that armor without telekinesis, in the yard with a box chain pendulum thingie there's a vertical ladder to the castle wall, from there to the left. Man, I've played a lot of this game, should probably play it some more.

[@ZahrDalsk]

Alternately you can scale up the cliffs outside the yard and enter that way. Probably the easiest way to clear that area (besides taking the sewers and skipping it) since you can then fight the black guards from a big height advantage, kick them off the ladder as they climb up to attack you, etc.

[@trabuco9]

"In Dark Messiah you're Brendan Fraser" JUST

[@anton2maa]

Ahh, the adventures of Ser Kickalot Time for a reinstall

[@Infernal460]

Theres no way out we are trapped ! (Proceeds to kicks servant down stairs to land on bandit)

[@sanderkiki]

Damn its 4 am and im reinstalling it myself, my 1st steam game from late 2007 year xD

[@stefank4286]

for the record: this his how you escape that situation correctly kzbin.info/www/bejne/pICQnmShjdChjK8

[@IRMentat]

I bought it new in a box and it was one of the first to allow a CD key to activate a steam version. Lost my fancy skins but got one hell of a time in multiplayer as compensation. Not enough games have copied this class balance or melee-hybrid system.

[@ninjasolidsnake]

Real talk. This game also has some the freakiest spiders in video game history. These scuttly lads can actually creep up on you along the walls and ceiling. Quite rare for spiders in games I've noticed.

[@casualnobody8557]

I bought Dark Messiah about a week ago and just beat it tonight (I've been taking my time), and my only wish is that it was longer. Or that they made a proper sequel since there's so much potential for expanding on the story, especially if you picked the mid-ground option at the end.

[@OTnvJuna]

One week, 6 playthroughs and 72 hours of playtime later I would like to thank you from the deepest of my heart for showing me this amazing game.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

What the fuck, this looks great. 11:56 - lol.

[@YTaccNo3]

inb4, top rated comment

[@Bigdaddymittens]

I love you Joseph.

[@BorrisStonoyanovich]

THE CHAD KNIGHT

[@shammytv]

collab with mandalore????

[@YTaccNo3]

@Shammy 3 way collab when? PS: second channel?

[@VaasYanovich]

Aw yes. The game of my childhood. And it's truly an amazing game. Every time I replay that game I find something new, that I haven't explored before. But every time I reinstall it (I'm russian) everything is in russian EXCEPT ZANNA. She's having german voice lines. I wonder if it is intended ;)

[@goatup2491]

Vaas Yanovich dude im dutch and i have the xbox disc and everything is in german... It was a pain in the ass to finish it

[@1010ZZZ1010]

different pop culture/ nazi memes somewhat known but are not part of folklore in Russia, it's porn reference. vintage German porn was first introduction to such kind of movies in SU. So "I saw this in one german movie" kind of joke is what everybody will understand on Russia, except maybe modern kids

[@acceptablecasualty5319]

Believe it or not this game had a big problem where the low-violence german version got mixed up by international stores and sold in russia amd such

[@acewolfgang276]

I'm a history buff but I didn't know that the Russians would make jokes about that stuff.

[@CGoody564]

@@acewolfgang276 about porn movies? That's a bit odd to think

[@norad_clips]

Me: Subscribes to Sseth KZbin: Recommends me _literally_ every video from his second channel.

[@rudimentaryganglia]

Second channel?

[@norad_clips]

MannyJazzcats MandaloreGaming

[@rudimentaryganglia]

@@norad_clips ah bit of a woosh over my old noggin there lol

[@pangoprime8674]

Lol! I’ve just recently been made aware of the connection between the two I mean the long running joke. It’s great I love seeing it in the comments. 👍

[@WarioMCP]

I’ve beaten this game a bunch of times and still I love it. It’s so charming. Just don’t play it on the highest difficulty level, where enemies just have a zillion health and standard combat doesn’t work at all anymore. On the moderate to hard difficulties you can use a combination of both and it’s fun and rewarding.

[@monsterlandproductions3407]

I actually just beat it on hardcore and had a great time lol. Spammed the Lightning shield and soul reaver, they made a great combo...

[@streetpreacher7752]

​@@monsterlandproductions3407Nah, it's shite. I tried to build a pure fighter and got fucked. Past a certain point I had to cheese every single enemy, including the mages, because the weapons just didn't hurt them, but they constantly killed me in two hits. Sponges have no place in this kind of game.

