Разработчик: Prime Games
Описание
When his father is murdered and his village burned to the ground, a young warrior swears vengeance. He has to choose between force or diplomacy to forge new alliances and subdue his enemies. Will he get rid of the oppressors of this world or become an oppressor himself?
The game consists of a story text, a world map, and a tactical combat layer. On the world map you can choose to travel to different locations. The story text builds around the constant choices you make. Once you engage in battle the game will switch to a tactical map where the actual fighting takes place as turn-based combat. Enjoy the vivid writings by the quill of the author Sycamore Bright.
- Story is king. Rich, non-linear story that reminds of D&D with a "flair of battle". We’d describe it as a choose-your-own-adventure book that meets an RPG.
- Tactical combats. This is not checkers, this is a grown-up combat simulation. Send your light-armored infantry, the Nameless Wolves, through the woods into the back of the enemy while your armored, hammer-wielding Nameless Bears stall the enemy attack.
- Decisions matter. The narrative branches based on your choices. Your actions define and shape the world you experience.
- Character development. Are your decisions black, white or gray? Will they lead to a better future for the Sin Lands or will you turn into a usurper?
- Memorable personalities. Stand up to the cunning Lords of the Sin Lands in well-written interactive dialogues.
- Art that gives more life to the whole story. Zoom-in on the world map and experience the detail of the artistic work.
- You don’t pick abstract skills. Instead the choices you make at the beginning of the game define what abilities your character will learn.
- Featuring a gorgeous Nordic soundtrack by acclaimed artist Mike Olsen a.k.a. Danheim.
Поддерживаемые языки: english
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Windows XP SP2+
- Processor: 1.5 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Hardware Accelerated Graphics with 1GB memory
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 420 MB available space
Mac
- OS: Mac OS 10.10.5+
- Processor: 1.5 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Hardware Accelerated Graphics with 1GB memory
- Storage: 425 MB available space
Отзывы пользователей
I give this game a rank D+ (50-55%)
Forgettable game - sadly nothing really good here..
See my profile for more details about my reviews.
Not a bad game, just nothing good for a gamer like me here... I had more expectation, but it ends up being a boring, repetitive, very indie choose your own adventure type of work. Admittedly, the game is prettily drawn, and I love CYOA books, but here as a video game? nah. The VERY first blocks of text, I had a few non meaningful choices (both lead to the same event), but the worst was that at my very big first choice, I chose option A out of ABC.... and died. I had to restart the game, since I had not reached the first checkpoint. I did it again, reached the choice, chose option B this time... and died again. Had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN, knowing now it was option C. Well that was a VERY BAD START, not for a STORY, mind you, but for a GAME. Gameplay wise, there is nothing. So sad, it could have been much better, but I have NO intention to go on as, AS A VIDEO GAME, it is not an inviting experience.
EDIT 1 (April): thank you to the dev for their very understanding and positive feedback. Should take time in the future to try that one again.
EDIT 2 (June): I tried again the intro after Victor (the dev)'s comment. Unfortunately, I can not find in me the effort to go on, even if I know that after this long intro of fakes choices, there is a different gameplay. Mind you, 4 months ago I actually finished the intro and went to the gameplay part - but even then it did not grab me. I would give around a D+ or C- for that part. What is sad is that to reach even that, you need to go through what Guilty Man explained very clearly in his review, here on Steam, quote: "Ode for a quicksave button to save me from unforeseeable failure conditions". Even in 2018, when the game was made, this is not a viable option for good game design.
Note though that I realized something during this final try that I had not really paid attention to the first time: the music is AWESOME. I don't know if it is copyrighted or designed by the dev, but if you like Wardruna and such, the music is remarkable. Too bad!
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This is basically a poorly written visual novel, albeit with decent artwork and music that gets old fairly quickly.
You're presented with options, where you need to make the correct choice every time in order to have a chance at completing the game. However many are confusing and give results you weren't expecting, or don't properly detail what in fact the action is. Battles play out, but you can't let any troops die because they don't get replaced and you won't be able to win the battles towards the end. Waste of time, not even worth the 5 bucks I paid to get it on sale.
