9th Dawn III: Shadow of Erthil is a massive open world RPG/dungeon crawler packed full of content – featuring more than 270 monsters to fight and capture, a fun card game with 180 cards to collect, and over 1,400 unique items to hoard!
Players can freely roam and discover a sprawling game world, filled with a variety of environments like ancient fortresses, dark dungeons, perilous swamps, and the Hollow Mountains of Scorn. The open-ended nature of the exploration allows players to progress at their own pace, without strict linear progression, which is widely praised.
The game offers extensive customization and progression systems. Players can create their own unique builds, choosing from a variety of playstyles like mage, warrior, or rogue. As they level up, players can allocate skill points to unlock new abilities and spells, fine-tuning their character's capabilities. The skill system, where skills level up through use, is appreciated for its depth and flexibility.
One standout feature allows players to capture and tame various monsters encountered throughout the world. Players can have up to 10 of these tamed creatures as active companions, which can be customized and leveled up. This "beastmaster" playstyle is hugely popular, adding an extra layer of strategy and pet management to the gameplay.
The robust crafting system enables players to gather resources, discover recipes, and craft a wide variety of useful items, from weapons and armor to consumables. The crafting mechanics, which improve with skill level, provide players with satisfying progression loops as they work to master the different crafting disciplines.
In addition to the core RPG and dungeon crawling gameplay, the game offers a variety of optional activities for players to engage in, such as fishing, cooking, mining, and even a card game called Fyued. These side activities provide welcome diversions and contribute to the overall depth and replayability.
Players generally praise the real-time, action-oriented combat, which allows for satisfying hack-and-slash gameplay. The loot system, with over 1,400 unique items to collect, is also a highlight, providing a constant sense of progression and reward as players explore and defeat enemies.