Info about Blackthorn Arena: Reforged: Official game description: Digital Deluxe Edition ====================== The Blackthorn Arena: Reforged - Gladiator Pack includes： Blackthorn Arena: Reforged -------------------------- Re-experience the thrill and challenges of managing a Gladiator arena in this management/simulation game. With new content, new graphics, Quality of Life updates, and all DLCs packed into this new experience, this is how Blackthorn Arena was meant to be experienced. Age Of Magic DLC ---------------- The arena transforms as magic enters the fray in the Age of Magic. Join the Wild Mage Association in their quest to bring magic to the Freelands, introducing new spells, challenges, and a fresh layer of strategy to gladiatorial combat. There’s also two hours of new storylines—including two well-designed levels that will test your skills and immerse you further in the arena’s evolving world. Blackthorn Arena: Reforged - Supporter Pack ------------------------------------------- Unlock Never Before Seen Content and a Legendary Weapon and Armor Set Full Legendary Armor Set - The Kingdom Glory Set (Helmet, Upper, Lower) Unique Legendary Weapon - Royal Heritage 16 Pages of Concept Art 17 Pages of Design Concepts 5 4K Wallpapers The Digital Soundtrack - 3 Songs About the Game ============== Re-experience the thrill and challenges of managing a Gladiator arena in the new Blackthorn Arena: Reforged. With new additional content gameplay, new graphics, Quality of Life updates, and all DLCs packed into this new experience, this is how Blackthorn Arena was meant to be experienced. Enter The Freelands, a realm of adventurers and fortune seekers, where the quest for wealth is above all else. You have just inherited the Blackthorn Arena, and how you manage it is up to you.. **Features** ------------ * 15 Arenas each with its own unique style * 26 Legendary Champions with their own powerful battle styles. * 7 Different Weapon types for your gladiators to master * 12 Unique Gladiator classes/Genre * About 200 Different skills that can be combined to make the Ultimate Gladiator * More than 100 unique enemy types! Players will encounter tough opponents in a variety of competitions and side exploration missions * Around 500 pieces of equipment, including Legendary Weapons and Armor Sets for players to obtain * "Blackthorn Arena: Reforged" features a Real-Time Combat System with an optional Auto battler Combat System. Players can switch to it at anytime of the Game. * More than 30 hours of playing time! Lots of abundant Events and Side Missions are waiting! **Core Gameplay** ----------------- 1) Assemble Your Gladiators --------------------------- Buy slaves and train them into Gladiators. You will need to manage their attributes, skills, talents, and equip them with the best armor and weapons you can afford. Some of them may exhibit the capacity to become auxiliaries for your crew, such as cooks, healers, drillmasters, blacksmiths, etc. 2) Claim Your Glory ------------------- Send your Gladiators to fight in more than 14 diverse arenas or dispatch them to explore The Freelands for loot and secrets. Challenge champions of other arenas and take over their positions. Strive to become the most powerful arena master in the world. 3) Manage Your Arena -------------------- As your gladiators win battles in other arenas, you will gain money and reputation. Winning leads to new slaves, better equipment, and upgrades for your establishment when needed. Reputation is important too, as it highly effects the Arena's income. Key Features 1) All Gladiators Are Living People ----------------------------------- All Gladiators exist dynamically in the world – not just the ones affiliated with you, but also the gladiators in other Arenas. Gladiators will fight in different competitions held all over the world every day. They can die, get injured, or grow stronger, just as your gladiators do. Whenever you defeat other Gladiators, you can either spare their lives or execute them - which can lead to unexpected outcomes! 2) RPG Character Development ---------------------------- Blackthorn Arena offers players a cRPG character development system. Choose between multiple major attributes, weapon types, and combine over 100 combat skills to build a unique Gladiator. Your Gladiators will gain various traits during their Gladiatorial career, which will have a strong impact on competitions. 3) Diverse Equipment -------------------- Choose from over 500 pieces of armor and weapons, and not just for combat effectiveness but also for the aesthetic! Each set of armor has a unique appearance and will be reflected in the game’s advanced avatar system. There are also mysterious Legendary Weapons and Armor waiting for players to find and obtain them. 4) Abundant Events and Side Missions ------------------------------------ As an arena master, you must deal with several events every day. Some of them may be opportunities while others spell disaster. Thus dealing with all kinds of emergencies also becomes an important and inevitable experience of managing an arena. Meanwhile, there are a large number of side missions in the game. Players can trigger them and send Gladiators to participate in the missions such as highway robberies, exploration of dungeons, beast hunting, and many other quests! 5) Hold Your Venationes! (beast Show) ------------------------------------- Players can dispatch Gladiators to various exploration areas to discover, and capture rare and powerful creatures to put them into the arena as the finale of hosting Venationes. 