Pretty good choose your adventure game. Only things I disliked was the checkpoint system instead of manually saving and in the climax of the story, things became quite rushed.
Positive review because while the game is playable and somewhat enjoyable. The entire combat system and the importance of it to the story and progression plus the weird checkpoint system kills all replay value. Not to mention the story feels rushed and the only reason why it took me two hours to play is because I had to go back and forth from checkpoint to checkpoint to redo choices. Is it a decent game? Yes. Is it something I'm ever going to play again? No. I am going to uninstall it and never think about it again probably. Will I be playing the sequel? Yes I'm going to launch it right now and I plan to play through the entire thing.
I play a lot of CYOA (Choose your own adventure) games. This one's pretty good but could've been better.
Pros:
- Very interesting setting, I really wish there was a lore book inside the game to learn more about it.
- Gorgeous map.
- Wonderful music by Danheim
- Some of the sidequests are pretty interesting
- Paying attention to the dialogue and the lore actually rewards you in some situations (take notes if you can)
Cons:
- Only limited to 3 skills per playthrough - too limiting in my opnion
- The main plot is nothing to write home about. A pinch of Conan, a dash of ASOIF, and a bit of Glen Cook's Black Company
- Battle system is not great. Frankly I am not sure the game even really needs one. I think instead it could've used a more interesting dueling system instead
- Not enough choices in most situations, that's when there are choices at all. I wouldn't say the story is completely linear but in any given quest there are very few options compared to some other CYOA games
- Very little initial explanation of how certain things (like Glory points) work
Conclusion: Definitely worth picking up on sale, but I think it could've had more depth.
Fun little adventure book. The soundtrack is top notch, the art is lovely, the writing is by and large quite decent, and the story, whilst fairly standard, is engaging enough.
The turn based battle are very simplistic, and largely come down to using your ranged units to whittle the enemy number down. The final battle where you get even more ranged options is trivially easy.
As is often the way in adventure books, often your actions come out to poor outcomes in ways you couldn't predict, forcing you to use the, mercifully frequent, checkpoint system. Although I wish there was a quicker way to speed through the text, although it's not the most egregious.
Overall, recommended.
Very short game (2.5 hours for me) but a very refreshing change of pace. Looks gorgeous and scratches that choose your own adventure itch. I liked the story and the choices presented. I'd probably recommend waiting until it is on sale though.
A short, railroaded tale.
It feels like it has potential - but the writing is a little clumsy, dialogue choices can be unclear - and the forgiveness vs vengeance messaging is forced and comes off preachy.
It doesn't inspire me to complete it a second time.
This is a choose-your-adventure visual novel with the emphasis on storytelling. You can play the game through a couple of times roleplaying a different personality to see different endings. It's still short, but not unreasonably priced, providing a couple of hours of entertainment for less than going to the movies.
This game is for roleplaying a short story, not tactical combat. The "tactical" combat should have been left out of the game. There are certain areas where you are given text-based options for how to fight (like Narrowbreeze and Coalhorn) and the game would have been better utilizing that system for all of the battles. If you are looking for storytelling games with more emphasis on tactical combat, pick up Banner Saga or Age of Decadence.
Dust and Salt
may very well be a title you haven't heard of, but in my estimation, if you are an old school tabletop gamer or just enjoy a more, choose your own adventure type approach to gaming, then you really should take a look.Story
The story of Dust and Salt is nothing new. One nation rises to prominence and begins subjugating its neighbors. The nation in question being Murk. Your people were one of their neighbors. Murk is going around conscripting children into their army. You are one of those children. Your father stops them at the cost of his own life. You escape and join a mercenary troop. From their, your mission for revenge against Murk and the elevation of your people, begins.
You will have an impact on the story based on your morality decisions and such, and as such, the story itself provides a lot of replay value. It is worth noting that there were enough typos to make me wonder if a final edit wasn't rushed. It doesn't actually take away from the story, which was decent, but was still noticeable.
Gameplay
Most of the gameplay is of the storybook variety, but with an overland map AND turn based grid style combat.
