Sacred
Nothing sacred
Sacred dates back to 2004 and is therefore officially old - which doesn't bode well for me, as I was born in 1992. But unlike many other games from that time, even back then Sacred had already looked out of date and the years really haven't done the German Diablo clone any good visually. Ironically, I would still prefer to play the progenitor again today instead of the successors, of which the third game in particular should only have a few fans. However, if you want good hack-and-slay, you're better off with other series and probably even better with the genre primus Diablo.
Unfortunately, this impression also continues with the music. The official soundtrack comprises 17 tracks by Dag Winderlich, the composer of the German developer studio Ascaron, which went bankrupt in 2009 and was known for games such as the soccer simulation On the Ball or business simulations à la Port Royale. What comes out of the speakers here is good to mediocre, off-the-peg fantasy music the likes of which could serve as stock music. Example: Welcome Home. Even when you listen to it again, nothing sticks in your head and I say that as someone who has even played the game that goes with it.
Here and there you can sense exciting ideas, but they are not pursued. This comes to mind, for example, in Arachnophobia , where the driving percussion drums are accompanied by electric guitar and you ask yourself the whole time: "And now? When will the climax come?" - and then the song ends. Too bad, I would have liked to be able to declare it a little gem, but it's not even good enough for the podium. Maybe I'm being a bit too critical, but that's my opinion. By the way, I came across this article on RPG-Fan for my research - if you would like to hear an opposing opinion, you are welcome to read it. As always, you can find the rest of my rating in the table below.
