ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Ancient Domains of Mystery… what a name. Truth be told, of all games I have played on my PC in the last 15 years, ADOM has surely been the one I keep returning to most often. And if there’s anything that hasn’t changed since the first time is that, whenever I do start up a new character, I can hardly keep myself off the game until the character dies… or until I win. Today the game is officially released on Steam, and the least I can do to repay ADOM and its team for hundreds upon hundreds of hours of fun is to review it.
– Real player with 1030.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best CRPG Traditional Roguelike Games.
There’s a lot I could say about ADOM but I’ll try to keep this brief:
Positives
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The fact that the base ASCII game is, and always will be, free (it’s included in the Steam version, but you can download it stand-alone from the official website)
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The new graphics update makes it much easier to see what’s going on and control your movements compared to the base game (i.e. if a monster is hostile to you, health bars, dots above sprites denoting status effects, the ability to click on things is especially helpful in your inventory,
– Real player with 660.7 hrs in game
Fractalis
I rarely write superlatives, but this game is the worst thing happened to me since I’ve lost a degree to Angband 20 years ago. I’m hooked. Yes, controls could be more polished, but I do not mind. I love it.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best CRPG Traditional Roguelike Games.
While fun at a very reasonable price, I found myself wanting a bit more in the world above the dungeon. The world seems like a small cross section or single screen of what at first feels like a larger continent or Island. It was disappointing to walk to the edg and find out that there was no continuation to this forest or path as it is simply a jarring invisible edge to the ‘world’. A minor thing, but it did make the game seem smaller and restrictive to be sure.
My main concern (and maybe I missed something) was this: Each type of item/weapon/etc has its own store NPCs vendors and they will not purchase equipment that is not part of their store. For example, you cant sell pole arms to a sword store. Even the ‘general’ store has very specific items that they deal in and will not buy anything from you that is not specifically tied to that store. Not a thing. While this seems completely reasonable at first glance, the problem I found was that there is no guarantees as to which NPCs will be generated in the town each time a world is generated. You could end up with 3 vendors in the generated town and 2 of them are swords only and one general vendor. Good luck looting anything of value that you can make any profit off of. So I either end up with a bag full of equipment that I cant sell at all, or I just end up with piles of items laying on the ground because they’re of no use what so ever. A more fleshed out town/world would go a long way and help alleviate the feeling of the game feeling smaller than it is.
– Real player with 2.5 hrs in game
Monsters' Den: Book of Dread
I absolutely love this game. Back in highschool when this was a web browser game, I would sign up for computer classes just to play this game secretly in a corner.
What I love most about the remastered version of the game is that not a single thing changed. There is so much loot to be had, so many boss fights, and bad ass legendary monsters to hunt. To my knowledge, the game has no end. You can beat the campaign, but it lets you keep playing anyway for the sake of things.
It’s simple enough to play casually, but challenging enough to make you think. The most fun part is its Diablo 2 skill tree mechanics that you try some really unique parties.
– Real player with 142.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best CRPG Tactical RPG Games.
This game simple mechanics are solid, with no apparent bugs or fails. It works and is fairly entertaining at first. UNFORTUNATELY, it has no story worth telling about. It has this weakest of story lines that repeats itself over and over again at each level, which becomes old very, very fast. You are going down in the dungeon at each level defeating the same opponent types at each turn. You collect gear, and become stronger because of it, but the monsters also get stronger in proportion to your dungeon level, which means, well, you get the same dynamics in combat also.
– Real player with 123.8 hrs in game
Two Die
This is such an awesome addicting and rewarding strategy game! It has good old school 8 bit graphics, similar to fire emblem with a dungeons and dragons feel at its core giving a more personal character experience.
My favorite aspect of the game is once you clear a level you can either pick from three items that either give a stat bonus, new attacks, or fully heal. This gives you the ability to make very diverse character builds, while also adding an edge of difficulty since you cannot heal if you decide to improve your characters build after each level.
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Very nice!
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Hyper Dungeon Crawler
This is the groundwork for a really nice little game, and I did quite enjoy it for what it was, which is why I give this a positive review, but it is rather rough around the edges. Some things that would need to be ironed out before I can really recommend it:
- The inventory limitations are quite frustrating without adding much depth to the game itself, and with a full inventory you can’t even dig through walls properly which makes this extra infuriating. The many different foodstuffs especially seem to be just designed to clog up your inventory.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Fun little game. Fairly challenging. My only gripe is that some stuff isn’t explained. I see things that I feel like I should be able to interact with but I can’t.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Entity Researchers
turn based dungeon crawler featuring weird zoomed up and oddly named creatures who invaded earth
you’re going to annihilate them, grind them into paste, and reap the rewards of currency and new abilities
get to work. bit of a grind but freedom isn’t free
plays like SMT + mother with a pinch of cruelty squad and rpg maker goodness
im having a nice time
dev is active and improving the game, a rarity these days woah Thank You For Your Service
hardcore mode is hardcore you will die if you aren’t paying attention to being on fire or having zero iq
– Real player with 32.5 hrs in game
This game is deceptively simple when you begin, but, there are a lot of hidden little things that go on that never get told about, like Luck being important because you’ll get more uniques that can outclass your stat mods, or affinity affecting not only your defense against that element of entity (hint, stack at least 3 ore of 1 type per element you’re facing, and include the one that the faced element does less damage to because the entities will use both info on="" that="" is="" in="" the="" pause="" menu="" under="" affinities="" ). /info
– Real player with 32.1 hrs in game
Razenroth 2
I enjoyed Razenroth and this game escaped my wish list. Already I am seeing more improvements to the original along with content and story that hearken back to my many hours into the first one. Keep it up Enitvare you have a fan in me.
