Hardland

About

"Hardland is a single-player, open world fantasy game with a good plot and masterful graphics, featuring mild swearing, alcohol use, and surreal themes. As an adventurer in the kingdom of Hardland, you'll uncover secrets, solve mysteries, and search for clues to influence the power struggle between the Elder King, the Queen in Snow Peak, and shadowy forces. The game encourages exploration and delving deep into the stories of its inhabitants for a memorable and hilarious experience."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 414 reviews

story32 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

The game features a unique and beautiful art style that captivates players.
It offers a vast open world filled with exploration opportunities and intriguing lore.
The soundtrack and sound design enhance the immersive experience of the game.

The game lacks a clear quest log or guidance, making it difficult for players to know what to do next.
There are frequent crashes and technical issues that disrupt gameplay.
Many players feel the game is unfinished and has been abandoned by the developers.

story
186 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
75%
8%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its unique, open-ended exploration and environmental storytelling, while others criticize the lack of a clear narrative and quest tracking system. Many reviews highlight the absence of a quest log or markers, which can lead to confusion and aimlessness, but some enjoy the challenge of piecing together the story through dialogue and exploration. Overall, while the game has potential for a rich narrative, it currently suffers from inconsistencies and a lack of direction, leaving players divided on their experience.
- “This game offers a unique blend of exploration, combat, and storytelling that will appeal to gamers of all genres.”
- “Cleverly written and wrapped in layers of symbolism, it gives you the feeling like you're making things up as you go along but comes together quite brilliantly at a number of points when multiple quest lines converge in a real 'aha!' moment.”
- “Hardland is an open-world RPG that does things differently; beyond its beautiful clay art style, it has a brilliant story, and a quest structure that, while hard to grasp for most, is wildly refreshing in a world where games love to hold your hand.”
- “Story was non-existent and, after going dark for many months and then hiring a writer, is still weak and kind of doesn't make sense.”
- “A big world full of potential and an art style that drew me in, only to find there is no content to this game, it's a huge empty island with not even a thread of a plot to follow, tough enemies and weak weapons make any form of combat boring, repetitive, and frustrating and there is no story to follow, not even one to really stumble into.”
- “The absence of a quest log and having absolutely no idea what I'm doing is so, so fun (those comments about needing a notepad next to you while you play are not kidding. You can get very lost without writing a few things down).”
graphics
131 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
34%
2%
The graphics of the game have been widely praised for their unique and captivating art style, often described as reminiscent of claymation or stop-motion animation. Players appreciate the vibrant colors, intricate details, and charming aesthetics that create an engaging and immersive world, although some have noted performance issues and a lack of gameplay depth. Overall, the visuals are considered a standout feature, drawing players into a whimsical and beautifully crafted environment.
- “The game's art style is both unique and captivating, with vibrant colors and intricate details that bring the world to life.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, the people and the quests are charming, it's open world, everything is a mystery waiting to be solved, it's just amazing.”
- “Hardland has a fascinating and quite unique graphical style that makes the game world captivating and fun to explore.”
- “Even though Fable is old, the gaming industry hasn't really progressed that much graphics-wise for years.”
- “The art style is almost off-putting in a way.”
- “They probably realized that under the charming visuals, they had no idea how to make an actually good game.”
gameplay
81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
64%
7%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its primitive mechanics and bugs that hinder the experience. While some appreciate the unique art style and storytelling elements, others find the combat shallow and the overall gameplay lacking depth and content. Despite these criticisms, there are glimpses of potential, with some players enjoying the casual yet fun aspects of gameplay and expressing hope for future improvements.
- “Nevertheless, the art and design as well as the overall gameplay experience is still worth experiencing and has some of the more unique elements I've seen.”
- “The gameplay is enjoyable, but then quests are hard to find.”
- “Hardland has a perfect balance between moderately challenging gameplay and the fun of exploration and looting.”
- “The gameplay is riddled with bugs.”
- “Riddled with game breaking bugs within the first 5 minutes of gameplay.”
- “It's an amazing sandbox RPG with a unique style of visuals and gameplay, but during the time of the gameplay, it just lacks content in this huge world.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
56%
17%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its beauty and ability to enhance the atmosphere, while others criticize it as sparse or dull. Some players appreciate the whimsical and immersive qualities of the soundtrack, which complements the game's enchanting graphics, while others express disappointment over the lack of variety and depth in the audio experience. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's ambiance, but there are calls for improvement and more engaging sound elements.
- “Beautiful looking mystery/adventure game with an amazing soundtrack, lore, and atmosphere.”
- “From the atmospheric music to the realistic sound effects, every aspect of the game's audio adds to the immersive experience.”
- “Besides the gorgeous graphics and charming music, there is a deeper and almost darker undertone to this fairy tale-like world.”
- “Can't play the game; all I get is the music and then a black screen. This has turned me off buying and playing games on Steam now. I won't review the game as I can't play it, but Steam, I give a 1 star.”
- “And these negative points just go on, from map exploration that just does not feel rewarded to a boring soundtrack or if there would be any ambient sounds at all.”
- “Same enemies everywhere, same looking rooms, very dull sound effects and 'music'.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
67%
