The Guild 3 Review: Let’s build an economic empire in the Middle Ages

Who remembers JoWooD Entertainment also knows its reputation as a publisher: since 1998 with Industry Giant, the Austrian company has made itself known for video games with an important potential but not without obvious roughness and this also applies to the most popular Gothic and The Guild.

The last mentioned was born in 2002 as Europa 1400 The Guild at the hands of 4HEAD Studios, a team that then left the reins of the series to Purple Lamp Studios, the Austrian collective that also worked on SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated (here our review of SpongeBob SquarePants Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated).

The Guild 3 has therefore finally come to publication, after a long parenthesis in early access in which the public has repeatedly complained of the bad game experience between incalculable bugs and a revisable optimization. We have therefore spent some time with its final version and we are ready to talk about it in detail.

A Life Sim RPG like few others

There is a simple detail that plays in The Guild 3’s favor: offers a rather peculiar experience at the moment in the Life Sim RPG segment, because it combines elements of The Sims with the microscopic and macroscopic management of resources in a continually evolving economy and political context. In addition to the simulation of the life of our character and of the NPCs, with whom we can interact freely at any moment even if not at the levels of the EA title, we are therefore led to the personal management of our commercial empire and our career with tracks on which move but without excessive restrictions.

Described in this way, it is a very ambitious and equally interesting project and indeed it is but it falls precisely in the attention to detail. The medieval single-player adventure begins with a tutorial in the town of Wenighausen or with the choice of immediately throwing ourselves in one of the available settings: The Guild 3 counts on the reproduction of several iconic cities such as Magdeburg, Prague, Dijon, London, Warsaw, Paris and Vienna. Each of them has a different key parameter, the number of opponents which can vary from a single dynasty to as many as eighteen; we can then choose the game mode, opting for a plebeian start or as citizens with an economic-social base more favorable for beginners. The duration of the rounds, the difficulty and the objectives of the match are modifiable. For example, we can simply aim to become sovereign and hold the position for a full turn – that is, for four seasons – or aim for the title of the best traders, most ruthless warriors or regent dynasty of the city. Once the characteristics of the game have been chosen, we will be able to create our character by selecting coat of arms, name, religion, career and customizing abilities and physical characteristics. The religions are three, while the professions vary according to the beginning of plebeian or citizen. From the landowner, to the scholar and the baker, we are talking about 13 different “careers” with exclusive activities to carry out.

Character customization is reduced to the bone compared to The Guild 2, both in physical characteristics and in skills, with the latter limited to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Perception and Charisma. In short, the previous chapter it offered many more jobs and a management of skills – then called Talents – more varied and with a decidedly higher degree of immersion. It is a pity, therefore, that the Purple Lamp Studios team has taken a step back in the definition of the role component.

Let’s catapult into the 1400s!

Once the game has started, one cannot fail to focus primarily on the graphics sector: the leap in quality compared to The Guild 2 is evident, with textures and models that are not excellent but still extensively improved and adequately updated. The only exception is the individuals who fill the city, whose quality is almost worse than that which characterized them in previous iterations: although the faces are slightly more detailed, hair and beard are one with the selected face texture. during the creation of the character, while the clothes, if observed closely, are very unpleasant to see, unlike vegetation and buildings.

The user interface is richer in voices than the predecessor and unfortunately – given the aesthetic choices that are not exactly shareable – it can be not very intuitive in terms of navigability. On the sound front, however, the dubbing of the NPCs is mediocre and the dialogue lines offered are minimal and banal and even the sound accompaniment could have been much more inspired. However, the key elements of the experience are well packaged. Our life starts from the periphery, from the small villages that surround the city walls and depending on the starting option with different amounts of money and points of influence. After having built the main building for our profession, in which we will have to spend tiring hours of work, it will be necessary to start a family as soon as possible in order to avoid unnecessary expenses for helpers.

Consequently, it will be possible to start dating an NPC, which will be influenced by dialogue lines with a different success rate, because they are linked to social statistics.

Once the sweetheart has been conquered, it will be possible to immediately marry in private or in church, thus adding a new character among those we can control. Once these first essential steps have been completed to achieve the objectives set at the outset, we will write the rest of our history: as we carry out our work we will earn hard cash and influence points with which we can, through the skill tree, claim a higher title to become Archduke and unlock other key knowledge, perhaps in the field of carpentry or medicine and contraband, if we wish. In this way, in addition to managing a farm, it is possible to become artisans and organize an assembly line in order to automate the production of more expensive manufactured goods in the long term and increase our assets.

Lots of freedom of choice, with a boring scheme

Freedom of choice in the profession is accompanied by a management aspect that transcends trivial concepts such as having to feed or having to keep the relationship with the sweet half alive, aiming instead at a constant climb towards wealth and prestige, respecting the laws of the city or violating them: as doctors or herbalists we can cause an epidemic in order to increase the value of medicines in a certain area and earn more money, for example. Joining a guild gives you access to small bonuses and determines our global reputation, as well as the ability to take part in unique events such as the search for the philosopher’s stone.

Macroscopic management and work automation are overriding, especially if you choose to pursue a career as an innkeeper, locksmith, or carpenter, but it’s nearly impossible to go red as AI tries to choose purchasing options. believed to be better so that expenses are reduced to the bone and profits are greater. Basically we have the opportunity to speed up the game so as to proceed quickly in the expansion of our business. However, AI often stumbles and perhaps buys the wrong product by blocking the production of processed goods and forcing us to intervene by interrupting other activities.

In any case, we will be able to find the middle way by leaving the employees to work and making our character a free trader: in this case, we will have to pay close attention to the market trend and to the differences in the production and trading of resources between the city center and the villages. . This process will take many hours of gameplay, which will pass with a certain slowness within The Guild 3 and will be able to satisfy only in the medium-long term. The initial setting guarantees more or less longevity to our dynasty, whose growth can be limited by the achievement of the set goal or made unlimited in the case of a free game.

Untapped potential and technical problems

The options that The Guild 3 offers us are countless and talking about each of them is complex. Still, the title seems to have an almost fixed pattern – that is, get married, make money, improve your business and complete the political ascent – and in the long run there is the risk of falling. in an automated and uninteresting everyday life. On the political management front, we would have appreciated a greater presence of intrigues and subterfuges, in other words of unexpected events capable of turning the tide of the game. The feeling of satisfaction obtainable in the long term contrasts with the monotony that occurs once you have explored all the main choices available, after about ten hours of play.

AI-driven characters abound on city streets and often don’t even notice illegal events – from murder to gambling – happening right before their eyes. At the same time, the presence of many NPCs makes it difficult to respond to their attacks by giving orders to our allies. Finally, we found the game too easy, even at the highest difficulty level. The current project is certainly in a better state than the early access version, fixed bugs, and the multiplayer mode works better and knows how to entertain enough. However, there remains a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth for what the title of Purple Lamp Studios could have been.