The Good: Music, graphics, sound design, enemy variety, and atmosphere are all excellent. Balance, story (so far), and worldbuilding are strong. Build diversity and replayability are high, and exploration is consistently rewarding. Survival mechanics (injuries, hunger, pain, sanity) and tactical combat add depth, though they won’t be for everyone. Leveling up is genuinely satisfying and highly rewarding. The Meh: The hardcore save system (only at beds) adds immersion if you don’t die often, but is punishing if you do or want to experiment. Runs are extremely long (20+ hours), with no respec, limiting experimentation and blurring the line with roguelikes. Managing gear, hunger, thirst, sleep, and psyche can feel engaging early but tedious after 100+ hours. (Pro tip: don’t dig up graves for your sanity.) The Bad: No respec or speed-up for character movement, making replays sluggish (Cheat Engine can help). Certain must-have skills (like Pathfinder) hurt build variety. In-game time isn’t visible without a bed. Manual travel dominates the game, with no speed-up or real random encounters. The early game is obtuse and overwhelming; a title that rewards knowledge should do more to teach its mechanics. Customization is minimal—no modding, difficulty options, or manual/autosaves—giving the “hardcore-only” design more of a missing-QoL feel. Finally, once you learn how the AI works, the challenge largely disappears if your build is even decent. Overall: Despite its flaws, I find Stoneshard incredibly enjoyable. It’s slow, punishing, and often tedious, yet also one of the most unique and rewarding RPG experiences out there. The atmosphere, progression, and survival systems keep pulling me back, and mastering its mechanics feels genuinely satisfying. New players may struggle with the steep learning curve and lack of experimentation options, so I recommend savescumming risky encounters by manually copying exit saves. Development is slow but steady, and the devs’ dedication sho