[@KrealTube]

I've been considering buying this for forever.

[@bloodsnake2092]

JUST DO IT!!! Only 5€ on steam xP

[@slothking6955]

You should get it, it's a really good game, one of my favourites.

[@syrelian]

Give it a shot, its rough around the edges, but overall age is treated it well, and the combat system largely holds up, if only because encouraging you to be a dirty dealing dickbag in a fight is always great

[@captainbean3114]

K R E AL

[@oldahe865]

ton of fun, so much ways to dispose of your enemies, the environment and weapons are endless + adrenaline-boosted spells are way too much fun (i find myself just spamming infinite adrelaline cheat to be able to throw enemies to the skies with telekinesis)

[@Hanfgurkenhasser]

Ah Dark Messiah, such a great game. And kinda showed what Arkane are best at: Fluid, expansive gameplay, interesting level design which compliments your fighting system and cool secret areas. Also what they - to this day - can't do: Interesting, deep characters with actual development, gripping story archs or world building. Hell, Dark Messiah was so much better than Dishonored in the character departement. Although that doesn't really say much. Great video as usual and awesome choice of music, I heard some Stronghold and War of the Ring music.

[@opticalmoose8091]

Hanfgurkenhasser I disagree, but only about worldbuilding. I think Dishonored universe is fantastic, probably one of my personal favorites. But the story and characters are meh, you're right.

[@СергейКосинский-б9я]

Arx Fatalis had some greath world building, at least for me.

[@Slucker_]

Something like "dont ever kill anyone or you will get a bad ending" made me hate that game, it doesnt force you to use stealth, but i uninstalled dishonored after a few non-lethal levels. Havent even tried sword fight or guns, but i got so sick from that boring teleport-crawling-choking sealth, that i dont ever want to instal it again. Dark messiah on the other hand does not force you to do do anything specific throu the all game, thus i had sooo mutch more fun in dark messiah

[@opticalmoose8091]

Andres Kozuhhovski Well I suggest you not focusing on getting a "good" ending and enjoying yourself. Honestly, the story even becomes a little interesting this way, and the main character gets a semblance of an actual arc. You are criticizing the game for giving you more choice and more content.

[@yungcommi]

+Andres Kozuhhovski It gives you a different ending. Whether you think it's bad is up to you. If you want another ending you'll have to go with the non-lethal path. Everything makes sense as well.

[@DreadPirateFury]

Archery and stealth builds work fine, once you get to critical strike that is. And really the mid to late game bows are the ones that you should be looking for, I noticed in this video you were using the rope bow to fight a death knight. The rope bow is purely utility and does NO damage. When you get to the higher tier points of the stealth abilities you can really walk around levels with impunity. It's perfectly fine. Just pick off important enemies before you inevitably get spotted, then dagger flurry and kick your way through the game for the rest of the time.

[@jamstonjulian6947]

The rope bow does do damage.

[@LighterST]

@@jamstonjulian6947 the rope bow really does do not do any meaningful damage

[@killazaawl]

yeah stealth is epic in this game, the dagger finisher / adrenaline attack is a dagger throw if remember correctly

[@Gilmaris]

14:16 "I seem to be surrounded by women who want things from me." Now, there's a sentence I have never uttered in my entire life :'(

[@clintmcbride7830]

"Well be together, forever" I don't se any red flags here. Literally made me laugh out loud.

[@BrandiPrime]

The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot Deathboot

[@aapocalypseArisen]

I love your avatar

[@MyTube31581]

Seriously who the fuck puts a Spikerack in his livingroom infront of his fireplace?

[@Andriej69]

Oh man, that game was pure sex. If only it was longer, with some more environments, enemies and less boring spider levels

[@Yetipfote]

the spiders creeped the shit out of me! :(

[@magosexploratoradeon6409]

@@thomasphil543 he meant the game itself is like sex.... Fun.

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

@@magosexploratoradeon6409 And its combat systems is like a mini goddamn orgasm.

[@completelyferrouschemist6776]

@@thomasphil543 To its detriment

[@Okxyd]

When I was a kid I dreamt about having the combat feel of Dark Messiah in a TES open world. It would have been infinite fun. Skyrim was a step up from Oblivion and Morrowind but it was still garbage with the combat.

