Fabled Lands
Fabled Lands is adaptation from the open world gamebook series of the same name, originally written in the 1990s.
If you are not familiar with the original books, what you can expect is a primarily text-based adventure in a medieval world in pen and paper style, accompanied by pretty illustrations and graphic UI. This isn’t your typical RPG game. There isn’t a single main story to follow, instead you explore the world and do whatever you please. Dice rolls determine the outcome of events, danger lurks around every corner, and your adventure only ends when you die permanently.
– Real player with 58.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Early Access Choose Your Own Adventure Games.
Back in the 90’s in Germany Ravensburger released the first four of the Fabled Lands solitaire-RPG game books in German under the Trademark “Sagaland” (not the Board Game). Already the first book “Kampf um das Königreich” (“The War-Torn Kingdom”) got me deeply involved in the world of Harkuna and the mechanisms of the books. Although I already had known the Fighting Fantasy Classics game books like “Death Trap Dungeon” there was nothing like the “Fabled Lands”-Series.
Those books are outstanding and unique in every way: You could travel back and forth in the book itself, from book to book, buy ships and become a sea trading mechant, the books “remembered” you decisions and changes the world accordingly.
– Real player with 28.9 hrs in game
Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness
Cant recommend this yet. I have no problems with the usual early access stuff; broken game mechanics, bugged quests, and balance issues. Those are all easy to fix. However, I do have some main concerns that the small dev team may or may not be able to fix for main release:
1. Performance issues. Long load times and poor frame rates on high end machines with SSDs. Not acceptable from a game that looks like 1998. Since you get a loading screen every time you enter/exit an area or building, long loading times severely impact the overall experience. Pretty much every streamer who streamed this said the same thing.
– Real player with 66.2 hrs in game
Party-based computer rpg similar to NWN, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, et al. If you like those type this game should fit your needs. It is RTwP for those who only play one type of combat.
I think there is enough here to support for sure:
Pros:
Quite a large variety of stuff to find for the hoarder in all of us.
Melee combat is fairly robust and healing gets the job done.
The painted map backgrounds are mostly pretty.
Good variety in classes.
I will cover cons in detail since they need fixing:
– Real player with 23.3 hrs in game
A Fishy RPG
I received this game as a curator from developers to try it out and give an honest opinion about it. Well, this game is boring and pointless. Maybe somebody is gonna like it, I don’t. Also, there is a bug in the game that does not let you quit the game, so I had to restart my computer in order to get rid of it. I uninstalled it, and yet Steam was showing that I’m inside the game, and counting hours played…. And the game itself is, you go around and catch fish. And even though people say that pixelated games are now in, I had my share of playing Commodore 64 in 1980’s, why in gods name would I want to play something as ugly as this game? Even the pixelated games can look good. (Dungeon of the endless for example). This game is plane ugly.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Early Access Exploration Games.
A small retro style mid 80’s arcade game
The Developer has tried for an approachable classic look, and considering the requested price tag has definitely aimed for a niche market.
Calling the game an RPG is a bit of a stretch but one does have Character Skills to grow and choose between which do affect how your interaction with the world goes down. This primary interaction, is an arcade interface fishing action with the prime directive being to discover more interesting and valuable 8-bit fishies.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
All Over
Great adventure game; perfect way to employ my older son (8) for hours with an activity that requires brain, thinking, reading etc as opposed to just numblessly staring at Youtube.
We played the Hebrew version which was perfect for him since he can’t read English.
Hardly any guidance was required from my side as the game is very intuitive and the kid was carried away into hours of playing it (from time to time he came to share with me his experiences and adventures from the game).
Go get it, it is definitelly a covid-19 must have!!
– Real player with 284.3 hrs in game
Excellent!
The ultimate saving for our children. I encountered this game during the Covid-19 lockdown period. We have 3 children (ages 11,9 & 4). After going crazy for a few days in the house, the children were introduced to the game. They immediately started to play TOGETHER which was just fabulous! They set with the Challenges and riddles AS A TEAM which we really liked.
It is just wonderful to watch all 3 of them play together trying to unlock the quest.
Highly recommended!!
– Real player with 50.8 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
Fate in the Darkness
As planned this is an RPG-sandbox in board game style, with a gothic fantasy atmosphere.
А living own life world, which you can interact through the game character, attended events, tasks and game deck.
The goal of this project is to port board game.
In this time the gameplay is a journey through the main game location.
This demonstrates the work I have done, from scratch.
The game is raw.
Core aspects such as: generation of game characters, map-pocessing algorythm, most part of AI logic and e.t.c. are mostly done. But still in need of optimization and content. Also there is a dungeon map-generator, but it’s unfinished and not integrated.
**Graphics will be changed and balance will be updated. Plenty of dialogs, events, tasks, items and objects are gonna be added.
Have in plans to add co-op up to 4 players and map-creation tools.**
Since it’s my pesonal project - I can change/add/delete any part of it if I see fit.
