Stepping into Disciples: Domination on PS5 feels like being offered a second helping of something you vaguely enjoyed twenty years ago – only to realise it’s colder, slightly stale, and somehow heavier than memory suggests. It’s a CRPG with pedigree, the second entry in a trilogy stretching back to 1999, and it wants desperately to feel epic. Instead, it mostly feels like an overstuffed exercise in fantasy busywork.
Gaming Heaven
Combat is the one thing the game consistently gets right. The hex-based, unit-focused battles are easy to read, making it clear which units will thrive and which will flop. This is a rare courtesy in CRPGs, sparing you hours of fruitless trial and error. The city and faction management adds a touch of strategic flavour, letting you micromanage your kingdom with a sense of authority. It’s satisfying, in a bureaucratic sort of way, to make decisions that tangibly affect your units and resources. And yes, the game’s world is steeped in familiar high-fantasy trappings: gods, elves, undead, pompous humans – the usual suspects, all present and accounted for.
Gaming Hell
The writing and voice acting are a persistent headache. Characters spout dialogue that is either bland or awkwardly forced, and even competent voice work cannot hide the occasional cringe. The technical side is similarly underwhelming: audio glitches, graphical hiccups, and sporadic crashes appear like minor yet persistent reminders that not everything was polished. The story, while serviceable, is bogged down by these weak narrative beats, and the game’s forty-hour runtime can feel repetitive if tackled in long sittings. Managing five factions and a capital city is strategic in theory, but in practice it often feels like tedious micromanagement for very little reward.
Final Judgement
Disciples: Domination has ambition and pedigree but falters under its own weight. Combat is clever, management is detailed, and the fantasy world is recognisable – but the writing is naff, the technical issues distracting, and the repetition wears thin. It’s a competent CRPG, but one that’s better admired from a distance than binged in one sitting. If you like bureaucracy with a side of elves and hex-based battles, there’s mild pleasure to be had. Otherwise, it’s mostly a reminder that not all nostalgia is worth revisiting.
