SKALD: Against the Black Priory

This is a great RPG. I played the heck out of the Ultima series and I'm still play Ultima Online to this day. This game is different enough, but similar to early Ultima episodes which were crafted for players like me. I really hope this studio makes more titles like this and doesn't stop caring about the genre.

Old school CRPGs are my weak spot. Hpwever, it can be hard to get into them as they often have complicated systems, lacks explanation, and has no handholding at all. THey often require you to really dedicate your life to them. However, this game hits that sweet spot! It has very little handholding, but is intuitive. It is hard, especially at the beginning, but also easy to master quite fast! First off, the graphics are amazing. Or rather, the visual style, I guess. 10/10 The gameplay is fast and simple, with some reactivity. I was afraid at first that the avatar would look the same, but as I got new gear, I realized that my avatar changed visually, which is one thing that the old games often lack, but they did here, which is very important to me! One gripe I ahve is that the dialogue skill rolls you make always uses teh "active leaders" skill, but you are given no clue as to what type of skill check is coming up, so you have no chance to tactically wswitch your leader. I wish they could do like Pathfinder Kingmaker, and always have the party member with the highest skill make the relevant roll. 8/10 Combat is fast, but can get repetitive as encounters later on in teh game is just "More" enemies than more difficult ones, and there is no AI to speak of apart from a few archetypes (spellcaster, ranged, melee). But, it still challenges you, especially at first, and placement and chess-like analysis of future turns is required on the higher difficulties. Even so, I do find the game becoming too easy after teh halfway mark, and every battle becomes a breeze, even "boss" battles. There are, however, a lot fo skills, weapons and armor to customize your party with, and you must learn the immunities and weaknesses of your enemies to be truly successful! 8/10 All this combined with it being a passionate indie dev, and the price tag, makes this game the perfect little package for crpg fans!

I love the 8bit-inspired graphics and music, and the dark and moody story. A wonderful RPG that reminds me playing the old gold-box and Ultima games as a child

Charming graphics, good storytelling and atmosphere, exciting story.

Looks like an RPG from the 80ies but plays like a modern game. Excellent. If you're worried that it has not automap: you don't need a map, there were just 2-3 instances where I drew a small map, but most of the game does not require mapping by hand.