[@EgoEroTergum]

10:45 I HEARD THE AGE OF MYTHOLOGY MUSIC. IT WAS MOST NOSTALGIC.

[@BlunderBuns]

Prostogma!

[@justinkroboth360]

Jesus, it's the Bronn of the Blackwater Simulator I've always wanted.

[@Gala-yp8nx]

"You sir have no honor!" "No." * points to giant hole with a 5000ft drop * "But he did."

[@semplar2007]

Ahahah lol right!

[@Sifer2]

Seems like there were a lot of underrated old Source games like this, and Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines. This one clearly wanted to play with the physics stuff though since that supposed to be neat back then when source was new.

[@TheGodEmperorOfMankind_]

I played it first when it came out, years later I played Dishonored and it felt oddly familiar. Turns out it was made from the same studio. Welp, time for a re-install.

[@discipleofdagon8195]

Piss of Anathema.

[@WastedScoundrel]

This game just has the most enjoyable bullshit story. I just can't take it seriously when you spend over 70 procent of the game kicking orcs off steep ledges. And some of the dialogue between the player character and the demon is just... fun? Bad? So horrifically bad that it makes me wanna tear my ears off sometimes? Yes, yes, and yes! "I'll just lower the pretty little gang plank, then."

[@shecklesmack9563]

It’s a perfectly comfy cornball 2006 PC game. 👌

[@Xeadriel]

cmon that part was fucking amazing. sareth was fucking aware of how cringy it is what xana constantly keeps saying. i think that part made it golden and feel relatable. in other games or movies the main character either ignores such characters or finds it normal or doesnt notice that they are weird. the fact that hes making fun of her is just very well made imo. also i laughed my ass of when he said that xD

[@sethbahlous9027]

This game was ahead of it's time

[@gamingman21]

like every arkane game, look at Arx fatalis, 2000 game blew my mind yesterday.

[@jacobloving6765]

Source engine is nice for physics.

[@charlesdexterward4726]

This Game is ahead of our Time

[@dreamreaver1218]

I bought it in retail on the first week it was released. I finished it many times through the years and it is still on of the most enjoyable experiences i ever had with a game. Awesome graphics and atmosphere, Source physics and great melee combat combine together to give you an awesome game.

[@Valkod23]

I'm pretty sure you got the stealth part backwards. I seem to recall the ring being filled with light as being indicated you're completely hidden, and the less full the ring is with the white segments, the less hidden you are.

[@vatroslavmorbidovic4105]

If we can get Vampire: Bloodlines 2 after all these years, maybe we can get DM 2. That would be nice.

[@skipperg4436]

After we got new Half-Life game, I'd say anything is possible

[@badgermcbadger1968]

Dishonored is pretty simmiliar and the story is much better so id rather have dishonored 3

[@nebeskisrb7765]

Well, this comment didn't age well.

[@Misanthropolis]

Shame that VTMB 2 is gonna be shit.

[@toobig7150]

@@nebeskisrb7765 why? what happened?

[@ActionCow69]

Tfw the succubus is the better girl but THAT HOLY STAFF THO loved my staff mage playthrough on my first run of this game

[@Krystalmyth]

Ah you too! Bashing people with the staff through walls was the best.

[@thomasphil543]

Staffs before hoes right

[@imfunnyiswear1490]

The succubus is a trash waifu. Absolute low tier. Lena isn’t much better. She’s a low mid tier at best. The game has very lackluster waifus.

[@passingrando6457]

@@imfunnyiswear1490 I think you switched those around. Leana is trash tier, Xana's low mid. Higher if you're familiar with her lore from HoMM5. For the uninitiated, Xana was a human sorceress who found her betrothed to be cheating on her, responded by summoning imps into his robes while he was wearing them, and got burned at the stake for demonology. Woke up as a succubus, and quickly developed a reputation as being ever so... Off, for a succubus. By which I mean she's a succubus who doesn't lie (she may not tell the whole truth, but she never knowingly tells an untruth), and the other demons think she's weird for being a romantic and downright prudish by succubi standards.

[@LighterST]

@@passingrando6457 The girl has a whole lore background! I've been replaying this game for a decade but literally never thought of googling for stuff in the homm universe outside the game. Thank you

[@MasterGGG]

this game needs to be remastered, its a true gem.

