SKALD: Against the Black Priory

Skald had a lot going for it at a first glance: A great marriage between atmospheric graphics (if you aren't allergic to this type of pixel-art) and music, which creates a great mood from the beginning (the foggy beach after the intro is really cool, and there are many great locations), which compliments the chosen theme of cosmic horror. As an RPG, it offers skill checks, interesting dialogues and setting, and its own ruleset to play around with. Sadly, all that glitters is not gold: for example, the game offers a lot of uses for ropes in the first map, but outside of that map they are almost never used again, and this feels true for most tools and a non-trivial portion of your skills (at least on normal). The difficulty curve is all over the place: the early parts can be gruesome (especially if you picked a spellcaster), then it becomes easier and easier as you progress and your party grows. The final boss is a joke (I have had harder random encounters). The atmosphere goes from moody and spooky, to frankly a bit stale towards the end. Too many combat encounters also ruin the pacing (battles are SLOW with 6 party members and even more enemies). It feels like the cosmic horror works better the further away from it you are, and the dev wasn't ready to deliver on some appropriate story beats to enhance the premise. Characters are mysterious just for the sake of it, but unlike the character in a story which is found dead the day after he gives you a scary warning, the one playing mind games with you is a party member, so you are awkwardly stuck with each other after the foreboding dialogue is over, forcing you to roll with the clichè, even if it doesn't make sense in the situation. Most of your party is done dirty by the ending, in a way that diminishes your efforts a tad too much, even for this genre of stories. It all feels too railroaded (even before the ending, but especially after) and bizarre to stick the landing, leaving me with very mixed feelings.

Backed the kickstarter long ago. Everything I expected! Intuitive and fun.

We've been waiting for a real RPG that takes us back to the good ole days. This game has depth, strategy and the story is good too. The graphics are pure retro, as well as the sounds but with a modern spin put on them so they run smoothly with no glitches. I suggest buying the Deluxe version (it's only a few more dollars) just to get the soundtrack and the game Map...the game comes in two version (Spoiler Free and Spoiler Versions). Do yourself a favor - if you love old school RPG's and like the slow pace, adjusting each character and really knowing your party that you take into battle, get this game.

The retro graphics can make the fights a bit murky, but the game has so much atmosphere to spare. I never played the old RPGs this one is trying to pay homage/emulate, so there's no nostalgia when I say in terms of presentation, drawing you into the world, make you immersed, this has been one of the best I've played in a while. Art, characters, itneractions and exploration have all been tense and memorable. I suggest playing it in the evening, when the sun goes down, even better if it's a rainy night.

In investing there is a concept called rug pulling and this is what happened to me with this game. There appears to be at least 1/3rd of the story unfinished, it's like the game creator paid someone to make an ending first, then write a story toward the ending, but didn't finish it. So when you get toward the last third of the game it was very rushed with lots of combat and then a sudden ending that makes no sense in the context of the characters progression, which aren't that well established in the first place. I understand that this is a cosmic horror story and bad or mysterious ending is a thing, but that is not an excuse for incompetent writing. You still have to lead up and give hints to the negative outcomes to make it believable and not just pull a rug under the player's feet. If you like Games of Thrones season 7 you should enjoy the ending for this one. It makes the player realized the entire 20hours+ effort was completely a waste of time.