6) A Variety Of Different Arena Rules ------------------------------------- The battle between the arenas is not limited to just 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4. At the same time, there are different battle modes such as venationes, exhibition, tag fight, throne challenge and tournament to challenge players’ ability. 7) Real-time Combat With A Tactical Pause ----------------------------------------- The game’s combat is based on real-time, but you can pause it at any moment to issue a command, switch between characters, or apply several other actions. Release date: 2 Nov, 2024 Categories: Management Simulation, Character Management, Character Customization, Real-time Combat, Strategic Combat, RPG, Exploration, Base Building - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Engaging & Varied Gameplay (weight 0.59): Players consistently praise the game's core gameplay loop, finding it highly engaging, addictive, and offering significant depth and variety in content, classes, and activities, leading to high replayability. - Deep Gladiator Management (weight 0.41): A core strength is the detailed gladiator management system, allowing players to recruit, train, customize, and develop unique gladiators. This includes managing finances, welfare, and enjoying the progression of their team. - Active Developer Support (weight 0.36): Reviewers commend the developers for their dedication, frequent updates, and timely bug fixes. Their generosity in providing the 'Reforged' version for free to original owners is also highly appreciated. - Engaging Auto-Combat System (weight 0.09): The game features an interesting auto-combat system with customizable AI strategies, allowing players to enjoy the 'digital cricket fighting' (auto-battles) or micro-manage. This system is often found engaging and well-designed. - Acceptable Performance & Graphics (weight 0.06): The game is generally considered playable with average graphics and sound, and it does not require high computer specifications. This makes it accessible to a wider range of players. - Enjoyable Magic DLC (weight 0.05): The 'Age of Magic' DLC is highlighted for adding a new, enjoyable magic system that enhances the fantasy world and provides delightful chaos to gameplay. - Strategic Combat Depth (weight 0.04): Combat features tactical elements such as positioning, skill combo coordination, and hitboxes that allow for manual dodging. This adds a layer of strategic depth to battles. Common complaints: - Frequent Bugs & Crashes (weight 0.97): The game is plagued by an excessive number of bugs, glitches, and frequent crashes, leading to freezes, unplayable states, and core functions failing. Many of these issues, including critical ones, persist across updates and were present in the original version, severely hindering the player experience. - Excessive Loading & Poor Optimization (weight 0.46): Players experience extremely long loading times for almost every action and scene transition, often exceeding playtime. The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frequent stuttering, lag, and unplayability even on high-end PCs, indicating a fundamental technical problem. - Unpolished & Unbalanced Gameplay (weight 0.4): The game suffers from a lack of polish, feeling crude and unfinished, with clunky controls and an unintuitive user interface. Players report a steep and often random difficulty curve, poor new player guidance, and unbalanced gameplay mechanics that lead to frustration and repetitiveness. - Clunky User Interface (weight 0.38): The user interface is widely criticized for being clunky, unintuitive, and poorly designed, lacking basic quality-of-life features like quick close buttons. This cumbersome UI negatively impacts the overall user experience and ease of navigation. - Save Corruption & No Cloud Save (weight 0.35): The game frequently suffers from critical save file corruption, leading to lost progress and unplayable saves. A significant drawback is the absence of cloud save functionality, which is a standard feature, further exacerbating the frustration of lost data. - Disappointing Remaster Quality (weight 0.27): The 'Reforged' or 'Remastered' version is widely criticized for offering minimal improvements over the original, often introducing more bugs and performance issues. Many players feel it's a 'cash grab' due to its lack of new content, poor optimization, and similar jankiness to the older version, failing to justify its price. - Poor Localization Quality (weight 0.08): The game suffers from poor and incomplete localization across multiple languages, with many translations being machine-generated, incomprehensible, or entirely missing. This significantly hinders understanding of game mechanics, skills, and story for non-English speakers. - Questionable DLC Practices (weight 0.06): Concerns are raised about the game's DLC strategy, with new content packs being released very soon after launch, perceived as 'money-grabbing' given the game's unpolished state. Players feel the DLCs are overpriced for the limited content they provide and sometimes have issues with visibility or unlock prerequisites. Gameplay feedback: - Deep Arena Management Simulation (weight 0.33): The game offers a comprehensive gladiator arena management simulation, encompassing buying/training slaves, upgrading facilities (medical, blacksmith, torture), managing finances, and participating in various tournaments. Players also engage in world map activities like raids and treasure hunting, with