Set in a retro ASCII-art world, SanctuaryRPG is a humorous and strategic turn-based dungeon crawling adventure. Drawing heavy inspiration from both Roguelikes and Japanese RPGs, the game was meticulously designed to offer a truly compelling gameplay experience fused with a robust action-rpg inspired...
Set in a retro ASCII-art world, SanctuaryRPG is a humorous and strategic turn-based dungeon crawling adventure. Drawing heavy inspiration from both Roguelikes and Japanese RPGs, the game was meticulously designed to offer a truly compelling gameplay experience fused with a robust action-rpg inspired combat system.
The Black Edition builds upon the classic formula with all new procedurally generated artwork, as well as a plethora of areas to explore, races to experiment with, skills to master, and loot to collect. As a valiant hero or a dastardly villain, the fate of Sanctuary is in your hands.
Experience HUNDREDS of hours of immersive RPG gameplay
Travel through vast dungeons with semi-roguelike action
Put your strategies to work with a sleek combat system
Over 320 class and race combinations to experiment with
Wreck your enemies with over a BILLION item combinations
Rock out to an original 8-bit chiptune soundtrack
Enjoy a blast from the past with retro ASCII graphics!
Collect in-game achievements for no reason whatsoever
Forge weapons with a skill-based crafting system
Test your might in a ranked matchmaking mode
Both casual and permadeath game modes
Customize and utilize robotic pets in battle
Fully featured and dynamic economy simulation
Sell craft beers and even run your own tavern
Goodies
soundtrack
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Please be advised that Windows 10 operating system will receive frequent hardware driver and software updates following its release; this may affect game compatibility
Recommended system requirements:
Please be advised that Windows 10 operating system will receive frequent hardware driver and software updates following its release; this may affect game compatibility
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
The game has a certain air about it. It looks and sounds great.
But the writing, oh the writing, it reeks of a dungeon master inviting you to spend great time in a world of fantasy and then proceeding to block you constantly and continually punishing you for one reason or another. It disrespects your intelligence, and don't you call it toilet humour, for it is a tad bit less funny than my shoelaces. Just as every single NPC is a cardboard cut-out and sounds same-ish.
I got it for less than half a dollar. And I do not regret spending money. I regret spending my time on a game with a story that doesn't want your investment, is a cringefest of writing and an uninsightful tedium of a grind.
Still better than a cookie clicker though.
The Gobstopper, according to Wonka, is a candy for children with very little pocket money.
When I turned into an adult, I had a lot of pocket money--but so very little time. In a world of sweeping sandboxes with pretty graphics, fantastical settings and numerous plot devices, holes and whathaveyous, this game allows the speedy adult in me to have epic adventures in the littlest amount of time possible. It doesn't pad you with needless "epic" maps; gameplay is instead simplified into single events which either turns out to be a combat encounter or a random event (a fallen fruit on the road, a pamphlet, random items, etc.).
Here are a small list of the things you can do here: build up a character with a generous character generator (with several classes and several unlockable races), build a shack, upgrade it, build a toolshed, make weapons and armor, fight in an arena, random non-combat events, fetch quests, bounty quests, kill quests and die and repeat. The whole file size is under 150mb and there's still a lot more to do here than most games running at more that 5gb.
The only thing I want from these guys is an android port (and thank GOD they don't have that or I won't have time for other things like sleep).
TLDR: Great game, better than most AAA games out there like say, Fallout 4 (BUT not better than Fallout New Vegas but a very, very close second).
There are a few items in the game's description which can be considered as misleading:
-> Claims HUNDREDS of hours of gameplay. What you actually get is 5-10 minutes of gameplay repeated ad nauseum. The game is ridiculously grindy and there is not much variety in what you do. As another reviewer pointed out it is just pressing 1-2-3-3, then you go to the tavern and you press 1-2, Then you go to the library and press 2-3-4 and then 5 to restock books.
-> Claims hundreds of race/class combinations. While technically true, the only difference is in some passive skills, nothing else. Everyone reacts to you the same way, no matter what your race is. The story is the same, no matter what your race is. Gameplay, the 1-2-3-3 experience, is the same for absolutely every class/race combination.