[@99thJediWarrior]

The game itself seems to push you to being something of a multi-class kind of character. You shouldn't be limited to just blades and you shouldn't be limited using magic. You're given the option to be like a Fighter-Mage kind of character. Or even a Fighter-Thief, whatever you wish. You aren't being forced down one path or another, but rather you are meant to cover your bases by taking multiple abilities and skills from each path. Side Note: Xana is best girl for both Good and Bad endings.

[@Krystalmyth]

It still upsets me there hasn't been a first person game with sword play as good as this one since it was released.

[@dumel2831]

Mordhau?

[@Batchall_Accepted]

Condemned criminal origins is kind of close. Except in that game it's pipes and crowbars rather than swords

[@murph5455]

shadow warrior is pretty great.

[@lukaslefevre8007]

Vermintide?

[@rareraven]

And now you can play: Warhammer 40K: Darktide 17 nov or 30 nov depending if you pre ordered.

[@Nik0ran]

The Kevin McCallister comment basically summed up how I've been trying to summarise the combat in this game. Thank you.

[@Bigdaddymittens]

Arkane needs some more appreciation. They literally have not made a bad game

[@danieladamczyk4024]

I would disagre with you DMM&M suffer for heavy cause of Red Herring. Core mechanic if the game is to play with environment, magic branch of skill tree suport that, but combat branch is not realated with it whatsoever. You may thinks that is good idea to spent point on it, but in reality you waste those precios point. There is easy to fix solution here, instead in example: power(vanila) give you passive bonus to attack, wich don't change nothing power(in my) if higher level that bigger object you can grab and throw with more streng.

[@TheSharpmarksman]

dishonored death of the outsider is a recycled mess of an SJW "expansion" where even the main Villain is also a "victim"

[@crim1188]

TheSharpmarksman As much as I hate SJW stuff, I cant agree with you. there was nothing of that nature in DotO. It simply gave Outsider personality and background. I know how you feel, but Arkane is not into this shit

[@Acesahn]

Dishonored 2. Their latest was a pretty shit game. Unless you like SJW bullshit and androgynous, gender bender protagonists.

[@pikistikman]

They haven't made a particularly good one yet, either.

[@AnonRanGER01]

I've played through this so many times... it's downright shocking there's no add-ons or custom maps for this, especially since it's using Source.

[@isuckatusernames4297]

iirc there's a mod that adds in some cut content and a new game plus.

[@DMX-PAT]

This game reminds me of those early days of next gen gaming, finally we got to the 360/ps3 era. 3D graphics full swing and things are starting to actually look and feel like we always wanted growing up. reminds me of the Darkness, Prey, The Condemned... Fun Games with really smart/funny AI!!

[@SUPERVANS56]

I like to think they went on to form a wholesome nuclear family with evil dad making a really great grandpa.

[@carlirvinenicolas7874]

I can imagine that dad retelling his conquests to his grandchildren as bed time stories.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

SUPERVANS “And that, kids, was the story of how I killed an entire orc battalion by throwing barrels at them.” “Supper time! We’re having parboiled human essence!”

[@passingrando6457]

Funny thing is, according to HoMM lore, Xana is a hopeless romantic despite being a succubus, so she'd probably be down for that.

[@toakovika]

A ‘Kha-Beleth is freed’ timeline would be so interesting, yet so fucked-up. Would Isabel just be discarded as an army of demons cleaves through Ashan? Hell, would Sheogh’s residents just muscle in and demand their own territory?

[@titanjakob1056]

Wait you cna be kevin McAllister while being a knight/mage, while using barrels to throw at your enemy’s, using the foot of god to launch enemy’s, cutting chandeliers/hanging coffins to turn you enemy’s to Swiss cheese, and move like doom guy?! How much does this beautiful game cost?!

[@SpikeEye]

Assuming you haven't already looked at this point, it's only €4.99 on Steam. Should be as much in dollares if you use those instead.

[@iamlazycatxP]

13:48 - when your Dad is out of tp and hears you walking past the bathroom door

[@Archone666]

I LOVE this game! You're making me want to reinstall it and play it AGAIN. Though I would note that archery IS a viable build... and I'm saying that as someone who almost never plays archers in games. But on one of my many playthroughs I tried the archery build and found that it's not only quite effective against most enemies, it's particularly effective against the cyclops boss fights.

