UnderRail

Fun way to spend some time.

Excellent story telling and world building. It may not have the graphics of AAA games but it makes up with the immersive experience. Not really a game for everyone but if you enjoy spending your free time in an underground ghetto among a bunch of sociopathic junkies THEN THIS IS THE GAME FOR YOU!

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which an unspecified catastrophe has forced the surviving population underground, into the transit systems in particular. The visuals and atmosphere are stunning and the game has a huge fleshed out world and backstory. (Perhaps the northern stations may be seen in future DLCs?)

It plays exactly like the original Fallout series, but with psychic powers and related phenomena.

The sheer multitude of equipment, abilities, and the perks of levelling up provide a satisfying feeling of gaining strength and overcoming the dangerous subterranean passages. Your reputation grows as you help the various stations, and you can even become a celebrated gladiator and buy and decorate your own home; your base of operations where you can decide what calibre of boom you should patrol the rails with.

There are certain game mechanics which make the game frustratingly difficult. Items are split into types, which either require significant cool-down times or can't be used in combat. Grenades take 4 turns to cool-down (2 if you have a special perk), healing items of any/all kinds take 8 turns. Whether you use a flash-bang or a frag grenade, a healing hypo or healing salve, it all uses the same cool-down timer. Enemies seem to have half this cool-down time (on normal difficulty) and you're frequently outnumbered 8:1. Not to mention the ridiculous capabilities of the final boss (infinitely spawning minions to start things off...).

I played religiously, having beaten the main game defeated the pirates in the DLC, until the system for psy powers was overhauled, making psy powers next to useless. It used to be that psy powers used Psy points, which regenerated over time at a rate determined by your Wisdom score, and you could use any psy powers you had freely (but with a cool-down period). Now you have to "equip" powers with a limit of 1 power/2 Wisdom (so max 5 powers), you can't equip "opposing" powers, and equipping different powers cause your psy point pool to empty, which is smaller and no longer regenerates, so requires extremely rare healing items to replenish. And you still have the cool-down period to top it off. I don't think I could have beaten the final boss with the current system.

Crafting is useless in this game as by the time you have the required skill and materials to build anything, you'll have found much better equipment, plus those crafting skill points would also require the weapon skill points to use whatever you craft. One particularly important quest, however, requires a minimum of 65 points in a particular crafting skill (mechanics, I think) which feels like a complete waste.

In conclusion, there's enough about this game that it overcomes it's faults, but there were a lot of frustrating moments where I found myself wondering why I thought it was such a great game.

good

Looking forward to the sequel.

The Game is fantastic. Can be difficult, and You, first time silly, you should pick easy mode. It's not a shade in this game, that's still Hard. A lot of the "power" can come from building a character well so you'll really need the leeway on a first playthrough, especially if going in blind.

It's crunchy and great, the dialogue is well written and lively, helps with putting you in the fucced world the
game takes place in. You're not going to find a cohesive, easy to understand, simple dialogue from a dude hooked up on every kind of mushroom the world has ever discovered and then some. But you will from a military-man giving you a mission. The game is not afraid to just allow characters written to be who they are, which a lot of modern rpgs are, for the sake of simpler navigation of a project.

This game is a passion project, made the way the developers wanted it, and it is a rare, and legitimate piece of real, unique storytelling and gameplay, with all its flaws and merits. In-between so much slop games which are 80% the same as a previous title, or even a completely different one from a different developer, might as well try something original once in a while, its worth every bit of bs this game sometimes puts you through.

Brutal, unfair, cruel, overwhelming, ruthless, complete bullshit at times. Yet the combination of Metro 2033 and Fallout 1+2 is my dream CRPG. Lacking some QoL features but still one of my all time favorites.

This game is great. Fantastic even. This game is also absolutely massive, almost 90 hours in, and still only level 16, out of 30. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys old school style RPGs like classic Fallout.

you: misses 3 95% attacks in a row.
enemies: incapable of missing
fun(not)
one of the worst "games" i have every played.

Great crpg with fun game-play loop and atmosphere

Great CRPG, that is definitely a contender with the classic Fallout games and Wasteland.
There's plenty of build variety and some quality quests/factions.

Your first character will likely suck and you might need to restart once you understand the combat and exploration requirements a bit more. However, it's very rewarding once it clicks and you are able to enjoy the world.

I just found it dull. The story and characters are uninteresting, the game play is fine, but nothing that held me for long. It seems that many people like it for the complexity of the character building and the challenge of the strategy but I was getting no real sense of achievement for the progress I was making.

