A Diablo clone offering some new takes on the well known formula

User Rating: 7.7 | Throne of Darkness PC
Throne of Darkness plays much like Diablo but has some new takes on the gameplay, mainly by making you head honcho over a team of seven warriors, out of which up to four can be present on the screen at any given time. You will send them back and forth using teleportation spells throughout the game, allowing the wounded to heal at the base camp. The restrained environment is a beautiful Japanese mythological countryside and the peaceful music sets the mood perfectly.

There were a few game concepts that struck me as ill-advised. Controlling four bloodthirsty warriors in battle is no small task as they fan out into different directions, being ganged up on by enemies instead of joining forces. The available attack patterns for different strategies were not very helpful, the result would inevitably lead to one key warrior getting overrun every single time. Back to micromanaging.

My major gripe though, comes with the services offered by the blacksmith and the priest. First you need to seek out precious raw materials prying them from the hands of vanquished foes. Second, you have to amass a hefty amount of money to have the services carried out and on top of that you will have to wait a token amount of time for the creation of the magical item or whatever to be manufactured. For more exclusive items this can easily take a couple of minutes. Now, imagine you would like to refit a number of your warriors will new armor and weapons and you begin to see how much of your time will be spent waiting for these services to be finished. Absolutely ridiculous!

On the whole though, if you can put up with these little hassles and are fond of Diablo-style clickfests I think you will have a good time with this game.