A longer review, since I'm the first one here: this game is great. Asolid 8/10, happily recommended, great. I'm saying that as someone who went into it...wary, to say the least.
Let's start with the minotaur in the room. The Disco Elysium comparisons were more of a red flag for me than a green one, if I'm being honest. Lightning rarely strikes the same place twice, and I was afraid that a game that so clearly is taking inspiration from one that's considered a masterpiece of it's genre would end up falling flat in comparison. And I still don't think that concern was entirely unfounded - in my opinion, the weakest parts of Sovereign are the ones that feel the most Disco. Of the three playable characters, it's Atticus who is the most Harrier-esque, and it's Atticus who I felt the least connected to. I still enjoyed his chapters but the comparisons felt a bit too easy, and not in a way that worked in Sovereign's favour. The character portraits, the way the skills narrate your thoughts, even just how the dialogue panel looks - when you're constantly being reminded of another game, you're going to start to compare. Unfortunately for Sovereign, the comparisons just aren't in its favour.
With that being said, all of the things that make Sovereign unique also happen to be the things it does the best. The idea of tarot cards instead of dice is fantastic, and it's implemented very well. It is, in my opinion, visually beautiful (especially for a CRPG, which often tend to be pretty...meh artistically imo). The three characters have their stories intersect in subtle ways (ones you don't often even notice until you move onto the next chapter and, oh! That one random thing I did with Teddy is helping me out with Atticus!), and that's very satisfying in action. While having three protagonists makes it harder to really connect with them, they're still interesting enough that it didn't bother me too much.
There’s a teeny but of jank, a few minor bugs, and it’s on the shorter end (not a negative for me, just a warning for some) - but overall the game is super solid at launch. If you're able to separate it from the game that clearly provided a decent amount of inspiration, Sovereign holds up really well on its own. It's more than worth the price, especially because I can see some replay value in it as well. Give it the chance it deserves, and it won't disappoint.
Let's start with the minotaur in the room. The Disco Elysium comparisons were more of a red flag for me than a green one, if I'm being honest. Lightning rarely strikes the same place twice, and I was afraid that a game that so clearly is taking inspiration from one that's considered a masterpiece of it's genre would end up falling flat in comparison. And I still don't think that concern was entirely unfounded - in my opinion, the weakest parts of Sovereign are the ones that feel the most Disco. Of the three playable characters, it's Atticus who is the most Harrier-esque, and it's Atticus who I felt the least connected to. I still enjoyed his chapters but the comparisons felt a bit too easy, and not in a way that worked in Sovereign's favour. The character portraits, the way the skills narrate your thoughts, even just how the dialogue panel looks - when you're constantly being reminded of another game, you're going to start to compare. Unfortunately for Sovereign, the comparisons just aren't in its favour.
With that being said, all of the things that make Sovereign unique also happen to be the things it does the best. The idea of tarot cards instead of dice is fantastic, and it's implemented very well. It is, in my opinion, visually beautiful (especially for a CRPG, which often tend to be pretty...meh artistically imo). The three characters have their stories intersect in subtle ways (ones you don't often even notice until you move onto the next chapter and, oh! That one random thing I did with Teddy is helping me out with Atticus!), and that's very satisfying in action. While having three protagonists makes it harder to really connect with them, they're still interesting enough that it didn't bother me too much.
There’s a teeny but of jank, a few minor bugs, and it’s on the shorter end (not a negative for me, just a warning for some) - but overall the game is super solid at launch. If you're able to separate it from the game that clearly provided a decent amount of inspiration, Sovereign holds up really well on its own. It's more than worth the price, especially because I can see some replay value in it as well. Give it the chance it deserves, and it won't disappoint.