The storybook part is as expected. You read through a little to a lot of dialogue and make a decision. Rinse and repeat. Your choices can lead you to combat of course, which is resolved as....
tactical turn based combat on simple grid maps. Honestly, this part of the game was not very good at all. It really plays out more like checkers, where whoever can force their opponent to move close first will win the individual battles, albeit with positioning ultimately being a secondary concern beyond that. As long as you do some aspect of all the various alliance building quests, you will acquire enough troops to easily overcome your enemies, and since you can literally just pass your turn until the enemies are within move and strike range, it's pretty difficult to really lose a battle.
The overland map is nice enough, and the quest variety was fun. This was really staged in that classic, tabletop gaming way. The game is the DM and you are running your party, and an adventure ensues lol.
Graphics
The graphics are sparse overall. This game is more about dialogue than graphics, but the overland map was nice. The avatars look convincingly like miniatures you would use during a tabletop session, which was nice. The combat terrains were not very nice however. Those were pretty dull, washed out terrain maps that I could take or leave.
Audio
Similarly, the audio tracks were sparse. That said, I did enjoy the kind of tribalistic soundtrack they had working. Gives the game a cool vibe.
Verdict
If you are a fan of the genre or tabletop gaming in general, I would say this is an easy recommendation at its asking price. It's not mind blowing material, but it was a decent couple hours, and there are a few more hours to be had when I'm ready.
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Beat it in 2.5 hours. Beautiful, well written, interesting game that is WAAAAY over-priced. Nice little book, no strategic depth at all. It's not quite a point and click, but it's the closest thing to it. Also, balance on troops is insanely favored towards a certain type - I didn't even use 4 of my troops in the final battle and I didn't lose a single troop in that battle.
As a gamebook fan, it was about time to play Dust and Salt. The first thing which impressed me, was the fascinating music; it creates a great atmophere. The story was intriguing and the art well-favoured. I've also enjoyed the Heroes of Might&Magic alike battles and map movement. I recommend this game and am looking forward to play the sequel The Battle for Murk!
A cool adaptation of a fun old chose-your-own-adventure book. With amazing art and a memorable sound track. It does have some basic turn-based battles here and there but the core of the game is an old school text based interactive story.
Nice little game, with a classic but good revenge story.
Do not get it for the battles as they are very basic and just a few ; it's more about the choices you make during the storytelling.
A nice buy when on discount !
edit : I forgot a main PLUS : the soundtrack, made by the guy from Danheim, is great ! Nordic/Viking/Epic, I didn't know about this featuring and got so hyped when I started my first game ! Definitely a huge asset for this game – and you should check the band if you are into this kind of atmosphere !
It's a nice, little game. The artwork is gorgeous and the story does grab you. I also like that you can't save scum your decisions. You have to live with them and accept the consequences. Though, on another playthrough, unless you choose something different, well....
The problem I had is that the latter part of the game feels rushed. The first part (gathering allies) feels paced- well paced, some quests are longer than others, but the second part (going to war), that really felt rushed. I wish there was just more leading up to it, maybe smaller battles to go along with the main one. But, for $8 it's hard to complain.
I enjoyed playing this game, have not tried anything similar before, apart from gamebooks of course. I am really happy to see a new Bulgarian studio releasing a game of such genre, storytelling and graphics. I am thrilled to see some additions in the patches and a future game of similar type from Prime Games.
Nonetheless, I have some things on mind that I would like to propose and would be happy to see you consider them.
- I know it is about reading and making decisions but the game would definitely benefit from a more stategic-like combat. I guess you could add a magic type of troops that cast certain spells from a spellbook, you know like in Heroes of Might and Magic.
- I would like to see a longer introduction part with more missions to do before the character turns 18, so that I get more immersed in the story. Also, the part that I thought would be the culmination - fight with Murk, was surprisingly short and kind of disappointing. I suppose this proposal has to do mainly with the writing.
- I would be happy to see nametags at all times under the important locations.
I recommend this game to every gamebooks' fan!
Ode for a quicksave button to save me from unforeseeable failure conditions.