the game's depth unfolding through character progression and strategic resource management. - Extensive Gladiator Customization (weight 0.23): Players can extensively customize gladiators through diverse skill trees, weapon proficiencies, and combat styles (e.g., Warrior, Commander). This includes tailoring training methods, equipping various gear, and assigning roles beyond combat, such as doctors or blacksmiths, allowing for varied and strategic team builds. - Flexible Combat Control (weight 0.13): The game features a flexible combat system allowing both full automatic and manual control, or a mix of both. Players can define AI behavior and tactical settings for gladiators, though some reviews note inconsistencies or mediocrity in team combat AI performance. - Steep Early Game Difficulty (weight 0.13): The game presents a steep learning curve and high initial difficulty, with players often facing much stronger AI opponents early on. Reviewers note balancing issues, including powerful "hero" enemies and a difficulty gradient that can make the early game particularly harsh. - Unique Strategic Experience (weight 0.08): The game offers a novel and interesting blend of strategy and brutality, combining management and action elements. While mechanics are described as simple, the game challenges players to find effective combinations of skills and equipment, creating an engaging and unique gameplay experience. - Rich Late Game Content (weight 0.03): The game features substantial late-game content, including powerful DLC additions that can significantly impact early game progression. Magic, initially minor, gains importance with new DLC, indicating continued content development. Performance notes: - Reforged Version Improvements (weight 0.05): The reforged/remastered version shows notable improvements in overall optimization and graphics compared to its predecessor. While loading times are still a concern for some, the general consensus is that the game runs better and looks significantly upgraded. - Occasional Model Failures (weight 0.01): A specific technical glitch reported is the occasional failure of in-game models to load correctly. This can disrupt the visual experience and immersion. - Next-Gen Graphics Quality (weight 0.01): Players praise the game's visual fidelity, specifically highlighting the advanced lighting effects and detailed material rendering. These elements contribute to a modern, high-quality graphical experience. Recommendations: - Conditional Purchase Recommendation (weight 0.25): Many reviews offer conditional recommendations, suggesting purchase during sales, after fixes, or for specific player types. Some reviewers recommend despite issues, while others advise waiting or not buying at all, indicating a mixed overall sentiment. - Urgent Bug Fixes Needed (weight 0.13): A significant number of players emphasize the urgent need for developers to fix existing bugs, improve performance, and address issues like long loading times. Many state they would change their review to positive once these problems are resolved. - Genre-Specific Recommendation (weight 0.1): The game is highly recommended for fans of specific genres such as gladiator-themed games, hardcore management, cRPGs, strategy, simulation, and 'electronic cricket fighting' games, especially for patient players who enjoy slow character progression and trial-and-error. - Reforged Version Reception (weight 0.05): The Reforged version is generally well-received by players of the original, often given for free to existing owners. However, some prefer the original for better fluidity, indicating mixed feelings on the improvements. - Desire for More Content (weight 0.04): Players express a strong desire for more future content, gameplay additions, and continued development, viewing the current game as a good base with significant potential for expansion. Some express concern about the game's future improvement. - Difficulty Level Guidance (weight 0.04): Reviewers advise new players to start on easier difficulties to familiarize themselves with the game mechanics, while suggesting that higher difficulties offer more fun for experienced players. There's also a suggestion to adjust lower difficulties for casual players. - Mixed DLC Reception (weight 0.02): While some players are hooked enough to purchase additional DLCs and find them enjoyable (e.g., magic DLC), others express hesitation due to pricing, especially for first-time players. - Ironman Mode Issues (weight 0.02): Players strongly advise against using Ironman mode due to persistent bugs that can lead to frustrating or game-breaking experiences, recommending frequent manual saves instead. - Concerns About Abandonment (weight 0.02): Some players express concern that the developers might abandon the game, leading to a lack of future patches and support, which would prevent the game from reaching its full potential. - Game's High Potential (weight 0.01): Reviewers frequently mention that the game has great potential, often hoping for a sequel or future updates that polish out mediocre aspects and fully realize its promise. - Refunds Sought (weight 0.01): Some players have requested refunds or would have if they hadn't received the game for free, indicating significant dissatisfaction with the game's current state. - High Player Frustration (weight 0.01): Many players report feeling frustrated or upset, sometimes even before starting to play, suggesting that the game's issues can quickly lead to a negative experience. - Player Support Expressed (weight 