I had really hard time with deciding what I think about this game. I mean I
like it, it is a good game, but...let's look at it in order. Serpent in the
Staglands is "a 90s CRPG in every way but the release date". It came
at 28th of May 2015 and is done by Whalenought Studious. The game takes place
in Vol, world inspired by bronze age Transylvania.
The Story and World
In Serpent in the Staglands you
take the role of a minor god of the Moon - Necholay, who after coming for the
moonlit festival finds that his way back to the Moon is blocked and now he has
no other choice than to disguise himself as mortal and by risking his own life
to find is it another God or a human who have trapped him.
The World is also rather intricate.
Information for it you will gather from the amazingly long and detailed item
descriptions. It's little strange way to do it, but it certainly works if you
have the patience to read that much. Also in the very beginning of your
adventure you will find yourself in your own Temple which is filled with books
that will tell you about Vol. And only that but if you read them with the right
skills you will even learn something from them.
Enjoyments for the senses
When I first saw this game I
thought "Oh, no, another pixel cRPG.". And it is, but its so well
done! Every time you equip new item the look of your character changes, you can
easily tell what weapons your characters or the enemies are carrying by just
looking at them. Every shot bolt, every hurled potion is clearly visible.
Potions are even animated how they swirl trough the air. When mages cast spells
colorful energies appear, rays of healing or destruction come out of their
hands and even the air can be seen tremble because of their power.
But the beauty of the game is not
limited only to the characters. Every location you visit is amazingly detailed
and pleasant to look at. Serpent in the Staglands is a retro themed RPG, but it
is incredibly beautiful. Here I cannot miss to mention the part in which you
decide Necholay's past by answering the questions of a mystic beauty. She will
corner you with questions about your first appearance in front of mortals, with
which God you're sided and why you helped the first settlers. I have not seen
this combination of real life footage and CGI in ages. And as everything in the
game it is made very solid.
Gameplay and Game mechanics
In the game you will lead a party
of adventurers which you will either meet on the road or create as mercenaries
at the start of the game. At the beginning you have good choice of races each with
its own subrace. Different subraces give some non-battle bonuses like you might
be noble or start with some levels in the aptitudes. Aptitudes are skill that
change the way in which you interact with the world. For example you might be a
noble or even someone who can talk with animals. Unlike the aptitudes you start
with no battle skills and class, its all in your hands. You can be a hurling
madness and destruction mage or a fearsome warrior or even something
between the two.
As in any other similar RPG this
one also use the "pausable-real time battle system". Yes, the same
used in Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, Pillars of Eternity and many
more. Serpent is the Staglands is similar to Eternity in other things too. Like
the shared inventory and the battles that may prove challenging if you're not
prepared for them. Not to mention that for calculating damage, dodge and other
effects the game use dice rolling. Even the damage in weapons descriptions is
written as "damage of 1d4" for example. Important difference between
the two is that if you die you lose the game instantly and if someone from your
party is killed, he is dead for good.
From the very start the game shows
that it will not hold your hand at all as there is no tutorial. The eerie world
of Vol is dangerous and you're on your own. At the same time you're given total
freedom from the beginning. Being God you can create companions and even bind
the souls of the people you meet to your biding, turning you in their master.
Not to mention that you're totally free to lie, threaten or be honest and kind
to those who you meet. It all depends on your moral and how you see the
mortals.
Another interesting and well known
from old games feature of Serpent in the Staglands is the lack map markers of
any sort. You will have to remember what people tell you and you will be given
maps with "X" marking where you should go. It's not that the game
does not have a map, it does and its big, there is just nothing marked on it
other than different settlements that you have found. Traveling between those
locations can be done either by walking from one to the other or by opening the
World Map and clicking on the place you want to go. Bear in mind that there is
good chance to be ambushed.
Conclusions
Serpent in the
Staglands is a classic 90s cRPG where you're in the role of a moon god who cannot
return to the Moon and now is forced to seek the culprit who has played this
trick on him. During his/your adventure you will gather a party of adventurers,
much in the style of Pillars of Eternity. But unlike it here you're given the
chance to create some characters from the very beginning of the game. You're a
god after all. Despite your choice to have a starting party or not, during your
quest you will meet characters which you can take with you or even bind their
souls to your biding. As I said...a god.
What puts Serpent
in the Staglands apart from other pixel style games is all the effort that has
been put in this one. From the very beginning you will see how much attention
is given to every small detail. I have never believed that is possible to
create something so gorgeous using only pixels. From the faces of your
characters to your surroundings, everything is so well drawn, with so many
details that it is unbelievable. The world is vast, beautiful and full of all
kind of enemies and people to kill, lie, hire or help. Why I include animals to
the ones you can help, because you can talk to them with the right skills.
In the game you
have mainly two kind of skills - aptitudes, which change the way you interact
with the world and might have some effect battle, depending on the aptitude you
invest in. These skills can turn you into a noble, skillful trapper or as I
said even teach you how to talk with animals. The other kind of skills are
battle skills. Unlike the aptitudes where you can start with some levels in
depending on your Race and Subrace, you start with blank battle skills and is
up to you what you want to be.
The problem I had
with Serpent in the Staglands is that it came out at the wrong time...its very
nice game don't get me wrong, but for me Pillars of Eternity beat it at
everything. Graphics, storytelling, world and lore. And because of that unless
you really want to play something that will remind you of your childhood and
how good pixels may look you don't really have reason to play it. In my humble
opinion if it has came out few months earlier it would have been a lot more
successful.
Links:
Няма коментари:
Публикуване на коментар