Incredible CRPG with a great story, captivating factions and political climate, featuring interesting quests, variant builds and combat styles, great for anyone who loved fallout1&2 and is looking for a post-post-apocalyptic CRPG.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN

It's been almost a year since I played Underrail.
I liked it very much, but did not write an instant review because I dropped it before finishing.

But all of a sudden the game keeps popping up in my head again and again and I fondly remember overcoming the hard battles, how I was desperate in between to have chosen normal mode and not easy, but I managed to pull through. I remember the excellent writing and how often the text surprised me (I forgot in which way exactly, but I wouldn't spoil it anyway). I remember a bunch of quests, even characters. And I like to think about the cool and believeable atmosphere it created.

You know, sometimes you really like a game while playing, but soon you forget about it and there's no urge to play again.
Here, it's kinda the opposite. I mean I very much enjoyed the game, 144 hours straight, but on the other hand there were some infuriating elements that brought my patience to its end (SO close before the last battle) and I did not finish it, but all that's stuck with me now is the positives and the desire to play again. Therefore I now felt the urge to tell YOU that this is a real gem of a game with a lot of own identity.

Whether you seek a challenge, dig Fallout asthetics/scenarios, or just are a fan of indie games made with passion, then this is a must try for you.

Hell yeah, I'ma soon play it again, and this time I'll show the boss who's boss.

Because I did not get 100% achievements I must not recommend this game, however, I will tell my kids this game is Fallout 3.

Is Guud

it feels similar in play like fallout 1 and 2, but polished every mechanic to all hell. there is a learning curve at the very start, but the help button fixes that as it was merely the controls. when starting a playthrough, by no means is it easy, let alone a first playthrough, no shame in doing easy mode on the first go around.

if you enjoyed the og fallout games, you will love this

its an increadble game with alot of content to go through unforchonly there isnt alot of help on the wiki so you might have to trail blaze a little but over all a wonderfull game with loads of builds quest and fun to be had

This game was made with pacific people in mind the kinda that love unfair ball busting difficulty (always out numbered CC'd into not being able to play, random crit'd 3 times in a row and your 89% chance to hit misses four times for example), HAVE TO follow a build guild or know every mechanic like the back of your hand.
with all that said it is a fun game JUST NOT FOR THE CAUSAL PLAYER.

I've been on this weird CRPG kick lately and this one has been a gem. Reminds me of Colony Ship, or Shadow Run. Definitely has some old school Fallout vibes. I liked it.

Also had a 95% chance to be a good review.

One of the best games I have ever played, put simply. It's a crime to look at the price and not buy it for the wealth of content it delivers(Took me 180 hours to complete the main game and Expedition).

The closest comparison in gameplay would be Fallout 1 and 2, but Underrail stands leagues above them in design and gameplay. There is a high level of polish and consideration to how things would work and do work, and learning it is quite enjoyable. You can't cheat the system either, at least nothing I tried worked.
The combat is enjoyable, I like how the system functions.
The setting, story, and worldbuilding are immaculate, in every sense of the word. There is nothing else like it on the market.

In other words, I love this game, a lot, and I will pay TOP DOLLAR for Underrail 2, when it comes out in 3 years.

If you do intend to play, do not use the wiki. DO NOT look up anything about the game aside from a guide on skill point allotment. I would still say to mess up on your own though, when making a character, but that may just be a me thing.

i have to save scum so much, makes me want a lobotomy. restarting fights over and over just for rng

Simply put - Masterpiece. Must play!

Pros
psychic powers
fucking scorpions
Cons:

Not for the casual gamer. A well-planned build is a must. I got this game when I was going through a "choices-matter" genre phase, and needed something I could run on my tablet. I got more than I bargained for, and LOVED IT. I put it down for a few years after building a nice gaming pc and wanting to spend more time on high quality graphics, but I'm about to replay it because sometimes you just need a challenging game with tons of unique interactions and a highly immerive feel to scratch a certain itch. 10/10 great game. I'd say the only that could be improved is adding modern graphics, but honestly I think it's better the way it is.

Feels like a classic crpg, but obnoxiously and unfairly difficult in some areas. I can recommend it, with a caveat that you are a fan of the genre.
You can soft-lock yourself if you don't have a build in mind from the start and stick to it no matter what.
You will die horribly exploring, because there are ambushes or overpowered enemies you need to defeat without adequate gear or skill and hoping for good RNG.

The game was tedious at first but I learned to absolutely love it after some hours! The map is huge, yet never felt like its filled with fillers, every corner has a story or a surprise, or at least something to do. The leveling system makes sure u never get too OP. The story makes a full use of the game mechanics, never repetitive.