[@alexross911]

The funny thing is that even though I saved Leanna in each playthrough I kept choosing Xana. I think even though she isn't very nice when talking about others, she saves your life and is loyal to you (dispute the whole "demons are pure evil"). So it felt wrong to take a holy water bath to get rid of her. Also I didn't like how quick Leanna is at attacking you just because you didn't listen to her demands. I SAVED you from being eaten by a GAINT SPIDER! Let me have a sucubus waifu!😖

[@Coldwyn]

One of my favorite games of all time, still holds up really well. Great review.

[@knavenformed9436]

6:30 You stood on clearly higher ground where the cleave hit your legs

[@mmmmonke8085]

I know I'm super late but this is a good motif to start playing again. This time when you play you can pick 3 characters... picking a character involves around how you make the game for yourself which for my experience was brilliant. This idea is amazing and I'm proud to play it like this. 1- Wizard: for this character you can only use spells and staffs for weapons or combat. It involves using your skill points to be used ONLY on your mana storage and all the spells (you could also upgrade one or two health points.) Also there are armors set for being a wizard and you can find it multiple times throughout the game. This option in my opinion is the hardest. 2- Assassin: now this option might be one of the most pleasing for some as it actually makes a lot of sense and is fun. For this character you cannot upgrade any spells but only the night vision as it is a vital part but you can use your skill points to upgrade lockpick, stealth, archery and critical hit. Obviously if played well you would get many more skill points throughout the game and you can upgrade strength and melee combat as well. The weapons include all the bows, all the daggers, all swords (unless they require 3 strength by which case you need to wait until you completely finish all the stealth and other components of an Assassin's skill. However, if you're looking to make it a bit more strict and even more fun you can only stick to the naga swords that you find throughout the game but of course any sword would be okay. For armor there is a master assassin's armor you can find in a few secret places but mostly found throughout the game. 3- Soldier: if you are looking forward to play the game as the easiest character this would be your choice. If you want to be a soldier you can upgrade health with skill points as well as melee combat strength critical hit and archery as well as the last one of course. For weapons you can use all swords all bows NO daggers and NO staffs. The armors are also clear and could be found throughout the game. That's it let me know how you feel like about these characters as they might be an insentive to play the game again if so tell me any suggestion that you might have I would be glad to hear someone else play this game as it is absolutely my FAVORITE game of all time.

[@RareCondition]

I replayed it as an assassin with freeze, firetrap and telekinesis as compliments to stealth. In the black guard warehouse I silently back-stabbed a guard who was eating alone in a room, planted a firetrap on his corpse, used telekinesis to open the door from the shadows then flanked behind the other guards as they walked up to investigate the body. The explosion killed two and a headshot from my bow instantly killed the survivor. They never even knew I was there, so satisfying.

[@mmmmonke8085]

@@RareCondition ooft very nice. That character seems like a magical assassin lol

[@rocksgoldjr]

Hey MandaloreGaming! Thanks for the review , I normally do not write comments, but this is an exception. This game is awesome and I never knew it existed, plus a generic fantasy esthetic I do not think I would have ever tried it even if I did. Thanks to your review I am having a blast with this game! Best Regards, Joey Like a baby kangaroo

[@DieHardjagged]

6:33 - You know what i suspect what happened there? It could very well be that it was not the Enemy who landed that hit despite you having the shield up, since a second later, you can see a faint red color which lets me assume your "Partner" that tagged along with you, just shot off a Fireball, which was meant for your Enemy but instead also did hit you, which in the end resulted in that hit, which you thought occured because the Enemy cut through your defense.

[@96Iheb]

Xana is the only waifu

[@rockystone714]

Ponyyish Bros before Hoes amirite?

[@SaurianSavior]

The real hero was MGTOW.

[@zfreaks5601]

Sky Kun The sing she saids when you purified yourself wooo that was something

[@nocturnal_noise]

I just made the same comment, pretty much, then scrolled down and saw your's. I see you, too, are a man of culture, Sky.

[@mancamiatipoola]

This game's combat system looks so innovative and interesting. I am shocked i never heard of this game. When i was playing HL2 i was a bit disappointed they didn't do more things with the havok engine then just a couple puzzles and watching enemies fall of ledges. This game GETS IT! They thought "old on guv, 'ow can we make be'e use o dis phys'cs engine, eh?". The mad bastards actually made fully interactive environments that you can use as sandbox in any fight. Absolutely brilliant. Im getting this game right now! That's right, im already opening up the store page! XD

[@HouseLyrander]

If you liked Dark Messiah, I suggest looking in to Elderborn and/or the demo for Sorceress. They both were made by huge Dark Messiah fans and have dedicated kick buttons. Elderborn is more of a heavy metal action game, and Sorceress seems to be more of a mix between combat and physics puzzles.

