Solasta: Crown of the Magister

I have mixed feelings about this game, but the first thing I want to say is that I think this is one of, if not THE best game to be your first RPG/D&D game. The gameplay and the interface are very intuitive and the game does a really good job educating you about the mechanics and the rules. It makes it really easy to get into. But the biggest positive for is really clean and convenient UI. It's just so nice to play it, and overall the experience is great. I like the fights, I like the balance, I like the difficulty controls. What I don't like is the storytelling. Overall the story is actually interesting and I also really like the world of Solasta. However the characters and the storytelling is so, so bad. All characters seem really juvenile and shallow. Interactions between characters resemble teens on playground and often the way NPCs behave also pulls your right out of the story. So, if you enjoy fights and don't care much for the characters - you are in for a good ride. I also cannot emphasize enough how good this game is in terms of explaining itself on how it should be played. I would recommend everyone to try it out.

Solasta is a very uneven game, but it succeeds in acomodating both new players and seasoned veterans. It has a very good combat system, incorporating D&D5e rules strictly and seriously (my favourite one is light restrictions), though it also lets you turn some of the more tedious ones off for newcomers. Constant rolling of dice, which unnecessary prolongs the game, can be turned off completely, which is great and I recommend you do it ASAP. Races and classes are also implemented very well, though without DLCs the selection is modest, to say the least. Playing is fun and engaging, though the story is pretty basic and not captivating. Graphics in landscapes is good, overall its mediocre, and in cutscenes, when the models are zoomed, it is getting really bad. And dialogues I found to be badly written; some humour here and there can't fix the overall feeling. I also liked the development in this game: levelling up, crafting and itemization. Boss fights are good and I enjoyed them. Game engine isn't optimised, resulting in slowdowns where there absolutely shouldn't be any. The game isn't very long, like 30+ hours, and it leaves you hungry for more. DLCs are available, of course, but when you include them, Solasta isn't cheap anymore. Maybe my review doesn't sound overly optimistic but the truth is I really liked this game despite all its shortcomings. If you like D&D, tactical games, or are old enough to remember games looking like Solasta, then you should have a lot of fun with the game. I am rating it 8/10.

I guess many people thought it was good, but I just don't see why. The camera controls alone are a good reason to avoid this game. The makers are very proud of their 3D battle maps, which means your view is constantly blocked by overhanging levels. You can rotate the camera, but you cannot change the angle. The camera jumps to every enemy that attacks, forcing you to painstakingly reset the view several times each combat round, so you can see the party. There are so many small animations that combat takes a long time, and very often there is no real progress, as everybody misses their target. They did away with dungeon floors, ceilings, and walls. Instead, all surfaces are highly irregular, and it's very hard to tell where you can move, and often you'll be unable to see or target an enemy that seems to be in plain sight. Movement is sluggish, and the 3D surfaces just clutter the screen. The roleplay aspect is fine, I suppose. The writing and voice acting are not bad. The artwork is fine. But the mechanics are cumbersome. Everything takes too long to execute. Between the camera issues and the sluggish movement, progress and combats drag on too long. I hate to knock a 5e crpg, but this thing just wears me out. I dislike the party members in Pathfinder Kingmaker, but if you're debating between the two, I'd go with that one. At least it keeps up a certain pace.

The developers had their head up their ass when they designed multiplayer. If you buy this game DON'T BUY if plan to play in multiplayer. Complete Crap.

Although made with a fraction of the budget of it's higher profile peers, Solasta: Crown of the Magister delivers on its claim of adapting the D&D SRD 5.1 in video game form. The core game play is solid and engaging, with your party of four exploring various fantastical locations and battling it out with numerous monstrous foes. The satisfying turn-based combat at the heart of the game more than makes up for scarcity of any in-depth role-playing. Additional aspects like crafting and random events during overland travel help round out the adventuring experience. The upshot of all this is to provide the impression of a tabletop gaming session. But what I feel really elevates this game is the included Dungeon Maker, which let’s you create your own scenarios and campaigns. If you have a favorite dungeon you once mapped out, or a fantasy realm you dreamed up at some point, Solasta lets you bring it to life. And that’s just what players have done, with modding sites like mod.io hosting numerous additional campaigns. The result is a nearly endless replayability for this entertaining CRPG.