Disciples: Domination

If you believe strategy RPGs had their heyday around the turn of the last millenium, Disciples: Domination offers hours of tactical combat and unit tinkering.

Disciples: Domination serves as indirect proof that sticking to a specific setting when a series changes developers isn’t always the best approach.

An uninspired strategy RPG, Disciples: Domination offers an unremarkable experience that fails to stand out in a crowded genre. There are a few flashes of brilliance here and there – primarily with the morally challenging decisions that need to be made in the throne room – but otherwise this latest entry in the Disciples series fails to offer a compelling world to save.

Disciples: Domination knows exactly what it is and what it wants to do. It's an old-school strategy game with great combat but also frustratingly shallow mechanics in other areas. Fans will love it; everyone else will wonder what the big deal is.

Fun turn-based strategy RPG in which you must try to keep together a crumbling kingdom

Disciples: Domination is a functional but uninspired sequel that feels more like overpriced DLC than a true follow-up to Liberation. With recycled assets, tedious combat from the start, catastrophic technical issues, broken balance, and zero meaningful improvements over its predecessor, it's hard to recommend at full price.

Disciples: Domination can feel slow, tedious, and grindy at times, but fun can still be had in its unique party recruitment mechanic and highly customizable player character. However, it doesn’t change enough from the game that came before to justify its existence as a sequel, and may even feel like a disappointing departure for returning fans.

Disciples: Domination sharpens its predecessor's strengths and adds genuine new ideas with the collision system, corpse mechanic and flexible Avyanna classes — anyone who liked Liberation will feel right at home.

I’m a huge fan of RPGs, and I particularly love an isometric viewpoint. This freedom and wide scope of vision complements the large open world. Alongside this, the grid-based system is familiar and makes each combat situation easy to follow. The use of lighting and earthy colours creates a sinister and dark atmosphere. The audio supports this with a blend of moody, minor-toned songs and energetic and dramatic tunes. However, it is the voice acting that truly shines. I was impressed by the quality and how well it delivers the story. Additionally, the sound effects have a nice fantasy edge, and the ambient sounds reflect the journey you are enduring. There is plenty to learn and loads of elements to understand, but Disciples: Domination takes things slowly. The learning curve enables both hardcore fans and newcomers to grasp the fundamentals. Moreover, you never feel out of control of any situation. Subsequently, this has a nice feeling of inclusivity despite the layers of ideas working away in the background. The branching storylines generate huge replay value. If you want to mix things up, you could tackle the 30 to 40-hour playtime repeatedly. Disciples: Domination is a great fantasy experience. I love the genre and the franchise, and despite my small complaints, Disciples: Domination is a great fantasy experience. I love the story and the different protagonists. Moreover, the overworld is interesting, and the relationship between the factions was fascinating. However, it has a repetitive edge that cannot be ignored. Moreover, the slightly un-Disciples moments could annoy hardcore fans. Despite this, it is good fun, and I recommend getting a copy from the Xbox store!

With significantly skimpier content and only a few innovations, Disciples: Domination feels more like an expansion than a full-fledged sequel. It's a decent game and nothing more, with an unconvincing storyline and a generic high fantasy world; only for fans of Disciples: Liberation.