Marco Polo (2018)

Marco POLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the presentation and graphics, it has really great style. The gameplay, however... Well, I can see how people could enjoy it back in the day and some could still today through a nostalgia, but for a newcomer I'd say it doesn't really offer enough to bother.

The nostalgia is amazing! I played this game for endless hours in the 90's. It combines strategy, adventure and historical details that make you feel like you are following in the footsteps of one of the greatest adventurers of all time...Marco Polo. If you can look past the poor graphics...this is still a fun game after all these years.

Fun game with that old-school nostalgia of no handholding, random events that ruin you and missions that fail if you answer no when you should answer yes and yes when you should answer no. I recommend saving often, and if you are heavily loaded with goods, at every town on your way. Tips - The game is on a time limit, and not every mission can be completed. Especially in central Asia/Himalayas, you will spend 3 weeks travelling just ONE city over. That is 1 whole percent of your total gametime wasted on one click. There is more to experience in the denser regions to the East or to the West - Gems are your friends, they have no weight and sell at very good prices at the right destinations - Buy the most expensive trade goods on offer. Weight, porterage and food-issues can slow you down. The fewer items you carry the better! It is a waste of time to have to wait 4 weeks in one town to stock up on supplies because you have 20 porters and soldiers when you could make do with 2 camels and gamble on not getting attacked - EXPERIENCE the game. Take note of prices, listen to rumours. You can often haggle at about half price when buying and offer up to 3 times higher when selling, dependin…

It's just as I remembered. Must be around 25 years ago when we played this in multiplayer on the (even then) old PC of a friends dad. It is by no means easy, not even fair, considering the random encounters, but you can learn the good routes by just trying again and again. Which sounds tedious, but, combined with the video sequences everywhere, somehow got us hooked back then and got me hooked again this morning. Plays well on the Steam Deck by the way.

4/5