Disciples: Domination Reviews
Disciples: Domination does not upend what already works about the series. It moves Empress Avyanna’s narrative in a new direction and adds nuance and depth to all the game’s systems. There are a lot of mechanics at play, from combat to RPG-like elements to diplomacy, and they work together well and add up to a rich experience.
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.
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.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Disciples: Domination is a flawed, by-the-numbers strategy RPG that shows some creativity with its units and certain boss mechanics, but lacks enough depth and variety to sustain the amount of fights it throws at you across its decently lengthy campaign. Its writing lacks a consistent tone, its world fails to grip you, while Avyanna only stands out as one of the most unconvincing protagonists to date, making Domination a functional but rather forgettable second entry in the series.
This is an average sequel to a tactical game, with the combat being the best aspect. Graphically, it has improved slightly compared to the last game, but the story and texts fail to attract much attention. Nevertheless, the game will find an audience eager to continue the story from Liberation.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
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.
One of the biggest strengths of Disciples: Domination is how it handles choices and consequences. Your decisions as a ruler matter. Supporting one faction may damage another relationship. Ignoring problems can lead to long-term issues. Solving grievances costs resources and sometimes reputation.
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!
Disciples: Domination is a good game that has its bumps in the road. With a good story and some interesting mechanics the game has a lot worth enjoying if you can get through the slow introduction.
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Review in German | Read full review
I went into Disciples: Domination with no prior knowledge of the series and have come out the other side a fan. Its grievance and resource system builds a solid foundation for a sequel and Nevendaar and its casts of characters is a world I want to see more of. If Artefacts can flesh out some of the new mechanics to have even more variety and get the combat to require just a bit more strategy they truly have something here. As is Disciples: Domination is a very good RPG that should be worth a look to anyone into turn based RPGs.