[@Denazon]

My first game on Steam. Still one of my favourites.

[@Tottalycruel1]

From Funhaus to Mandalore, the Dark Messiah Arc has finally come full swing

[@drone6675]

“I have a riddle for you!”

[@hippopilot6750]

I was annoyingly waiting for that marv scream as soon as I saw the lightning. That home alone montage had me so pissed I thought you forgot!

[@smartyhardy8924]

I can't even believe how well this game aged

[@ewanedwards6822]

To provide an answer to the question on how that orc did damage when talking about combat, I actually think what happened there was you took damage from the mage chicks' firebolt, it looks like you can see the explosion on the left side of the screen right in your face. Just a fun little notice

[@bloodygypsy3740]

I bloody love this game. Definitely one of the best games I've played, combat wise. A "hidden" gem to be sure!

[@admiralsnackbarkekwalice6167]

Pro tip, specing in to magic largely prevents you from using martial weapons. In the first real level at night, you can find a hidden forge and hand make your own sword that you can still use as a battlemage, turning you in to a lightly armored spell sword. One of my favorite things.

[@ZephaniahNoah]

I like the War of the Ring RTS soundtrack in the background. Nice touch.

[@Spacialvekter]

The Gachi lines always make me laugh way harder than they should.

[@Berry_Goosey]

I would love it if Arkane went back and revisited this game series at some point. Maybe remake it?

[@TheSharpmarksman]

you might be suprised, but this game works with 3440X1440 out of the box and visually it looks decent for a 2007 game a wiser action would be a prequel, maybe before the events of heroes V

[@Okxyd]

The licence of Might and Magic belongs to Ubisoft and Arkane to Zenimax now. But Arkane could make a Arx Fatalis 2 which is basically the ancestor of DM.

[@maximeteppe7627]

I think there would be a terrific market for an action RPG with that type of immersive sim approach to action and combat. It could also push me over to buying a headset if it were available in VR.

[@R.R.R.465]

"I seem to be surrounded by women who want something from me" Me at 12: I'm in trouble Me at 19: Awesome Me at 30: I'm in trouble

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Probably you at 40: Meh

[@maxherman3884]

I know I'm late to the comments, but if you go full stealth and trickster for the game, and take your time looking for secrets, health isn't really a problem. I play dark messiah the same way I play dishonored: meticulously, and if you play that way, you don't nessisarily need the heal skill. I don;t even really abuse quick-save/quick-load. Dark Messiah, especially in the early game, is one where you WILL be spotted, and in the late game there are some areas where you basically have to fight fast-moving enemies. That said, stealth is mostly viable, and even in situations where I had to fight, the enviornemnt provided enough advantages that I could win. Great game, kinda buggy in some places, Mandalore was right on the money with how it treats its story. Environments are great. I was consistently amazed by how many levels let you kick enemies off of cliffs or ledges.

[@vincentfox4929]

0:03 WAAAGH!!!

[@TehSEOULMAN]

I missed that Home Alone scream

[@malhekai]

Mandalore sure loves that clip!

[@utisti4976]

The Wilhelm scream?

[@Humble_Merchant]

World's most underrated game.

[@ChicoAzevedo]

Agree!

[@asterixobelix20]

One of my favourite quotes from the game: "Your pretty little friend can come on board without becoming a pretty little pincushion." "I'll just lower the pretty little gangplank then..." "Sareth!" Don't know why it always bring a smile on my face :) .

[@combinecommando001]

You can tell that Dishonored had the massive power of hindsight from this game. You can see where they fixed what needed to be fixed and kept what needed to be kept, such as the combat system. The one thing Dark Messiah would have greatly benefited from would have been a hub world. Have more missions to progress the character and reward the player for going out of their way to do it. Granted, there are story missions such as the Temple island that would need to be continuous but that alone should carry its own twist, mainly about how you can't resupply at the hub world, sort of like the Flooded district in Dishonored, again, hindsight. As it is, the game itself is great and I greatly enjoyed it, if anything, more than its competitor that came out in the same year, Oblivion. Sure it's not open world, but the combat system is so much more fun, and of course, the source engine jank, mwah, spicy!