One thing they could improve is adding a way to reassign leveling points, in no way I'm going to replay the past 10 hours to fix my initial fuckup ): u gotta max certain things to do what u want in ur playthrough, and it'll be too late when u finally figure out what u actually need. Other than that, good game.

Pros - Game reminds me of Fallout and old school Shadowrun. Very much one for the nostalgia minded set.
Cons - Very unforgiving gameplay even on normal difficulty. If you haven't played it before my recommendation is to specialize and not spread your stats or skill points too much around. Also, there's no general fast travel, which gets annoying later on in the game.

Difficult to recommend to others, but if you enjoy a difficult RPG then this is certainly for you!

Often you'll find yourself cornered by 7+ rathounds and only a bullet to spare, but still somehow surviving. The damage/to-hit rolls in combat can lead to lots of reloading saves if you're particularly unlucky. This is coupled with difficulty spikes for certain play styles. If they are too difficult for you/your build, stealth and traps will flatten most of them. The builds you can use are very limited on the hardest difficulty, but on easier difficulties you can have a pretty unfocused build and still succeed. Never be unwilling to look up anything if you're stuck, spoilers be damned.

I find the story very compelling with lots of interesting things to experience, and secrets to find if you're willing to look for them. I'm, very much so, looking forward to the sequel ^-^

This game is not for everyone, it's barely for me. On the one hand if you enjoy a Fallout 1-esque isometric dungeon crawler you will probably have fun. However there is a large amount of glaring flaws that if you don't love the game are hard to look past.

The things the game does great:
Ambiance, UI design, Gameplay, Mechanics. These are the some of the most important aspects of any game so it's a huge green flag to do these things well. This combination comes together to create a unique charm that perfectly captures what I am interested in doing in this genre of game.

Things the game does poorly:
Writing often falls flat, no mod accessibility, illusion of choice, terrible character creation experience, overly punishing for new players, TERRIBLE ending sequence.
Firstly, there is no respec option so if you would like to change what your character does through the 50 plus our gameplay experience you are out of luck. If you've taken a feat and realise it isn't what you hoped it would be you are also out of luck. One of the features that I feel does not help with this is that they put character creation before the tutorial so there is no way to figure out what things are/do before you commit to a character. Secondly, it feels as if you have very limited options for solving problems the majority of the time. You can hardly ever persuade/intimidate your way out of things (or into things) and too often the solution is killing everything. This game also does not support mods which is a little discouraging because most of my complaints wouldn't exist if it did. Finally, the ending sequence (I'm keeping this bit vague to avoid spoilers) is the worst gameplay experience I have ever had. It is unequivocally the least player friendly, least interesting, least inspired, and least fun thing I have ever put myself through. While increasing the difficulty towards the end of the game is a good idea for most games UnderRail takes it five steps too far. It feels as though the game doesn't become more difficult just incredibly more grueling.

I can not in good conscience give this game a positive review because it is far too subjective and niche to review objectively. All of that to say, if you like isometric rpg's you might like this one but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.

I REALLY tried to like this game, but after bouncing back from it multiple times, I finally decided to just give up.

Underrail is a very hard RPG, there is no denying it - the difficulty is unforgiving, but not in a way that is ‘fair’. You can softlock yourself in this game by ‘leveling up wrong’ and encountering obstacles that your character won’t be able to overcome.

People online will call it a skill issue, I say - BS. If your game can’t be played without a build guide, then perhaps there is something wrong with it. ESPECIALLY when people on forums report that newer patches make it even harder, even less friendly to new players, breaks mods etc.

I am a RPG fan, from text adventures, to modern titles; from Planescape Torment to Baldur’s Gate 3, but nine frustrated me to such a degree.

Bad game. Get something else instead.

I couldn't get into this game. 3 hours of gameplay and I never found the hook. The music is also too repetitive and starts being both depressing and frustrating. The UI also gets between the player and the game rather than helping with immersion.

I am likely not the target audience for this game and will return to my factory games and simulators and stop taking recommendations from Youtubers.

Absolute post-apo kino. Can't believe I ignored it for years because I thought having an entire game exclusively underground sounds stupid and boring. Feels like a mix of mostly Fallout and a bit of Shadowrun and Jagged Alliance, but with enough of its own thing to become cult. It's hard, get ready for some minmaxing build autism. Otherwise don't cry if you get filtered. It's well worth the effort. The side quests are better than main quest in most games. 10/10 soundtrack.

Unless you are helplessly desperate for a janky, uninspired rehash of Fallout 1 & 2 there's no reason to waste your time with this one.

