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Feeling like a mix of the spirit of a very narratively-driven table top experience and some tactical turn-based combat, The Hand of Merlin will likely have some appeal for the proper crowd since that’s a bit of a unique combination on the system. Really its story spinning feels like the best part of the game, though if you’re someone who just wants to get on with the action that may instead give you pause. I think my main concern, and what holds it back, is the battlefield view, controls (to a lesser degree) and flow of the game’s tactical combat. There are actually quite a number of titles in this space at this point, and having played many of them I could feel a quality gap between this title and many of its peers. In particular it’s the overall viewing angle and art style that just didn’t have quite the level of clarity and polish of its competitors, and giving your commands through the interface generally felt just a bit more cumbersome as well. That said, if you’re a fan of prose-driven adventuring it may have enough charm to be worth a look.
Justin Nation, Score:Fair [6.6]