[@GiftFromGod]

I've never been a big fan of these kinds of games but I played this game through and through when it came out and have great memories from it still to this day :D Like now, I saw it mentioned and wanted to look up some gameplay of it

[@joesomebody3365]

This game looks like it could be a lot of fun, it reminds me of some of the "bar fight" simulator indie type games (Like paint the town red) but with a full game rather than just a series of levels where you beat people up and throw stuff at them. It's a shame they didn't continue making these.

[@nopens]

While being linear, this game somehow felt so much better than any TES game at the time. Still does. Magic was FUN to play with, combat still kicks ass, physics is a part of the game and not for visuals alone. Sadly, multiplayer perished too soon. It was seemingly too niche and attracted too niche players.

[@shyspacewolf4675]

Being linear probably gave then time to work on making the combat actually fun

[@Krystalmyth]

Dark Messiah is why I can't stand TES games and their boring combat. Because I know it can be better. Even Thief had better combat.

[@Elefthesis]

One of the best and first game my parents bought me in the walmart after i chose it by myself. I was so happy with my choice when i first played it and had a great blast with it! Oh the memories

[@Raytenk]

I never heard of this game before, just heard someone talk about it in a skyrim video. I came to this and replayed the intro like 3 times... HOLY CRAP the combat looks amazing already

[@MorteTheSkull]

As much as I prefer the story of the pre-reboot Might and Magic and Heroes games, I kind of like the setting stuff in this and Heroes 5 and how they tie together. The "Tribes of the East" expansion for Heroes 5 had some direct references to this game, and the politics of the Orcs and who they are, not just evil but a race of freedom-seeking people with demon blood who'd been exploited by the wizards, was super cool. Also the Demons themselves having some not-quite-evil characters.

[@NotSoMelancholy]

I miss source engine games. Back when physics were the flavour of the month and devs were coming up with the most creative ways possible of intertwining them with gameplay

[@azenrog]

That clip you showed up, when the orc "glitched" through your shield. It wasn't a glitch, there was a female mage behind you that threw a fireball at you.

[@Aurilion44]

@ludwig amadeus Basically, he got hit in the legs beneath the shield :)

[@ITBEurgava]

Yep. Arrows to the knee or ankle can bypass shield blocks too.

[@quack_stack]

The one true swashbuckling game, I'd love to see more in this style.

[@Sareth94]

this is hands down one of my favorite games. It is as you have said by no means flawless, but it's fighting & mechanics are something few games have matched in its intensity. Arkane really are my favorite Developer: Arx Fatalis, Dark Messiah, Dishonored 1/2... They have a knack for beautiful games with deep world interactivity and combat.

[@thehoodedteddy1335]

Playing this game, the best part is that the scream when someone falls off a cliff just *barely* peaks their microphone

[@Kain2451]

Aaaaah, one of my most favourite games. Nice!

[@hmdragon1638]

man I just remember Sparta kicking armies of orcs off cliffs.

[@3ipolarBear]

What the hell, i just found your channel randomly checking recommends and i saw this review, i was playing the game yesterday after over a year without touching it so i thought why the fuck not and boy i was blasted away by nearly everything i found here, i had the initial assumption you were somekind of neckbeard that reviewed mainly obscure quirky games and old rpg/rts that drew me in due to the exquisite music taste(specially the AoE2/AoM), admitedly that threw me off at first, but you have some of the most solid and still humorous reviews that offer sound gameplay as a bonus, your style of reviewing reminds of some weird mix of demolition d and yahtzee from zp with mild shitposting thrown into the mix, and i just fucking love it, been watching every video of yours for the last 5 hours or so. And as an added bonus, i just found out you were the dude who uploaded that apolodosh video 5 bloody years ago, hell, i still remember watching it like it was fucking yesterday just around when i got into playing the original kf and was starting to get lured into the autistic community, feels like i just stumbled into an easter egg of some sort.

[@ScabbyCrab]

I love this channel, it's like somebody going through the Funhaus demo disk game list and actually reviewing them.

[@Wilkanas]

The review made me buy the game in an instant, and I got to say that it was money well spent. The term "fantasy bar fight" perfectly describes the game. I only wish that modern action-RPG would have more focus and resources poured into adaptive combat and level interactions like Dark Messiah did.