Vagrus - The Riven Realms

The game store page says it's a release, but it's not. The game is still a work in progress. - There's missing content (3 character backgrounds are not available) - Some basic UI bugs (clicking character sheets doesn't always open them until you exit and re-enter settlement, etc) The game is trying to join the Expeditions series with Darkest Dungeon combat, which is a great concept, but seem harder to pull off than what developers planned to do. - Combat is wonky. It feels plain weird when a huge armored Orc hits something with his "power" attack for 1 or even 0 damage, only to get critted by a sling wielding guy for 7 damage next round. - Evading attack stance very often puts your fighters in a position where they cannot attack at all, and have to spend a turn getting back to the frontline. - Any starting caravan without extra bag space is doomed, because you need to pack hundreds of supplies for the even shortest journeys. So go Trader or bust. Seems like a balancing issue, when the food consumption is breaking everything. I like the ideas, the concept, the hard work and imagination put into the writing, but please - don't say that the game is a release when it's clearly not.

Above all it's a passionate love letter to Dark Sun, and a spiritual adaptation of its setting with some infusions from other appropriate sources that still preserve most of the original theme and feel. If you love Dark Sun, play this game no matter what. The spreadsheet sim gameplay with an overworld and most actions taking place in text-based CYOA windows is reminiscent of Sunless Sea and Skies, and to some extent Space Rangers. Like them, this is a game for people who love to read and play out many diverse stories taking place in a large setting, and to get immersed in that setting as a traveler. Its "action" components are very janky, with the JRPG-like turn-based hero squad combat system slow and clunky, annoyingly RNG-heavy and not particularly fun; while you can reload saves to avoid map encounters, some quests include forced fights that will be a bottleneck (at least companions can't die even if it says they did). Thus, the main enjoyment here comes from the immersive rich world, text-based adventure and managing and improving your caravan. The world is clearly a labor of love and the winning aspect of the game, quite immersive and interesting. Without it, this game would be low-3 stars. However, only about 1/6th of it is actually accessible as of this review, with some placeholdery excuses keeping you from leaving the part you are stuck in. It feels like the game is incomplete without them, and it's not clear if they will gradually be added in via ongoing updates or not. Overall it feels mostly feature-complete but not complete content-wise and not quite polished, with many small issues in menus and many subsystems that don't break things but are annoying. Doesn't get in the way of a patient story-loving player, but these janky parts are what really keeps this from being a 5-star review. If you like text-based adventures and immersive low-tech fantasy and can deal with janky crew combat and overall indie shakiness, pick this up.

Did you enjoy Role Play Adventure books when you were a kid? Do you get excited about deep, immersive RPGs with compelling worlds, branching choices, quests, and a steep learning curve? Well, look no further. I bought the game expecting a fun, indie experience but got so much more! The writing is excellent! The quests! The moral dilemmas are abundant! Numerous factions vie for money, influence, freedom, knowledge, and more. A total of 10 unique companions - from a headhunter vulture lady with a tragic backstory to an obese, jovial undead chef. Each with its own long companion quest line. Trading, secrets, magic, skullduggery, political backstabbing, gladiatorial battles, and lots of dice rolling (1 to 100). P.S. And it's getting free content updates - companions, quests lines, and eventually, a new region to explore.

While the prologue was very engaging, the game itself is way more than engaging. To me, its only weakness is the "crew combat" system that is not very interesting (however, the caravan one offers pretty interesting way to manage fights). It's basically a turn based system with skills and to me it feels unecessary to have it. Also, I may not have found it already but not being able to have a note system of my own and the ability to mark the map is a bit annoying too, but you can easily cope with. There's a journal with rumors, objectives, tasks,... that does the job pretty well and as the world is changing on a daily basis, marked areas may not be the same if you return there later. As it is clearly written at the beginning, you're in for a lot of text to read. And most of the informations are important, so skipping reading may lead you to death or very prejudicable choices. And I'm fine with it, which explains why I recommend the game to fellow readers. The global lore is pretty nice. The game is hard without being harsh as a roguelike. You can save as much as you want, meaning you can explore the game for more risky options without being punished. Casual players who like reading and exploring, come in. Basically, you are going for some repetitive things while trading, and it'll take a bit of time to do other things like faction quests, harder tasks and companion quests as well as meeting your own goals. As the saying goes, patience is the mother of all virtues, and it matches this game spirit. The "leveling" is really interesting there too. You have "insight" points (as you are a trading explorer), and you need to manage it carefully: either you increase a skill, a trait, an ability,... either you increase the number of companions you can take, either you increase your companions proficiencies,... So you'll need to spend it wisely as you don't get much of them. Overall, that's a success. And I guess replayability is important too.

Vagrus is a game about managing a wandering caravan from town to town, while surviving the perils of the road. Role-play and management aspects fit quite well with one another and constitute the core experience. Clear inspirations are Sunless Seas, King of the Dragon pas and Morrowind. First, some words on the setting. A post-apo world with a Glorantha vibe, written for pen&paper RPG. It is very coherent, original, deep and quite dense. Undoubtedly among the best titles on the market story-wise (think Tyranny), but not for everyone, as you will be reading a lot. This should be your main reason to buy (or to avoid) this game. The reason is, the management part in very central too and can be (really) unforgiving, but is subordinated to the immersion and RP, which is a good thing I think, as it serves the experience conveyed by the title instead of replacing it. Still, the game is easy to cheese if that's what you're looking for. Combat is promising but atm very clunky, for some reason it tries to imitate Darkest Dungeon, but with mixed results. Fortunately, the game encourages you to avoid combat as much as possible, as it is considered a last resort option (although it still occurs quite often). In general, the game is still in EA, so bugs are frequent and some important features are missing. However, dev team is very responsive on the Discord channel and implements content and features at a fast pace compared to similar-sized companies. On the other hand, player base and community is still very small. Although the game is on the whole text-heavy, artworks used to illustrate settlements and creatures are very nice and consistent with the general style of the map and with the tone of the setting. Vagrus is and will remain a niche game. But what is does, it does very well.