Another "game" which requires you to consider playing it a day job. Unfortunately, I already have a day job. Also, miles from actual F1/F2 vibes; it's more of a character build min-max simulator with some "story" thrown on top.

The best video game ever made! All the systems work together UI is very usable [Not overly complex garbage like CDDA] the writing is amazing. The difficulty is harsh but fair, even bad builds can make it very far with enough knowledge of the games systems. Most video games are a waste of time, but Underrail is a work of art, very excited to see what it's sequel brings to the table.

pain to play and did not enjoyed. i tried to like it but feels too old for the sake of feeling old

I love this game, but man, will it test your patience. My advice: save often; F5 is your friend and read all the info about leveling up and feats. Stick to one type of theme for your character build, and you should have a semi-smooth ride. Don't touch the difficulty unless you are masochistic. Oddity XP is cool as it forces you to push deeper into the map for rarer oddities to level up. Classic XP is what it says on the tin you get XP for killing enemies and completing quests they are both fine options it is all a matter of preference. I've got over 300 hours and I'm still playing it need I say more?

good game. needs lots of gaming experience or heavy use of youtube/wikis/etc..
the more you learn, probably this game becomes more addictive.

This is truly a gem of a game, but like all gems you gotta get through a lot of dirt to see it. Simply put this is a old-school crpg with tough as nails difficulty, and a depth that's impressive considering the resources and manpower this game had available to its development. This game does not mess around if you have a misplaced ability point or lack the skill to do something you will FEEL it. It makes build crafting in this game very hard and is the biggest barrier to entry. My advice would be NOT to use pre-mades from veterans and instead follow a guide that explains what different skills and feats do, you'll have much more fun experimenting and learning on your own rather using someone else's character.

Even with my research I still messed up in some areas with my first character. What this games really good at doing is making sure you're never truly out of options to progress even when it seems desperate, and what get you out of this game if you can get past the dirt is a crpg that values the players ingenuity and engrosses you in one of the best post apocalyptic rpgs available that isn't your favorite flavor of Fallout.

Have a good day Reader!-Super

Didn't play a meta build, you lose simulator.

No fun allowed

If you are an original Fallout 1&2 fan, this is a no-brainer. If you can get use to the art-style, oh boy you are in for a treat.

Very good story telling and world building.
Exploration aspect is simply amazing.
Very very challenging.
Gameplay loop is fun and addictive like Fallout.

Buy and support the developer.

A game made by a developer that goes out of his way to prevent people from having fun with his game.

I purchased this at release back in 2015 and put it down due to some pretty unpleasant game design choices hoping it would be better balanced with more development, a decade later I finally decided to give it a proper go and I really wish It had.

Instead the developer has actively been patching the game to prevent modding, or altering the game in any way shape or form.

Old school games were not like this, not at all.

Underrail is one of the few games where I can be made fun of for being gay because my friends think I'm playing Undertale, but unlike Undertale this game lets you get addicted to LSD and melt someones brain with cool psychic powers.

"It's Fallout 1/2 with Metro 2033 themes."

This is absolutely worth your time if you can accept the hand-drawn sprites (instead of 3D) and some quality-of-life limitations with quests, inventory, and fast-travel. (And they're no worse than Fallout 1/2 were.)

This is almost a one-man project and the amount of content in here is fantastic - on par with MGS:V and AssCreed:Oddysey.
The worldbuilding is great.
The combat is good.
The inventory management is... not great. It could definitely do with things like "sort by weight". At least it's hard to accidentally lose a quest-only item.
The quest management is inadequate by modern standards. You will repeatedly say "WTF am I supposed to do now?" You will need to read the wiki or pay close attention to one-time quest-giver dialogue, because the quest screen won't always give explicit directions. It is *very* easy to find the quest item in a locker and not realize it, because the quest screen doesn't update with "you've got X, now take it back to NPC Y". It only has "todo: X for NPC Y" and "done: you got X for NPC Y".
(It has an excellent wiki, which is enough to get you out of most jams.)
The auto-map is a big help except in big cities. SGS has per-floor maps, but Core City and University don't.
You cannot fast-travel to or from arbitrary places (a la Morrowind COC command), instead you must walk to a fast-travel point (e.g. a station) and then travel to another point on the same travel network. Combined with the poor quest stages, this can make backtracking frustrating, but it's not a show-stopper (a la Morrowind without console commands).
There are a couple of quests where you can lock yourself into an undesirable questline without realizing it. In particular, negotiating a moderate solution to the Train Heist locks you into the police genocide path for police-vs-slaves.

