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Making My Peace with Sacred 3


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Making My Peace with Sacred 3 - A long-time fan's perspective

So, I have a dirty confession: over the holiday break, not only did I play Sacred 3, I actually enjoyed it enough to play it all the way through completion, including the DLC.

It's not that bad of a game.  :tomato: The only real problem with it is that it pretends to be a sequel to the Sacred franchise.  Had it been released with some other name, and not used place and character names from Sacred 1, I think it would have been much better received.

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I joined pretty much every other Sacred fan in existence in panning Sacred 3 as soon as trailers and game details were released.  Where was my complex RPG with endless customization and nuanced character builds?  Where was my huge, seamless open world with hidden secrets begging to be explored? Where was my awesome loot piñatas?  Where were any of the things I wanted from a Sacred game?

Even so, it's just been sitting there in my library all these years, unplayed.  So I decided to give a shot before I deleted it from my PC forever.  I started a new game with the Seraphim character.  And surprisingly, as each day passed, I found myself looking forward to firing it up more and more.

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The gameplay is fast, slick and console-like. I needed to plug a controller into my PC to properly play it.  There was lots of action, as expected from an arcade beat 'em up. You feel powerful, while also being challenged. Controls are snappy and responsive. Graphics look really good. Your character does progress, in terms of combat arts and gear, though it is incredibly shallow compared to S1 or Sacred 2.

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There is something else though beyond these surface elements, that I appreciate from a fan's perspective. I really feel like the development team tried to make this game take place in Ancaria. They did some homework. This is not like Dungeon Siege III, which had a few familiar names thrown into an otherwise strange and unfamiliar world.  In Sacred 3, many levels, characters, and pieces of lore call back directly to Sacred 1. They even had all the graveyard have headstones with silly inscriptions.

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Sacred 1 is the only game that's referenced though. It is as if Sacred 2 never existed, but that kind of makes sense, since Sacred 2 was meant to be a prequel set in the distant past, and Sacred 3 continues on after the events of Sacred 1.

I think another reason they didn't include much from Sacred 2 is because of how those characters were directly ripped from movies: Stargate (Temple Guardian/Anubis Guard), Star Wars (Inquisitor/Palpatine), Spawn (classic Seraphim/Angela), Gladiator (Shadow Warrior/Russell Crowe in Gladiator), etc.

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The big callbacks to Sacred 1 are the "Weapon Spirits." These are basically passive buffs that you unlock, that also accompany your character in the form of voiceovers that make commentary periodically. Each Weapon Spirit has a buff and penalty, and they will make comments throughout the missions for flavor.

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The Sacred series was known for humor and not taking itself too seriously. Sacred 3 really embraces this but honestly takes it way too far. Everything everyone says is basically a dirty joke, a sarcastic comment, or a fourth-wall breaking gag.

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So... yeah. Sacred 3 is shallow and simple, and not what you're looking for if you want more of what Sacred 1 and 2 offered.  I doubt I will ever replay it with one of the other characters.  It's very easy to see its referencing of past heroes and places in a totally different context as something insulting.  But the game has its charms.  I'm glad I played through the whole thing, if only to lay it to rest.

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heh, great title.  I never actually played the game either after reading about much they condensed the concept.  I love action arcade games, but since this one started off in my heart and memory as something to much bigger, I guess it'll always be a thorn in my side.  The game does look pretty flashy huh ? I remember on Reddit one of the devs showed up there offering his key for a free game to first person that asked.  The conversation after that was a great read. This Dev wrote that he didnt understand all the toxicity that came out against their team, that they had put together a good game and because he read all the negative reviews he felt he had to go on reddit as an authorized source for him to "understand" what happened.  He pretty sincere in his answers, and I cold begin to see the other side of the coin...but I'm still going to hold fast for the REAL Sacred game that I know is coming... against all odds!

Thanks for the review Flix, I think ill go visit some trailers now cuz of you

:D

 

gogo

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The game studio comes up with an idea, but the investor who gives the money and founds the studio, decides where the journey goes. Happened far too often, never went well. Too bad. The whole franchise had a lot of potential.

Who is holding the rights on Sacred by the way?

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THQ Nordic bought them and that's potentially a good sign.  They did right by the longtime fans of Titan Quest by remastering the game and including all the bug fixes from the fan patch, as well as releasing more expansion content.  And that game is older than Sacred 2 by a couple years.

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There's still a lot of Sacred in the world.  Every year we keep meeting more and more people here at DarkMatters who keep getting deeper and deeper into this game and it's legacy.  Look at the huge jump in modding this year... all from not going horizontal with this game in a traditional way but with people just engaging in what they love most... doing Sacred stuff :gogo:... going deep...fractally? ( lol maybe that's too much Ender's game here I'm thinking ;)) 

 Love what you said about Titan Quest... it means that there's always going to be an angle that's going to get someone interested in coming up with something.