-> The skill-based crafting system is not skill-based at all, as it still relies on random chance for the stats. You have zero control over what stats and what amount of them the item will have.
-> The description claims that you get to travel through "vast dungeons" yet there is not a single line of description for them, besides a random-generated name.
-> The Arena system is just a time waster. Zero in-game or out of game benefit to it.
-> If you find the word "potato" for the most hilarious thing ever thought, you will have a great time with the game's humor.
-> Leveling is an extremely tedious grindfest. It is also unreliable. Enemies from higher-level zones often give the same, or less, experience than those from previous zones. The level requirements are also unreliable, as there is a great chance of just getting one or two-shotted at the appropriate level. You character dies and dozens of hours are flushed down the toilet.
Why do I give it 4 stars then? Because if endless grinding is your thing, this game is perfect for you. It is a competently made game, just a very niche title. It would also be good if they changed the description to something a bit more honest.
NOT RECOMMENDED. In short, trying to have a tiny bit of fun and not focus on every single button press 100 % all the time, will get you killed. Most of the content is either busywork gathering resources, fighting random encounters until the game decides to open up the next place in the list to fight random encounters at and eventually boss fights that are essentially random encounters with pointless dialogue.
Aside from jokes about putting root veggies up your bum, there is nothing unique or interesting there gameplay-wise, except for the bad UI design and basic fighting moves requiring MAGIC POINTS. Skip this game, it is raw as hell and it is very clear the gameplay is padded with the killing of the player. Because of the massive amount of busywork progressing in the game involves, losing progress as intended upon death is anti-fun.
Pressing a wrong button, among many other things, wastes your turn and / or harms you. The advertised "HUNDREDS of hours of immersive RPG gameplay" are 90 % of wasted hours because the game kills you and you have to re-grind everything again. It kills you a lot, mostly by a whole slew of intentional beginner traps.
The most annoyingly parts are the messed up way the game handles status ailments and the move-rage-MP mechanic. The only way to cure 'cursed' is to waste your turn using up limited heals while the enemy is free to give you the ailment immediately back with damage along with other ailments. Any risks you can take may end up being lethal, e.g. traps that leave you with 1 HP. In a game with permadeath. Oh and the benefits of dying, i.e. the whole point of these roguelites to offset the annoyance of dying, is usually NOTHING. Keep in mind the game expects you to book-keep how much MP you have and requires you to constantly use "reposition" moves to have MP to not deadlocked and able to do nothing because of lack MP and the MP-generation-crippling Wound-ailment. Enemies generate multiple ailments for you all the time.
So this is an ASCII game which is based around grinding for levels and gears, with permadeath and a long slew of stuff to do (upgrade your housing, craft, quest, random events).
It also has a a world that is more than a backdrop (with actual backstory) and takes the "X of Loathing" route, that is, even if combat is serious the game doesn't take itself too seriously (for instance smashing a random banana will heal you, or taking off a pissed-off guy's pants will give you an item) and the "rogue" part is limited to permadeath. There are jokes or silly things everywhere, but at the same time combat can be tense and it feels really rewarding to triumph over a dragon and stumble over treasure chests.
The combat system is rich, calling for pacing and tactics, and once you get the hang of it, the grinding is a cool timesink (just like I can spend hours grinding in Elminage or Ultima I), I must admit I have a hard time resisting the "door-monster-treasure" pattern, like Dungeon Hack but with more jokes. If you like dungeon-crawling gameplay, it's right up your alley.
Handcrafting is an interesting minigame and you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly, which can yield cool results, or at least more scraps for more crafting.
The whole general mechanic is incremential, you start off a bit weak but very, VERY soon you'll be able to exponentially increase your power and ability, but remember that the RNG can, and will, slap you silly once in a while. However the game doesn't feel unfair to me, demanding sometimes, but nothing a few hours of grinding and scrounging can't fix.
Since there are many secrets and events and a metric boatload of stuff to find and silly things to do, I think this scratches my itch for a good and rich RPG, for such a light install size and currently for less than a buck on sale, I can't see it being a bad purchase, as long as you don't mind grinding.
For such a light install you'll have hours of crawling content. I like it.
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