YMMV / Sacred

• Cult Classic: Though definitely not the most known game of its genre, Sacred has a small but surprisingly devoted fanbase.
• Difficulty Spike: There is a world of difference between Bronze and Silver settings, especially in the first game. And then you unlock Gold and beyond...
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • If you ask the average Sacred fan what was his favorite character, the answer will be either the Battle Mage or the Dark Elf, the former for his power and starter-friendly nature and the latter for being a strong assassin with useful abilities. Out of the two, the Mage could be considered the developers' favorite too, as it received not one, but two Expy character classes in the second game and its expansion.
  • Out of the two characters introduced in Underworld, the Daemon is the favorite (though it doesn't mean the Dwarf doesn't lack fans either).
• First Installment Wins: This game (and Underworld, counting it as one and the same) is the most known and successful of the franchise. Meanwhile, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is liked too, but tends to be rather divisive, and Sacred 3 is downright loathed.
• Game-Breaker:
  • The Battle Mage is a weird case of a fan favorite character who is still a textbook case of overpowering, as not only he has ridiculously good hand-to-hand skills for a Red Mage, but his powers are arguably the most destructive and versatile of all the cast. The Gold Edition toned him down by making him weaker to physical attacks, which was seen as an improvement... but it also introduced another overpowered character, the Dwarf.
  • As said above, the Dwarf is seen by some as being overpowered. While he is slightly slower than other characters and cannot ride horses (kind of a moot point considering all characters in the Gold Edition have to dismount to collect items, making many players prefer to go on foot), it doesn't fully compensate for his incredible strength and toughness, powerful ranged techniques and unique blacksmith skills.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While Sacred was still successful in its native Germany, it could not compare to Spain, where it won awards and sold like crazy, or Russia, which still has a dedicated fanbase, as well as other Europan countries like Poland. Even in United States, where it didn't sell so much, PC Gamer put it as the best roleplaying game in 2004.
• Goddamned Bats: Goblins and bandits in the original game are found in several areas and spawn in large groups. In the Underworld expansion, hornets in one of the earlier areas are numerous, tricky to target, and are difficult to run away from.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The implications that Teleri, the female constable of Timberton, was raped by Gutdug, who is a freaking MINOTAUR.
  • Underworld. The opening alone has Vilya being Mind Raped by Anducar with vision of Valor's death, as well as him unleashing his demonic servants on Ancaria.
  • One side-quest in which we have a magician engrating human nervous system inside a giant spider.
  • In Underworld we can see multiple skulls of the Sakkara Demons, Ancaria campaing's last boss, extremely powerful creatures. The fact that in the Underworld there is more of them doesn't change anything, as they are still very powerful. What could be there living in the Underworld, that can kill so many of them, and leave behind impaled skulls of the game's most powerful creatures with no flesh on them?
  • Underworld's Embalmed Forest has a three-store house built over a giant scarab-like centipede. Makes you wonder what else can be hidden deeply underground...
• Obvious Beta: The game had a high amount of glitches and bugs, though several patches and the Golden Edition ameliorated it.
• Player Punch: The first game has Prince Valor's death at the hands of Shaddar. The expansion, Vilya's and, if you started to play the game as a Battle Mage, Alcalata's.
• That One Boss:
  • The Ghost of Christmas Future. It has a devastating damage output, is surrounded by Elite Mooks and has the ability to summon more of them, it barely takes any damage at all from non-fire based attacks, and it has an obscene health regeneration. Oh, and it automatically scales to your level. Have fun!
  • The Community Patch brings us the Succubus, who will fuck you up if you're not adequately prepared.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The NPC Maegalcarwen can be found in Zhurag-Nar about to be sacrificed when playing as the Dark Elf, and she can be saved if the player is fast enough, but there is no dialogue available with her. Most fans who followed the storyline of the two elves would have expected an explicit resolution, perhaps a promise to meet again after the game's final battle or a Dying Declaration of Love if the player failed at saving her. But nothing happens at all, so it's left to the fans' imagination.
• The Woobie: Vilya, especially in Underworld.

---