Sacred Fire: A Role Playing Game

When it comes to gaming (or actually, any way I spend my free time, which is my most truly valuable resource), story is what counts the most. Something to learn a little from, something to escape into, and something that has meaning. There are a slew of games out there now that promise that all the decisions matter, yet railroad you into a single, or very limited set of options; this isn't one. When you build the character, it's far from a set of numbers that all fall back to how well you'll hit something, or deciding on whether you can pick a lock or not; this game encapsulates roleplay at its finest, and brings out the struggle of fighting your own nature (the character's) to achieve what you really want to do, despite your shortcomings.. Or perhaps not being able to overcome them.. But that's ok too.. It's part of the story, and comes with the territory of being human. The polish and depth to what is there, is frankly amazing. The art is top notch. The storytelling professional and gripping. The character building is phenomenal. I've shelled out for a few "in development" games, and found myself a little disappointed as they petered out, and I didn't quite feel as though I got the value I expected. From this game.. Even as stands, with so much more of the story to go, I definitely feel as though I've already had exceptional value.. Definitely not a hack and slash.. But definitely a game that will make you think, and reflect inwardly. In an era of everything being reduced to single issue, or having a designer's politics preached, this is brave enough to step out of that mould and say "make of this time what you will.". And on the "make of it what you will", I can't recollect any game delivering on that quite as well as this one.

In-development review, two acts completed; after one playthrough; about 5 hours to finish two acts. Sacred Fire lives up to its subtitle better than any other computer-based "Role Playing Game" that I have played. It is completely engaging. I expect from context that most choices do not actually change the story much, as long as you survive; however it genuinely _feels_ as if they do. I will definitely be replaying with different choices and/or character, so I will find out. There isn't any "sacred fire" in the story so far though. The game is set in Britain during the Roman conquest. The player is part of a small village in a larger loosely-bound kingdom trying to stay free of the Romans. There is a Roman wall nearby, but I was not clear which wall or fortification it was. It isn't important to the story. The story has the Romans, "slavers", and "raiders" as adversaries. The slavers are Romans too and the raiders are quasi-allies (said to be from another island, so either Irish or Icelandic?). Graphically the game is static. It is played as a series of text-based choices of interactions (including some combat) with other characters and in response to your character's thoughts and condition. The art and music are good. Character progression is through spending from several point totals. The character changes things like armor using wealth, reduces their faults using self-insight, increases bonuses with renown titles, and changes relationships to other characters with experience. I found the normal difficulty a little too easy, perhaps, because I maxed out the available renown titles. But I wanted to have more points than I got to develop my relationships with other characters. I died once, to what felt like an arbitrary opponent action. Restarted at checkpoint and had only a couple slightly close calls. The only complaint I have is that the story progression and the player's rise is too fast. And that is because I wanted more, so it is a positive in a way.

The only bad thing about this is that there isn't more of it. It's a nice story that sometimes hits very close to home. Considering the size of the dev team they did a very good job making an entertaining and unique game. Hopefully this leads them to make even bigger projects.

Such a precions gem in gaming

Beautifully done. It's rare that I find a game that hold me to my seat for the whole story (be it incomplete).