Stoneshard

This game has some interesting and refreshing mechanics (survival, injury, healing/treatment) along with tried and true RPG dungeon-crawling aspects. What it does, it does well, and leaves you wanting to play more. The demo made me decide to buy the full version and I have loved the game and am only looking forward to more content being added. I have also gotten used to the save mechanic which I did not like at first (the game only saves your progress/status when you sleep, which is limited to towns and camps) and I now appreciate it as it adds more meaning and weight to your actions and creates a bigger sense of danger. The world is meant to be a difficult one to traverse, it seems, and this is a necessary mechanic to emphasize that. Beyond this, the game is charming and has really drawn me in with meaningful decisions during combat and the interaction that is available with the environment - wildlife will attack each other and other mobs in the world, rain makes you (and enemies) resistant to fire damage but susceptible to frost and electricity, knocking enemies back when they are against a wall will stun them, etc. Overall, I'm loving the game for just the bare-bones content it currently has and I expect this opinion to only get better as the vision for the game is more fleshed-out. I am also impressed with how few bugs I have encountered (only 1 minor one). The drawbacks I currently see are: 1. The save mechanic may not appeal to some. 2. As an off-shoot of the save mechanic, the difficulty may not be forgiving at the moment (although it sounds as there will be difficulty options at the full release). 3. Speaking of the full release... this is early-access and has minimal content, although what is there feels very polished and engaging. Regular content patches are being released (kinda seems standard these days) that add new weapons, skill trees, mechanics, enemies, systems, etc.

This is a great rougelike, and would be a 5/5 if not for the overland walking speed. The death mechanic is harsh but keeps you on edge, not dissimilar to other rougelikes, but the game is severely limited by travel speed. I understand half the fun is being jumped by a bear in the woods, or by a group of bandits, but a travel system like Caves of Qud (with an overland map you move about on, and a chance of getting lost or ambushed) would really, REALLY improve this game. I don't actually think people are annoyed by the death mechanic itself, but by how painful the overland walking is - backtracking is the real agony, especially after a death. Excited to see what this becomes; but don't go in expecting to love every minute with this game right now.

I was looking for a new game. As a reference, I love with diablo 2, guild wars, world of warcraft, the elder scrolls, dragon age, and witcher. Recently, I tried and really liked Tales of Maj-Eyal, a harsh roguelike. Based on that, I was recommended Stoneshard. Oh boy, what a game! - Character building, with lots of options - Exciting gameplay that does seem somewhat tactical - Coherent and interesting world - A balanced economy that I find unique. One can cook or just buy food, instead spending time to complete more mercenary work. Both are equally viable. Same goes for medicine or tools. Different merchants buy different things at different prices. There is a need for most items, e.g., food, different kinds of medicine, tools, fodder (to move the caravan), and a room to sleep in. I found the whole thing very polished. - An upgradeable, mobile base (caravan) - The harsh feature: Progress is saved when you sleep (at your caravan or room rented in an inn, maybe one can craft bedrolls as well?). If you die in a dungeon, progress is lost. This feature increases immersion by a lot, without being too harsh. There have been updates since many previous reviews, so I know not how applicable they are. In my view, *this game has a single blemish*: The linux version lags behind a bit.

Once you get the ball rolling it's fun but hard to get into.

I have finished the prologue part at this moment. First of all, I despise all this pixel-mania that grips the gaming industry for too long now, but even to me the pixelated graphics of Stoneshard look great! Voice acting and the well-written dialogs create believable characters that add to the thick atmosphere. Books and notes that you find look very natural in the setting. Gamewise Stoneshard is a somewhat demanding experience. The enemies are tough, every mistake might cost you a lot of healing resources. You have to show care for your character's morale and sanity. This is also a bit of survival game as you'll need to look for food and water - or suffer serious debuffs. Even saving your game requires an inn or a camp. I see that many people are angry at this save-mechanics, but on the other hand it makes you truly consider the options even before the minor encounters and it adds to the importance of the choices that you make. Storywise it seems that you'll have to deal with a number of cults and various factions each of which has their own agenda. I'm really looking forward to find out more about the politics and religion of the Stoneshard world.