In terms of it's presentation I would give this game a thumbs up, it's style is consistent and the creator didn't try to overreach, instead playing to their strengths. I can't recommend the sound as it's the equivalent of the loading screen music from Witcher 3 and entirely innocuous. The Writing is solid and in line with the style of Choose your own adventure books which brings us to the crux of this review. Whether or not you will like this game comes down to what you think of old Choose your own adventure books like Lone Wolf and Fighting Fantasy.
Myself I cannot stand them, and this game shows absolutely why. There is a right and wrong choice to every situation which you cannot foresee unless you have played through the game before, experimenting with other options does not net you new experiences in most cases but instead punishes you for making a wrong choice that you could not have known was wrong till you took it. This can also lock you out of content because you tried to attempt something before other 'flags' had been activated, removing the option from the game.
This trial and error style of game only works for me if it's not too tedious to start over, but here you will have to click through screen after screen of slowly animated text to reach the same point. There is no manual save and load system to prevent save scumming but there is also no skip to the next choice function to bypass content you have seen dozens of times. About an hour of my playtime is the result of having to repeat the first few scenes over and over again because I'd not activated a specific 'flag' and so ended up in unforeseen failure. While the checkpoint system which allows you to roll back to the central hub does alleviate this problem for immediate issues, it does nothing for gated content meaning you will need to start again from scratch to get certain options.
The description for the game says the turn based combat is “just a pinch” but in reality it is required to progress, which is a shame because it is so overly simplistic that it probably should have been omitted in favour of a quick stat check and a text option for how you wish to use your forces. I have also ran into combat where it was impossible to win with the soldiers I had chosen and was committed to combat at that point, forcing me to start from the beginning again. Advice for people who want to try this title, when you are asked to pick your forces, be aware that the number of a specific troop you choose only effects their health, not their number or combat ability, a little clarity on this would have been helpful.
This may sound entirely negative and that's because this was not the genre for me, if you enjoy Choose your own adventure game books and are willing to replay events multiple times to systematicaly improve your run then you will have a much better time with it. While I will put in another hour to this title at least, I cannot say I’m looking forward to it.
Nice story-based adventure game in the spirit of the good all gamebooks but with some cool new features. I think the art is very impressive and the music in the gameis suprisingly amazing. Also it has a very nice level of replayability.
It is a must have game for every gamebook fan.
I recommend it!
First of all, this is a gamebook, so you should be in the mood for reading when you start playing this. It offers few hours of gameplay for one read-through and most players will probably end up playing it at least 2-3 times, since it is rather hard.
For a gamebook, it is pretty awesome - the story and the decisions are interesting and those are most important for me. The UI I find to be rather polished, compared to other similar games. The music is catchy, the artwork style is nice and works well, though some drawings might have been better, e.g. the units in battle.
Regarding the combat system, it is the right amount of simple; if the game was too long, it would have grown thin - don't expect heroes 3 here :) It is still interesting and adds to the gameplay experience, but the core of the game is making the right decisions outside the battles and reading an immersive story.
TL;DR: recommended for all CYOA lovers
++ Beatiful world map
++ Tactical hex-grid battles
+ Replayability
+/- Text
- First checkpoint too far away from the beginning
Basically this is CYOA with tactical hex-grid battles (what it says on the tin) and really beautiful world map. To be honest, it's the world map that sold me the game, but I enjoyed every aspect.
Tactical battles are nice addition to text adventure, they are not too hard and add variety to gameplay.
Text pacing is a bit weird sometimes especially early in the game, where one passage just skips several years and suddenly describes you as perfect warrior. Overall story is not too exciting, but totally ok, with meaningful choices and branches. If some dialog options are locked, you will see it and know what to look for in next replay.
Music is fine, though maybe little bit repetative sometimes.
First checkpoint is very far away from game beginning; also there are no checkpoints after some battles/decisions.
It's bit too short, but on the other hand there's enough replayability to last you for another run or two.
Excellent game for all fans of gamebooks or just curious players. I am most impressed with the music and the art of the game. Besides its text-based adventure there are a numerous tactical battles as part of the story. I have very few critiques, but nothing major, really. I would give it a 5/5.
Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | Prime Games |
| Платформы | Windows, Mac |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 23.01.2025 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 82% положительных (55) |