Later you can just expand the walls, so the limited space never becomes a challenge to think your way through. Space is at a premium, as are resources, so sometimes you need to make a choice like 'Do we want fishermen or hunters?' In practice, though, you'll just play fiddly Tetris with building placement and, as a worst-case scenario, knock down something you no longer need to make room for more. Your town of six to 18 villagers is confined to the gord, and every building must be made inside the palisade space so that it's protected. Of course, I’ve seen worse stories fail to sink a solid game, but Gord's gameplay turns out to be uninspired and shallow as well.

The lone good voice performance, the obnoxious and disgusting king's emissary, salvages his own cliche-ridden lines, but can do nothing to lift up everyone and everything else. None of the writing is either meaningful or memorable. Most of the background comes in the form of a lore journal, the Chronicle, that narrates stories at you in pseudo-archaic language. It's just people regurgitating backstory in lieu of anything notable happening around you. The plot inevitably delves into a Slavic-inspired dark fantasy spiel about dead gods and epic conflicts, but it does so without any real flair or dramatic voice.

Darkest dungeon combat skills dmg mod