17%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant issues such as long load times, slowdowns, and crashes, particularly in later stages. While some users appreciate the developers' commitment to ongoing updates and improvements, others criticize the lack of customizable graphics settings and persistent performance problems. Overall, while there are glimpses of potential in optimization, many players feel the game remains rough around the edges and in need of further refinement.
- “The graphics are impressive, it's well optimized and stable, it features an open sandbox for the player to explore with RNG elements keeping things fresh.”
- “As I started up the game, I read that they had already improved upon generation by 40%, so I'm not too worried where future performance is concerned.”
- “Edit 2 (9/18/15): Optimization got a big improvement as my FPS has had a huge jump, from an average of 20 to an average of 60!”
- “The game is also badly optimized, started to get long load times, slow downs, and even crashes late into the game.”
- “There are some big problems with bugs and performance, so be warned the game is a little rough around the edges in that department.”
- “Horrible, glitchy, unoptimized, and boring.”
atmosphere
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
18%
27%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beautiful visuals, immersive sound design, and rich world-building, creating a memorable and intriguing experience. While some describe it as bleak rather than surreal, the overall ambiance is considered soothing and dreamlike, appealing particularly to RPG players seeking depth. The combination of stunning art and atmospheric music significantly enhances the game's allure.
- “Beautiful looking mystery/adventure game with an amazing soundtrack, lore, and atmosphere.”
- “From the atmospheric music to the realistic sound effects, every aspect of the game's audio adds to the immersive experience.”
- “The atmosphere is thick and intriguing, the world is memorable and the art style is gorgeous and unique.”
- “The atmosphere is more bleak than actually surreal as they like to claim.”
- “Are you getting exhausted from playing games with a dark intimidating atmosphere that take themselves too seriously?”
- “Recommended to RPG players who like Zelda but would like more depth and atmosphere.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
30%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting its funny writing, hilarious dialogue, and quirky character interactions that often lead to laughter. The blend of beautiful visuals and absurdity contributes to a whimsical experience, making the game enjoyable for casual play. Overall, the humor is described as random, bizarre, and a key element of the game's charm.
- “The writing is also quite funny; some dialogue exchanges had me bursting out laughing.”
- “This game is beautiful, weird, funny, philosophical, and simply just wonderful for casual play.”
- “The interactions are fun, funny, and sometimes downright crazy.”
- “I have started over so many times from this bug; it's not funny.”
- “The jokes in this game fall flat and feel forced.”
- “I expected a lot of humor, but it just ended up being cringeworthy.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent glitches, performance issues, and inadequate graphics settings that lead to poor visual balance. Many players experience lag, freezing during saves, and incomplete controller support, suggesting that the game feels unfinished and requires significant technical improvements. Overall, the stability issues detract from the gameplay experience, leaving players frustrated.
- “There still seem to be some glitches like missing sounds, incomplete controller support (menus...) and action activation at the wrong time.”
- “Horribly buggy, it almost seems unfair that the devs are charging people for such an unfinished product.”
- “Technically, Hardland needs a lot of work (lagging, freezes, and crashes to desktop on my rig), but early access and all that.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development in the game is largely linear and automatic, with health and stamina increasing upon leveling up without player input, and equipment requiring specific levels. Many players feel that the static nature of the RPG genre limits character growth, emphasizing the need for more engaging and dynamic development systems. Overall, there is a desire for deeper content related to character development to enhance the gaming experience.
- “Character development is linear and automatic; health points and stamina increase on level up without any additional input from the player, and equipment has level requirements.”
- “Static world RPGs are a dime a dozen; at this point, all that differentiates them is the character design.”
- “I have high hopes for content dealing with character development.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game frustrating due to a tedious combat system and cumbersome armor management, which detracts from the overall exploration experience. Bugs further exacerbate these issues, making the gameplay feel less enjoyable.
- “A seemingly interesting exploration game completely ruined by bugs and a tedious combat system.”
- “I found managing my armor really tedious, and I disliked having to change my armor in the middle of a fight in the menu because without it, I could be seriously hurt easily.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as exploitative, with users labeling it a cash grab and expressing concerns about the authenticity of positive reviews. Many feel that the game has been abandoned, further diminishing its value.
- “Dead game... abandoned and turned into a cash grab!”
- “It seems to me to smell of a cash grab and get a lot of fake reviews posted.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the developers' heartfelt apology and recent updates to a game previously considered abandoned, highlighting a renewed emotional connection and investment in the game's future.
- “The developers have given a heartfelt apology and an update to a game that most of us had written off as abandonware.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers note that while the game features appealing graphics and visual effects, it lacks depth and replay value, resulting in an experience that feels average and may not encourage players to return after their initial playthrough.
- “Elephant people and elven wizards aside, their focus on prettier graphics and visual effects over replay value and depth will ultimately lead to just another average mid-tier indie RPG.”
- “Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to dive back in; the lack of meaningful side quests and character development makes replaying feel like a chore.”
- “The game offers a linear experience with minimal choices, which severely limits its replayability; after one playthrough, there's not much left to discover.”