Solasta: Crown of the Magister

I'm a longtime player of D&D (started with the original 3rd edition) and have followed all of its various incarnations since, with 5e being my favorite ruleset to date. Solasta has a lot going for it. Unfortunately almost that it has going for it is in the 5e rules and its hardcore implementation rather than any original invention of the development team. D&D fans will definitely delight over the combat options which is certainly the highlight of the game. Other nice additions are new setting-specific sub-classes + deities and a promising crafting system. Now for the not-so-good. At the time of this writing, this game is about to be released in a few weeks time and still has an astonishing number of bugs, spanning from movement glitches to the dreaded corrupted saves. More of the bad: character creation options are so limited that every character looks related/exactly the same, cutting away several of the 5e classes severely limits your party setup/character creation, an original setting that still manages to be incredibly uninspired and generic, and to top it off your characters speak to each other on autopilot for minutes without any choice/input from the player. Seriously, for a game so big on custom character creation, its amazing how much of the dialogue is generated by the game; I've left my computer for several minutes to go grab a beverage only to come back to find that my characters are still shooting the shit with each other. To those on the fence: don't get this game, but also don't get BG3. Wait. This game has promise but is knee-capped by a lack of character creation options, engaging characters/dialogue, and plot. If you're looking to just blast monsters with fireballs in the closest way you can without actually playing D&D, this is a good bet. As far as a good video game, this misses the mark. I'll wait for the full release of BG3.

Finished the game, took me around 90 hours with all side quests completed (which aren't many mind you). The pros 1. The tactical part is this games selling point. The battles never felt dragged, there aren't a ton of options to chose from but between 4 characters it gets the job done. 2. Very few and minor bugs that didnt rly diminish my gaming experience compared to some other games.. 3. Cheesy story, definitely not a masterpiece but i enjoyed it. 4. Decent voice acting. The cons - minor 1. Character models aren't that great but its an isometric so didn't bother me. 2. The audio during cutscenes is not good, while the voice actors are doing a good job, there's no background noise as well as lack of audio for some cutscenes all together aka roaring dragon doesn't roar ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 3. Crafting system is simple and uninspiring. 4. Details about spells and the combat log could have been more thorough. The cons - major 1. No open world exploration, the whole game progression is very railroady and minor in scope. 2. Dialogue options are laughable, they might as well have skipped giving us the "option" to select a dialogue and have implemented it as part of the cutscene which brings me to the major con 3. This isnt an rpg, its a tactical turn based game. The limited to a handful options the game presents you with are accept said quest/decline or kill/spare npcs. 4. Price is a bit much for what the game offers imo, a more reasonable price would be 25 to 30 euro tops. Overall i enjoyed it. if you want an rpg where there is a well tied story, split between arcs and fanciful characters/world interaction this isnt it. If you want a tactical game though with a touch of magic fantasy this will be a pleasant experience.

... in fact so much so, that you consume the torch in your hand while resting. Also, your "Goodberry" spell will not trigger while travelling if you do not remember to put your weapons away after an encounter, to have a hand free for casting. And once you're on the move, there is no possibility to change handheld items ... The last time I encountered this level of micromanaging stupidity must have been 30 years ago. Apart from that: familiar DnD 5e rules, nice tactical fights, not much of a story, no roleplay.

17 hours into the game and about half-way through, I can't force myself to play more and to finish the story. As a lot of the gaming colleagues in the reviews point out, the combat is pretty good and fun (★/★); the user interface is snappy and a step in the right direction (★/★) — hence the two stars for two things excellently made. So if you are here for an XCOM-like experience and no more, this might be your jam. On the flip-side, it would seem that the game's ambitious role-playing scope was too much for the devs to handle. The story is bland, the quests are uninspired, and the worldbuilding has too much unrealized potential (☆/★). The dialogues are horrendously written and even the voice actors seem to be having trouble delivering certain gratingly out-of-tune lines. (We're talking about "My face is tired" levels of bad!) This is such a big issue that I stopped listening to dialogues half-way in my playthrough, even though they're the main plot delivery device (☆/★). I'd reserve the last star for the overall feel of the game, its soul, of which... there is not much. I have not met any memorable characters, least of all the main characters. There are no salacious side-quests, no dramatic cutscenes, no notable betrayals or gotchas. Soul: (☆/★). Grand total: ★★☆☆☆ Play it for the UX, don't play it for the story.

Solasta is a RPG/tactical game, with a structure from the former and an emphasis on the latter. As a sort of indie modern NWN, it has a dungeon editor allowing to make modules (though still in early development phase), implement D&D5E rather faithfully and has a somewhat mediocre main campaign focused on fighting. One thing that it does very well is the "group of friends playing P'n'P old-school RPG" (which allows the barely serviceable writing to actual feels like an amusing "around the table banter with other players", not immersive but somehow charming), another is using oft-forgotten systems like elevation and lighting. If you like set-piece turn-based fights, then this game deserves probably another star, showing a lot of imagination in this domain. If you want a roleplay-heavy game, though, or if you don't like turn-based fighting, then on the opposite you might shave a star off. The story is very uninspired and nothing will surprise you, there is very little actual decisions to take, and there is a LOT of combats, which can seriously drag the flow down.