4/5 ★ – vassm's review of Of Orcs and Men.

"Of Orcs and Men" serves as a prequel to the "Styx" franchise, though it doesn't delve deeply into Styx's own backstory. Instead, it focuses on the events that shaped him and set the stage for his actions in the later games. I really enjoyed Arkhail as a character (he reminds me of a "Gears of War" bro) but I wish we'd gotten more insight into his childhood and upbringing. That said, the dynamic between him and Styx was fantastic; their combat styles complemented each other perfectly, making their duo a blast to play. My biggest gripe with this game was it's enemy and combat AI. It was really hit or miss. Sometimes during the combat sequences, the enemies and the PC's would react accordingly, but then sometimes they wouldn't and they would not hit the selected enemy rather a random one. Any time that happened it made combat fairly annoying and luck based at times. I also sometimes got caught in a continuous cycle of "raise ally" which was comical everytime XD. Story-wise, it's similar to tone to "Styx", though a bit more on the nose and simplified, it was something I didn't mind too much. What suprised me most was how well the game held up for a 2012 release. Visually, it wasn't groundbreaking, but it had a certain charm in looks, and it certainly didn't look as bad as I've heard people say. As a huge fan anything Styx-related, I had a great time with this game despite some flaws. While the pacing dragged at times and the levels were repetitive, the constant combat kept me engaged once I got the hang of it. This was my first turn-based tactical RPG, so there was a big learning curve, but once everything clicked, it became a lot more enjoyable. Playing through Styx's stealth sections was a highlight--seeing the origins of mechanics that would evolve in later games was really cool. I'm not shocked this game didn't review exceptionally well on release, and while I don't agree with every criticism, I still think it's a solid title that laid the groundwork for an excellent franchise. It's definitely made me more excited for "Blades of Greed". 8.1/10