0.01): Some players explicitly state their support for the game, indicating a positive sentiment and a desire for its continued success, often despite existing issues. Other player notes: - Ongoing Development & Content (weight 0.17): Players express a strong desire for continued development, including new content (story, equipment, late-game), ongoing updates, and general polish. There was initial concern about developer abandonment, but recent updates have largely alleviated this, fostering hope for the game's future. - Performance Optimization Needed (weight 0.07): Reviewers frequently mention the need for better game optimization, including resolving loading issues and improving overall performance. Some suggest simplifying maps or AI to achieve this, indicating a direct impact on player experience. - Feature & QoL Suggestions (weight 0.07): Reviewers offer numerous specific suggestions for new features and quality-of-life improvements. These include UI enhancements (e.g., gladiator icon hints, market roster view), new mechanics (e.g., pet system, mounted combat, renting gladiators), and content additions (e.g., legendary items, more game speed tiers). - Steam Workshop/Mod Support (weight 0.04): There is a clear and strong demand for Steam Workshop integration and general mod support. Players believe this feature would significantly enhance the game's longevity and allow the community to contribute content. - Free Reforged Upgrade (weight 0.03): Many reviewers appreciate that the 'Reforged' version, including its DLC, was provided for free to owners of the original game. This gesture positively impacted player perception, despite some initial skepticism about its purpose. - Adjustable Difficulty Settings (weight 0.03): The game offers customizable difficulty settings, which players appreciate for tailoring the experience. Some suggest increasing the default difficulty to provide a greater challenge and enhance the sense of achievement. - Unique Gladiator Game (weight 0.03): The game is recognized for its unique niche as a gladiator training and arena management simulator, a genre with few comparable titles. It is often praised as the best in this specific category, despite its potentially sensitive setting. - Improve Early Game Guidance (weight 0.02): Players suggest improving the onboarding experience for new players, specifically through better in-game guidance, practical tutorials, or potentially providing a stronger initial character to ease into the game. - Minor Issues, Substantial Demo (weight 0.02): Reviewers note that any existing bugs are minor and do not significantly detract from the overall experience. The availability of a substantial demo is highlighted as a positive, allowing potential players to assess game suitability. - Casual 'Cricket Fighting' Appeal (weight 0.01): The game is described using the metaphor of 'electronic cricket fighting,' suggesting its appeal as a casual, low-stress game suitable for office workers or those seeking relaxation. This point consists primarily of a cultural reference. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.26): Players frequently experience frustration due to a wide array of technical issues, including game-breaking bugs, frequent crashes, persistent freezes, and severe optimization problems leading to excessive loading times and poor performance. This is compounded by frustrating design choices such as unbalanced difficulty spikes, repetitive gameplay, and poor AI behavior. Additionally, a lack of clear guidance, unintuitive UI, and poor translation quality contribute significantly to player exasperation. - Satisfaction (weight 0.21): Players express satisfaction primarily due to the game's addictive and strategically deep gameplay loop, which includes engaging gladiator management, tactical combat, and extensive character customization. Significant improvements in optimization, graphics, and bug fixes, particularly in the Reforged version, have greatly enhanced the player experience. The developers' responsiveness and continued support also contribute to a positive perception of the game's quality and potential. - Disappointment (weight 0.18): Players are largely disappointed by the game's unfinished and unpolished state, characterized by numerous persistent bugs, poor optimization, and a general lack of polish. A significant cause of disappointment is the "Reforged" version's failure to deliver substantial improvements over the original, often feeling like a repackaged game with existing flaws and even new issues. This is compounded by frustrating design choices, unbalanced gameplay, and a perceived lack of developer commitment to addressing core problems. - Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Players find enjoyment primarily in the game's addictive core gameplay loop, which combines engaging gladiator management, strategic combat, and extensive character customization. The depth offered by diverse builds, team play, and a rich array of content contributes to high replayability. Despite any minor flaws, the overall experience is described as fun, immersive, and highly engaging. - Anger (weight 0.05): Anger stems primarily from players' perception of the developers' poor practices, including a lack of responsiveness to critical bugs, perceived incompetence in optimization, and the release of paid DLC while the base game remains severely broken. This is exacerbated by numerous game-breaking technical issues like crashes, save corruption, and unplayable states, leading to significant lost