Maybe one day something will come that will be a great reflection of Sacred's true blood

:)

 

gogo

 

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I had in mind to contact THQ possibly maybe. The idea is silly and does not promise much but maybe they release the source code of both games or even the tools Ascaron used back in the day. It would be a huge jump forward. But before I do so someone has to check my grammar first. It really could use some polishing. Also, it might be helpful if the modding sections blooms a bit more.  IF these guys are interested they will surely check this site out to see if it is worth the effort.

Speaking of S1 and Sacred 2, did you notice that there's some kind of iron curtain? Eastern Europe prefers S1, western Europe and north America prefers Sacred 2.

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On 1/23/2020 at 5:49 AM, Dax said:

I had in mind to contact THQ possibly maybe. The idea is silly and does not promise much but maybe they release the source code of both games or even the tools Ascaron used back in the day. It would be a huge jump forward. But before I do so someone has to check my grammar first. It really could use some polishing. Also, it might be helpful if the modding sections blooms a bit more.  IF these guys are interested they will surely check this site out to see if it is worth the effort.

Speaking of S1 and Sacred 2, did you notice that there's some kind of iron curtain? Eastern Europe prefers S1, western Europe and north America prefers Sacred 2.

I love your enthusiasm, but let me tell you that I've worked directly with Nordic Games before its name change into the current form and to me there wasn't only a name change but also a major overhaul in their way of doing things. I can't and won't go into details but I think you'll have better luck moving rocks with the power of your mind. Sad but true. :(

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On 1/28/2020 at 4:41 PM, Androdion said:

I love your enthusiasm, but let me tell you that I've worked directly with Nordic Games before its name change into the current form and to me there wasn't only a name change but also a major overhaul in their way of doing things. I can't and won't go into details but I think you'll have better luck moving rocks with the power of your mind. Sad but true. :(

Man you can't just mention something like that and not elaborate.  :3lmao:

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On 1/29/2020 at 7:49 PM, Androdion said:

Well, I did sign an NDA. Sorry guys! :dntknw: But let's just say that sometimes the focus of the business shifts...

Androdion, may I ask..have you worked for gaming companies in past?

:)

 

gogo

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Not on the payroll no. I was a moderator on a game forum later owned by the company, so I eventually was legally treated like any other employee. I had access to some inside information and beta releases. But that was it. Still, these things are legally very strict, much like a web hoster blocking this forum because someone posted a crack. So I'm not at liberty to discuss certain things.

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Understandable that a game company is not interested in doing things for free, especially not in the times of today. Every single penny counts and the times, where money was rolling in like crazy, are over. Helping out some fans in the middle of nowhere without making profit? Very unlikely.

Thanks for the insight Androdion, it saves me the trouble. To be honest, I expected something like that. 

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Well I would buy a Sacred 2 remastered if they did a proper job of it.  The same reason I picked up Titan Quest Anniversary Edition.  Yeah, they're milking it for money, making and selling new DLC, but they're pumping out content and included the entirety of the fan patch.

Imagine the new life breathed into Sacred 2 if they released an Anniversary Edition. that included the Community Patch fixes built in.

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In this case, the biggest mistake would be to release any tools, or even the source code. Bioware did it with Neverwinter Nights and I bet that they regret it until today. Stupid fans started to work on their own and refused to buy the latest cr!p. Many performed even better than the company itself btw.

So IF there is interest in S1 or Sacred 2, then only in a financial way.  As Androdion mentioned.

To be honest, nowadays I would rather support a small indy studio than a big, fat megacorp that tries to steal as much money as possible from the customer eerrrrm player. I mean player.

 

Oh, one question

What would happen if THQ would reactivate the franchise and claim the rights. What would be the status of a mod? Can they declare it illegal?

Edited by Dax
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  • 8 months later...
On 10/6/2020 at 7:54 AM, Timotheus said:

The cringy dialogue makes me loose a braincell everytime. I can just feel 'em going * NOPE * and deleting themselves :4rofl: Honestly, it's just too much. But the gameplay is solid, for what gameplay there is.

Haha yes.  The jokes are sooo bad.  It's worth playing through all the missions once, but having done that, true to my predictions, I've had no real desire to pick it up again.

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  • 2 months later...
On 12/22/2020 at 1:48 PM, Timotheus said:

The winter sale is upon us, and Sacred 3 is 75% off for anyone who's interested...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/247950/Sacred_3/

Dang good deal!... isnt this the version of the game that  is pretty much easiest way to access to too all patches easily?

:)

 

gogo

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Yeah about that... I gave it another go literally a few hours ago. Man the boring mechanics get under my skin though.
Who in their right mind makes you attack a ship with exploding barrel-enemies (which you have to knock out by the way) when I have a ranged attack?

 

It ticked me off so much I exited the game and decided to do a late "spring cleaning" of all the rubbish games in my Steam inventory which I haven't touched in ages or never will again. 
I deleted about 60% of my games library. My biggest mistake? Buying LEGO games, and a few Far Cry titles. Almost everything else was really cheap or free. Sacred 3 is still in there, for now, but if I encounter any stupid mechanics like that again I'm done lol.

:pirate:

Edited by Timotheus
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