Oh, also, anything that improves your movement speed (tabi boots, faster DLC jetski) is worth having just for faster backtracking / non-fast travel. You can also improve effective speed by changing run time (Ctrl+MouseUp) and zooming out (Shift+MouseDown, disabled in options menu by default).

I avoided buying this game for a long time because I expected to bounce off the old-style graphics. After a couple of hours I didn't notice that at all.
I think Encased has better graphics, and Atom RPG / Trudograd has better Slav bleakness, but UnderRail is better at most everything else. Play all three!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/921800/Encased_A_SciFi_PostApocalyptic_RPG/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/552620/ATOM_RPG_Postapocalyptic_indie_game/

PS: you can become a Cave Jedi about five minutes into the game (or anytime after that) by taking a magic pill. I never actually tried this. There are a couple of enemies that can only be hurt by Jedi, but you can run/sneak around them with a little save-scumming. I feel like the "be a Cave Jedi?" option would have worked better either during character creation, or (as in KOTOR) teased until the end of Act I (when you clear the rail lines with the Junkyard MacGuffin).

Also initial game start is a little slow, but quickload is very fast, which is a good trade-off.

Hard game but really cool. Great RPG similar to Fallout 1 and 2 but a little more user friendly imo. Classic and doesn't hold your hand, like older games like Morrowind you might only get told some directions once and they don't get written down in your quest log so you have to remember it or write it down. Takes a while for the story and lore of the area to get revealed but I enjoy it a lot with a Throwing/Crafting/Stealth Character. I hope to someday play through a second time as a melee armoured character with a hammer and magic (Psychic powers)

Wrote this with just under 90 hours on the clock. Restarted a few times in the early stages of the game, but am ultimately over it after reaching level 18 and spending most of the time exploring.
Still don't feel like I've made much progress, despite this, given the expansive scope of the game.
Unless you're a die-hard Fallout 1/2 fan, it really isn't worth getting into.

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Cons
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Meta save scumming simulator. You will likely spend 60% of the game save scumming.

The game is an unforgiving time sink.
Power build or die. Either spend a bunch of time deciding which build to use specifically beforehand by looking up existing builds online, or don't play at all.
Misplaced a skill point or perk? Too bad. Reload or start an entirely new game.

You can look forward to investing an hour into damn near every battle - save scumming like you have nothing better to play.

You'll be micro managing every little thing with no backup or party mechanics whatsoever. The fact that you are sent out to deal with absolutely everything on your own is utter, laughable bollocks.

You'll be spamming a lot of grenades (and save scumming when you miss).
Unless your build allows you to put points into the Throwing skill, you'll be lobbing them 20 meters in the damn-near opposite direction as if you have cerebral palsy.

The inventory system is a pain in the ass.
Managing item weight is a massive hindrance. Given the scope of the areas to traverse, and lack of meaningful fast travel aside from boats, you'll be spending half of the game encumbered while you ferry loot around.

Most of the loot you'll find is garbage that you won't be able to use unless your build makes use of the crafting skills.

The traders are anal-retentive with regards to what they will or will not purchase from you, and how many of those desired items you can actually sell. It renders most of that loot-ferrying and hoarding as meaningless. I understand the need to limit the player's purchasing power so as to keep economy relevant, but you don't have a lot of good purchase options anyway.

Unless you've played before and know where everything is and exactly what you're doing, or you're following a walkthrough (lame), you'll have to spend probably 100+ hours to get anywhere meaningful in the game.

The old-school isometric style of the game, as nostalgic as it is, can make navigation and clicking on things a hassle unless you're holding tab like 60% of the time.

You can't speed up the game while even lightly encumbered. Gotta keep the player moving at a snails' pace to boost them play time numbers.

The initiative system is stupid. If you are in stealth mode, and attack an enemy despite not having been spotted at all on approach, there's every likelihood that your attack is nixed and they get their turns first (more opportunities for save scumming, yay!). You can't use burst/automatic gunfire from out of stealth, either.

The quests are boring.

The game is, ultimately, boring.

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Pros
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Extensive campaign
Lots of hand-placed detail
The dialogue is decent
In-depth item crafting system
Lots of items
Lots of build options
Somewhat modernized old-school isometric style

Underrail is a fantastic, old-school RPG that truly nails the classic isometric design and tactical combat. The world is gritty, filled with lore, and the choices you make have real consequences. The depth of character customization is impressive, and the gameplay can be incredibly rewarding if you enjoy a challenge. It’s a game for those who appreciate a slower, more thoughtful approach to RPGs.

Rating: 9/10
A must-play for fans of deep, tactical RPGs!