UPDATE: Game is still awesome.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
Hey! I am a fellow indie game dev, We have been checking out random indie games on stream so if you want to see the gameplay of it check out here: www.twitch.tv/sfsben
My review:
Things we liked:
-I liked the art style and general feel of the game.
-Gameplay was really fun and wasn’t confusing to figure out what was happening
-Randomness and replayability of the game. I can very easily see myself putting a ton of hours into this game.
-The leaderboards are really fun.
-I liked the different characters and abilities.
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
The Iron Oath
The Iron Oath is a turn-based tactical RPG set in a medieval fantasy world. As the leader of a mercenary company in the harsh land of Caelum, you must recruit, manage, and embark on perilous missions in order to survive, building your company’s renown in the process.
As the years progress, the world changes dynamically through various events, enabling new story-lines for you to discover and making each playthrough unique. What fate awaits your company?
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Tactical Turn-Based Combat
Proper planning and execution is vital to your success. Deadly foes, traps, and destructible objects means one misstep could be your party’s undoing.
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Time Progression
Time passes as you navigate the world. Your characters will age, retire, and die, and the world around you will change through various events.
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Dynamic Overworld
Caelum is a large, ever-changing world. Cities can be conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt as the Noble Houses all vie for power.
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In-Depth Management
Manage your company’s roster, finances, and political relationships. Gain wealth and renown by completing contracts, and invest in upgrading the many facets of your organization.
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Customize Unique Characters
Various traits make each character unique. As they gain experience and rank up, you can further customize each class by upgrading their special abilities with game-changing enhancements.
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Decisions Matter
You will make many decisions throughout your journey, and they won’t always be popular. The choices you make bear consequences, and they can influence your characters, your company, and the world itself.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/699330/The_Iron_Oath
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy
Procedural roguelite RPG in a vast world
Unexplored 2 creates a vast, rich fantasy world for you to discover. It has a cool twist on permadeath: your character may die, but the world might persist. The game is an ambitious, procedural action-RPG without grind, xp, or gold. Instead the story is all about your choices and their consequences as history unfolds.
As the titular Wayfarer you take on the quest to destroy the Staff of Yendor, for which you’ll have to traverse your world. Along the way you’ll meet tribes, encounter magical creatures and explore ancient ruins to discover mythical weapons and historic items.
When you die…
The game is challenging and you will die often. You may make a wrong choice, take on one too many creatures, or forget to stock up on food before traveling a desert. Whatever the reason, when your character dies, they’re gone. No autosaving or quickloading.
However, you can choose to continue your adventures with a new character in the same world, a few years later. Your new character will witness the result of the choices your previous adventurer made. You can leave items in a safe spot, ready for your next Wayfarer to pick up and use.
The world ends
You can try to fulfill your quest to destroy the Staff of Yendor with consecutive Wayfarers in the same world. However, when you die during your final mission, your world ends. Permanently.
So, make sure you are prepared well and know everything there is to know about the last and most dangerous part of your adventure.
When you fail, that world vanishes. The only thing left to do is to generate a whole new world with its own history, and begin the quest anew.
Key features
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Radical content generation: Ludomotion’s radical approach to content generation creates many layers of unique content, every time a new world is generated.
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Generative storytelling: Though every Wayfarer’s ultimate goal may be similar, every hero will have their own world, story, and encounters.
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Systemic depth: The game features many systems and you will discover something new every time you play, even after hundreds of hours of gameplay.
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Legacy system: Actions of your past heroes impact the fortunes of those that follow in their footsteps. Use your legacy wisely to give your successive adventurers greater hopes of completing their quest.
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Permadeath in a persistent world: When your hero dies, they stay dead. But you can choose to return to the same world with a new Wayfarer. Or, if you prefer, begin a new adventure in a completely unexplored world.
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Unique presentation: The worlds in Unexplored 2 are presented in a unique and beautiful art style, beyond what is conventionally expected from a generative game. A stylish lighting system sets the mood and adapts to the time of day and local weather conditions.
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Orchestral adaptive soundtrack: Your adventure is accompanied by an orchestral, original soundtrack which reacts to the action and decisions you make as a player.
Dawn of the Mexica
A deeply tactical and challenging roguelike that leads you through the Aztec underworld to the realms of the gods.
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Fascinating mythology and stone-age combat aesthetic
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Multiple viable combat and survival strategies.
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Highly lethal combat system that may be frustrating for the casual gamer. Most deaths past the very beginning will occur from incapacitating crits (and sometimes critical fumbles); successful strategies will revolve around mitigating risk and/or playing rocket tag with certain enemies so they can’t fight back. Unlike many other games, hit points or health is a very poor measure of character survivability - in comparison with defensive skills, armor, etc. Control of distance, visibility, light levels, and cover are very important. Personally, I like it; but not for everyone.
– Real player with 173.9 hrs in game
A very well-researched Mesoamerican roguelike that delves into a setting rarely explored in gaming mediums. The combat descriptions are quite nice, and there are a variety of different skills and classes to unlock. It’s quite enjoyable to try some utility skills to round out your character, things like swimming, liquid identification, and others can all be of service.
The main negative is that deaths can be nearly instantaneous. This makes for a game of planning, of thinking, “Hey, I’m a caster, maybe some perception will keep me from getting mauled around the next corner.” However, as the game is approachable for new runs, this isn’t much of an issue (though there are times when I’m wondering how to improve). It’s a whole lot better than TOME 4’s instadeaths 15+ hours into the campaign.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game