Roadwarden

I bounced off Roadwarden at first, expecting it to be a chill RPG with a branching narrative. I recently tried it again, my expectations reset to its tight time limit and highly consequential decisions, and I love it. The worldbuilding is thorough, the writing is great, and it's surprisingly replayable.

I am not incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to this kind of RPGs, but hot dang. I played the demo which was promising enough and after about an hour the game had me hooked. Compared to other RPGSs I have played it cuts out all the fat. If you play well there is no low point, you don't wander around for hours on end there is always something that needs to be done and there is always something you can already do. And to not-so-sneakily let the player do some of the worldbuilding is just *chef's kiss*. The worst part of this game is that it ends and even then the ending(s) is/are very satisfying. After the first hour I was either engaged or entertained the whole way through and that's something that no game in the last ~7 years managed to do.

So fed up with the lack of imagination in fantasy. Oh, you are a boy from village. You are the chosen one. Come ride dragon. The dangerous one is dangerous. Wow so strong. Can to do the magic? Yes. Here, you'll find none of that. You play as a road warden performing his job, exploring, mapping and getting to know a remote peninsula. Your job is to get to know the area as well as you can, help it develop, try to find ways for the capitol to make profit from it etc. You can also choose to focus on other things if you dont care much for your employers. Bare boned and very basic gameplay but with great art and music, an interesting world seen from a refreshing perspective, lots of impactful choices, an overall very good story. Only real weaknesses i found were that the stat system with cleanlyness etc and the food and inn system could both be kind of tedious. Overall, nothing to complain about.

Roadwarden is the most captivating game I have played in a while, and the one I was the most emotionally engaged with probably ever. The tale is so vivid, as the writing is faultless and the characters interesting and realistic, and the game gives you plenty of opportunites to leave your mark, either by shaping events, or by adding flavours through NPCs asking you about the world beyond the peninsula where the game takes place. I don't recall many games allowing the protagonist to *describe* something, or do anything at all other than ask questions. You barely have time to do it all if you pick the standard 40-day option, and that's great as it adds weight to every decision you make. A fantastic game to play spoiler-free, and with enough choices and customisation that there is plenty of replayability. Incredible.

I do not have many hours in this game so you can take everything with a grain of salt. Pro: The game is text based and all action take place though text prompts, which is good as long as you know what you are getting. The art style is kinda nice and I liked it (drawings, UI, etc.). Your decisions seem to matter and it is not always obvious what is the right thing to do. Contra (rant unlocked): However, as this is a novel-like, i.e. story based game, the story has to be coherent. What destroyed my immersion was forceful character inclusion. For God's sake, if you want to write a good female characters, you need to focus on authenticity, not on perceived power or strength. Power is not going to magically make a character better. If she turns out to be strong, good, but power in and of itself is no virtue to humans, unless used properly. Also, I am pretty tired of this narrative. It is doing no favor to women rights movement to force them into all possible "leadership" positions just to achieve some imaginary cosmic balance. If she fits the role, good, but make it feel that way, it has to be authentic. The only feel I get from this story is that devs do not respect any women other than those that they perceive as successful/powerful. Like what kind of mindset is that? Are other women any less valuable? Cmon devs, you can do better.