Roleplaying games, everything from classic CRPGs to modern stuff
Hurray, Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy is out! However, only in Early Access. It’s planned to stay in EA for about 1-1,5 years, so it’s unfortunately pretty far from being finished. What’s here already, is certainly top-tier, and plays into what I love about RPGs splendidly. Especially, if you are like me and enjoy the more low-key approach to adventuring: think early levels of the first Baldur’s Gate.
Continue reading “Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy [Early Access] is out!”
Ever wanted to be a Necromancer? Well, now is the time. Sadly, I never managed to reach that stage in the demo, but from my two invested hours, the Necromancer’s Tale showed true RPG potential for the future. I base this on the very interesting setup, good engaging writing, turn-based combat, inventory & loot, and plenty of skill checks that depend on your created character. Good stuff all around, so far.
Continue reading “The Necromancer’s Tale – Demo Impressions”
It’s time to once again promote a Kickstarter. This time, it’s the vampire cyberpunk RPG Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall. It seems very ambitious coming from a solo dev, but from what is shown it looks impressive already. It’s a mix of first/third-person exploration with top-down turn-based combat taking place in some kind of cyberpunk dystopian nightmare, with vampires. Right up my alley. I should warn though, there will be explicit sexual themes in the game; in other words hardcore porn. However, going by what the developer told me, you don’t have to interact with that aspect of the game. I’m not personally into sex-games, so I’m glad that the “degeneracy” is a choice!
You can find the Kickstarter here, and you can find the game’s Steam page here (You must be logged in to see the page, because of age restriction). And by looking at the status of the Kickstarter, it’s more than eighty percent completed already. So, this is most likely a done deal already, but that shouldn’t hinder you from putting in some money, if the title interests you.
Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen is one of the biggest cRPG disappointments in recent years. Not because it was bad, or anything like that. The reason it was a disaster is that it got put on ice permanently before it had a chance to wow anyone. It was a Kickstarter success, but unfortunately, the development petered out. It’s unclear as to why, but as game development goes, financial issues were probably one of the problems.
However, I got the opportunity to talk to the mysterious lead writer of the project, who wanted to remain anonymous. The person in question won’t be elaborating much on why Realms Beyond is currently dead in the water, seeing as the focus of the interview will be mainly on the writing.
So, welcome to an interview with the lead writer of Realms Beyond. It’s time to find out what this game was all about, and what kind of grand narrative we are sadly missing out on.
Continue reading “Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen – Interview with the lead writer”
Another game, another uncertainty, hence the “quick impressions”. This impression so far has lasted me about ten hours with the game, and while certain parts show great potential for Expeditions: Rome, it also has incredibly boring mechanics that are part of the core gameplay. While I loved Logic Artists‘ first game Expeditions: Conquistador, which felt like a true expedition into the unknown, filled with danger and the lure of treasure, Expeditions: Viking fell way short for me. When I played it, it was buggy as hell, and in general, I found the game tedious and uninspired, missing what made their first game so good in the first place. All that barrel-smashing for random loot didn’t feel like the epitome of gameplay.
Continue reading “Expeditions: Rome – Quick Impressions (& rant)”
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