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/FiDsteam
Kin’s Chronicle
This game is well put together and the catch them aspect is rewarding and unique. The monsters you beat you have a chance to use as party members. The Dungeon crawler Rpg gameplay is on point and fun
– Real player with 4.9 hrs in game
I downloaded the demo and I liked it a lot, so I bought the game. When I installed and started the game over, I got a surprise. When I used the first key I obtained, a message popped up saying that I wanted to keep playing, I had the buy the game as this was the end of the demo. So, I liked it but I didn’t get to play it.
In response to the developer:
Hang on second. It wasn’t just a message. The game would not let me continue. You should tell everyone that if they play the demo, they will have to wait until you fix it before they can play the full game.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Revolution: The Spark
Fight back in Revolution: The Spark, a story-driven, turn-based tactical RPG. With dwindling resources and enemies at every turn, what will you do to survive this revolution?
The Story
On the brink of revolt, the common people cry out for justice from their heartless queen. This story is set in an alternate steampunk world in the early 20th century in the Capital of the strongest Empire in the world. The game tells a story of a military veteran, Alex, who becomes increasingly frustrated with the growing corruption of the monarchy and the exploitation of the common folk. When Alex’s brother gets arrested for an attempted coup, Alex will have no choice but to fight if he ever wants to see his brother again. It appears that a concentration of power lies in the hands of a powerful few. But there is more to this than meets the eye. These few are being manipulated by supernatural beings that feed off of the fervor, lust, and wrath of humankind. A spark of revolution will change it all.
CORE FEATURES
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Strategic Turn-based Combat – People are your greatest assets, so take care of them. Those who fall in combat will need time to recover.
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Recruit up to 25 Allies across 7 distinct Classes – You’ll need all the help that you can find on your journey to unseat the Empress. But beware, as some of your companions might not like others.
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Explore 9 Dynamic Locations – From the mines to the noble villas, you must fight your way to the steps of the Empress’ palace itself across 9 exciting, beautiful, hand-drawn, isometric locations.
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Forge Your Own Path – Your actions shape the future of a corrupt Empire. Choose how you want to solve conflict. Will you conquer all or reason with your foes? Every decision you make in travel, conversation, and combat has a meaningful effect on the outcome as your story unfolds.
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Discover secrets and Unlock 5 Different Endings. – Explore and talk to everyone. You never know what you might find. There are many routes and options that will help you steer the ultimate fate of the Empire.
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Steampunk Victorian Culture – Master the weapons of the early 20th century in this steam-fueled alternate reality where things aren’t what they seem.
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Decide what you fight for – Peace? A new world order? Or do you just want power for yourself? Everything is possible in Revolution: The Spark.
The Chronicler
Yes this is very early access but I like the artwork and overall theme a lot. I will be playing this more when further updates have been released.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Legend of You
Demons, dragons, kings and all sorts of creatures live together in a world brimming with conflict. Secrets of the forgotten past still urge to be found by pirates and cultists. The language of the arcade slowly dies as the wizards distance themselves from men. Intrigues, desires, hearts and dreams are all tangled in this living world.
You find yourself among all this.
A young male human studying the arcane. Or perhaps a female orc wielding a giant’s club; or even a high elf set to complete his elemental jewel collection.
As you journey across marshes and dungeons, frozen peaks and fiery depths; you will make friends and enemies, fight with powerful creatures, unravel royal conspiracies, find long-lost blueprints and craft items not seen for a generation and discover secrets that will forever change your game.
Your story will be unique.
Will you serve at the king’s desire; or murder him in plain sight? Follow each quest’s prescribed path, or push the boundaries of what can be done and come up with a unique way to play the game?
You are free to kill, talk to, help, hinder, trade, serve, betray and starve anyone in the world. But be wary, your actions will have deep consequences on how each character will interact with you.
Key Features
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Open World: A deep handcrafted world where every character lives their lives and pursue their desires: from finding what to eat tomorrow; to destroying every elf in the world.
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Sandbox: Play with and combine every mechanic at your disposal; discover emergent behavior and bend the simulation to your will.
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RPG: Items, stats, skills and dialog parsers are all at your hand to role play different characters and builds.
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Character Customization: You can be whoever you want: Human, Orc, Elf, Dwarf and much more. Change their color, hair, outfit, backstory and goal to make each character your own.
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Crafting: From baking bread to forging a dragon-slaying hammer, the world is full of materials and blueprints for you to discover and craft with.
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Turn-Based: With a Traditional Roguelike movement and combat, you will be able to make meaningful combat decisions. As you expand your skills, you will create more strategies to slay whoever stands in your way.
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Survival: One does not simply walk into the freezing Crystal Lance without preparation. Learn to survive the most adverse conditions, keeping your moral and physical conditions high as enemies and locations hurt your body, mind and soul.
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Story: Meet and talk to different characters in the world, from scheming peasants, to long-dead conquerors. Help them or stop them; every choice you make will write your story.
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Pixel Graphics: Combining the look of the golden age of CRPGs with our own modern take, your story will be vividly rendered with beautiful pixel art.
You have already experienced the legend of several heroes.
Now it is time to make your own in Legend of You.