Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul Review
If you are curious about the design and mechanics of the game, keep reading!
- Variety in enemies, weapons and spells.
- Dungeon mechanics.
- Rich historical heritage and accuracy.
- Camera control is a little difficult.
- Key mapping.
Everything You Need to Know About Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul
- The story of the game
- Gameplay mechanics
- Dungeons
- Variety of weapons
- Realm of the dead
- Is it worth playing?
Game Plot
The initial and training phase of the game begins in the Venetian Castle (St. Andrea Castle) in 1664. While watching the view from the Venetian castle, we learn that the castle was conquered and we need to find the brother of the main character. When we move on to the inner parts of the castle, we can see that environmental storytelling is used. Three NPCs are talking among themselves that the Ottomans have attacked the Venetian Castle for 18 years and that there are barbarians who will not stop until they kill everyone. As we move through the castle, we begin to see that counts and dukes were killed, and Ottoman soldiers conquered the castle more.
For more detailed information on the story of the game, you can check out our Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul Story content!
Gameplay Mechanics
First of all, we would like to state that the game can be played with both keyboard and gamepad. Although there are errors and shortcomings in the keymap, it is a good sign that the game supports both control types.
While the Diablo series, known as the Keyboard & Mouse game, added gamepad support with its fourth game, it was the right decision to add gamepad support to an action RPG type game.
What is the aim of the game?
Your main goal in the game is to oppose the Ottoman navy and defeat the troops of Ottoman soldiers. When you first enter the game, you will play the occupation of the Ottoman navy as a training phase. Although it is easy to defeat the enemies at this stage, as soon as the training stage is over, the difficulty of the game will increase exponentially.
When you break objects around you or kill enemies, coins, weapons, armor, shields, life orbs and mana spheres will drop. By collecting them, you can strengthen your character, renew your health and mana, and buy items from the shops. The crucial part of a Hack and Slash type of game is the war mechanics. You can see the minimap in the upper right corner of the screen, the item and magic slots in the lower middle of the screen, the yellow energy bar just above it, your mana pool on the right and your life pool on the left. Since your energy bar decreases every time you attack, you need to make strategic war decisions in the game.
Dungeons
There are dungeons in the game where you can collect various treasures and increase your level by fighting enemies and gaining experience points. In some of these dungeons, your only goal is to kill the enemies, while in some dungeons (the dungeons of greed) you have to hunt for treasure. In addition to items and coins in treasure dungeons, you collect an object called Essence of Fitrat. Although I have not yet discovered what this object is for, I am sure that you will be able to use it to buy valuable items or spells or to exchange it for unique items in the later parts of the game.
Are there puzzles in the game?
In each dungeon, it's not just the enemies you have to defeat, but also the dynamic platform puzzles. Although the biggest factor that turns me off from a game is the difficult platforms, Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul has handled the platform puzzles well into the game. We guarantee that you will not get bored in any dungeon with platforms in the form of rotating keys, steps to jump and a variety of weapons.
Weapon Variety
Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul gives players weapons with a variety of gameplay options. These weapons are brass knuckles, swords, bows and shields. I am sure that the variety of weapons will increase in the later parts of the game. Each weapon comes with its own special ability. For example, you can do area damage using the shield, or you can shoot fiery arrows on a cone-shaped area with a bow.
Realm of the Dead
The part of Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul that I liked and found the most creative was the death mechanic. When you die in the game, instead of being reborn quickly, you are teleported to a dungeon called the realm of the dead. In this region, you have to kill the enemy groups that come upon you without your weapons and armor and talk to the Spirit Hunter and leave the area. Although the Realm of the Dead does not show special things in the demo version of the game, it will appear with different and useful missions and gameplay elements in the full version of the game. My only request from the game's development team is not to add platform elements to the Realm of the Dead.
Is Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul Worth Playing?
If you like hack and slash games, we recommend you to play this game set in Istanbul. If you want to both see the development of the Turkish gaming industry and have a fun experience, Compass of the Destiny: Istanbul is designed for you.