progress. Players also express anger over perceived "money-grabbing" tactics and fundamental design flaws that create an unfair or frustrating experience. - Hope (weight 0.05): Players express hope for the game's future, primarily driven by the desire for continued bug fixes, improved optimization, and the resolution of current technical issues. There is also a strong desire for new content, such as expansions, late-game activities, and quality-of-life features, along with the implementation of mod support. This hope is often tied to the belief in the developers' commitment and potential to further improve the game. - Excitement (weight 0.05): Players feel excitement due to the game's addictive core gameplay, which offers deep strategic elements, detailed build crafting, and engaging gladiator team management. The thrill of challenging fights and extensive character customization options contribute significantly to this excitement. Additionally, the game's overall potential and the anticipation of future content, particularly DLC, further fuel player enthusiasm. - Joy (weight 0.03): Joy is expressed by players who find the game exceptionally fun, addictive, and immersive, often exceeding their initial expectations. This positive emotion stems from the engaging core gameplay, including the rewarding process of cultivating gladiators, extensive character creation, and the rich variety of builds available. The overall high quality and engaging nature of the game contribute significantly to this sense of delight. - Confusion (weight 0.01): Players experience confusion primarily due to unclear game mechanics, such as XP systems and escape calculations, and perplexing design choices like the champion system or AI behavior. This is often exacerbated by a lack of clear in-game guidance, an unintuitive learning curve, and technical issues like the game failing to launch, leaving players uncertain about the game's intended functionality or the cause of problems. - Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players express appreciation for the developers' consistent dedication, ongoing updates, and responsiveness in addressing bugs. This positive sentiment also extends to the game's overall quality, its unique appeal within the gladiator management genre, and the successful blending of various gameplay elements. - Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is driven by players' eagerness for future content, including upcoming DLC and desired features like Steam Workshop support. There is a strong forward-looking sentiment towards the game's potential for continued improvements and the expansion of its current offerings. - Concern (weight 0.01): Players express concern primarily about the game's long-term support, fearing that it might be abandoned or that the development team could disband, leading to a lack of future patches. There is also apprehension regarding the game's future balance, particularly for specific mechanics, and the overall need for continued development to address existing issues. - Desire (weight 0.01): Players express a desire for greater gameplay flexibility, such as the option to bypass the story in repeat playthroughs, and a higher level of challenge. There is also a clear wish for improved animations, more content variety, and the implementation of additional quality-of-life features to enhance the overall experience. - Disgust (weight 0.01): Disgust is primarily triggered by severe technical issues, including constant and excessive loading times, frequent game-breaking bugs, and persistent freezing. This strong negative emotion is further fueled by dissatisfaction with the game's poor graphics, animations, and overall questionable design choices. - Relief (weight 0): Players experience relief when critical or unplayable bugs are finally fixed, allowing them to play the game as intended. This positive emotion also arises when significant balance issues are addressed through updates, improving the overall gameplay experience. - Interest (weight 0): Players show interest in the game's core features, particularly its management, customization, and combat systems. This curiosity is often sparked by the initial gameplay experience and the game's unique standing as a domestic title, with ongoing interest maintained through attention to patch notes and updates. - Mild frustration (weight 0): Mild frustration arises from minor technical issues such as small bugs and general "jankiness," which slightly impede the gameplay experience. This is often compounded by unclear on-screen information or a lack of sufficient explanation for certain game elements. - Optimism (weight 0): Optimism is rooted in the belief that the game has significant future potential and that its current problems can be overcome. This positive outlook is reinforced by the perception that developers are actively working to fix flaws and are guiding the game in a promising direction. - Acceptance (weight 0): Players express acceptance by acknowledging the game's existing flaws and technical issues, yet still finding its current state or overall experience to be acceptable. This often occurs after completing the game, where despite imperfections, the core appeal or journey was deemed worthwhile. - Surprise (weight 0): Surprise is felt when the game unexpectedly exceeds initial expectations, particularly regarding its enjoyment, the quality of its graphics, or its story. This positive surprise often leads to players realizing they have spent a significant amount of time immersed in the game.}