Operencia: The Stolen Sun

Operencia: The Stolden Sun is a decent slice of adventuring fun that feels like a bit of a weird fit for the Switch but functions well on Nintendo’s console nevertheless, and often feels unique, though rarely essential.

76%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

grinding, character development

73% User Score Based on 320 reviews

Critic Score 79%Based on 21 reviews

Platforms

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About

Operencia: The Stolen Sun is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Zen Studios and was released on March 31, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Operencia: The Stolen Sun" is a turn-based RPG that brings a modern twist to classic dungeon-crawlers, set in a mythological fantasy world inspired by Central European folklore. The game features an old-school battle system and an immersive VR mode, where players must rescue the Sun King and restore light to the kingdom of Operencia. Explore hidden tombs, cursed castles, and other unique locations to save the land from perpetual darkness.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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73%

Audience ScoreBased on 320 reviews

story66 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

Operencia: The Stolen Sun features beautiful graphics and a charming art style that enhances the overall experience.
The game offers a rich narrative inspired by Hungarian folklore, with engaging character interactions and witty banter.
The turn-based combat system allows for strategic gameplay, and the ability to respec characters at any time adds depth to character customization.

The game suffers from pacing issues, with some battles feeling tedious and drawn out due to high enemy health and the lack of meaningful combat mechanics.
Certain puzzles can be overly simplistic or frustrating, leading to a reliance on online guides rather than in-game hints.
The final boss battle is considered unbalanced and overly difficult, which can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.

story
179 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
60%
3%
The game's story, while rooted in Hungarian folklore and featuring engaging character interactions, has received mixed reviews regarding its depth and engagement. Many players appreciate the charming visuals and voice acting, but some find the narrative to be bland or generic, often serving merely as a backdrop for gameplay rather than a compelling driving force. Overall, while the story has its moments and is well-presented, it may not fully satisfy those seeking a deeply immersive narrative experience.
- “While Grimrock focuses on the thrill of survival and puzzle solving within a bleak dungeon, Operencia places a greater emphasis on its enchanting world, its engaging storyline rooted in Hungarian folklore, and the personalities of your companions.”
- “The story has much more emphasis than I expected and is decently well-told.”
- “Surprisingly, this game has a great story and setting, based on folklore that is criminally under-explored in games and fantasy.”
- “The story does little to maintain interest, as it mainly acts as a vehicle for moving from one area to another, lacking depth or engagement.”
- “The main story is loosely cobbled together from over a dozen different myths and fairy tales, so don't expect too much of it, or of the companion characters who spend most of the time bickering instead of developing their personality or backstory.”
- “The story is okayish without much of a twist, and throwing some jokes here and there.”
graphics
99 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
38%
4%
The graphics of "Operencia: The Stolen Sun" receive widespread praise for their polished visuals, unique art style, and atmospheric design, often likened to high-quality AAA titles. Players appreciate the vibrant colors, smooth animations, and immersive environments, although some note inconsistencies in graphical quality across different elements. Overall, the game is recognized for its impressive visual presentation that enhances the classic dungeon crawler experience.
- “The graphics are very nice; the art is smooth, animations are mostly reactive and crisp, and it looks for all the world like it could be a triple-A title.”
- “The world is amazing to say the least, unique art style accompanied by great music, lore accurate as well.”
- “Graphically it may be the most impressive first-person dungeon crawler I have played so far, great lighting, imaginative locations, it's like a dark fairytale.”
- “Putting these still-frame different art style single images on the screen while there is currently a fully beautiful boss battle going on in the background is a major blow to the suspension of disbelief that a fictional visual-based medium needs.”
- “The same issue as the visuals; the game designers obviously could do better, but the quality of different parts of the same scene clash to unignorable degrees.”
- “The graphics in VR are about like vanishing realms.”
gameplay
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
70%
3%
The gameplay in Operencia is a blend of grid-based movement, tactical combat, and puzzle-solving, drawing inspiration from classic dungeon crawlers while emphasizing story and character interaction. While the game offers a visually appealing experience and a solid mix of combat and exploration, it suffers from repetitive mechanics, unbalanced combat, and a lack of meaningful challenges, leading to frustration for some players. Overall, the gameplay is engaging for those who appreciate its mechanics, but may feel derivative and linear to seasoned dungeon crawler fans.
- “From its utterly delightful presentation to its engaging gameplay, this title truly shines.”
- “Gameplay is excellent, striking a nice balance between combat, exploration, puzzles, and party management.”
- “The game has amazing graphics using the power of Unreal Engine, and the gameplay is very addictive.”
- “Puzzles fail to provide meaningful challenges, and the gameplay loop becomes repetitive, even by dungeon crawler standards.”
- “The game is extremely linear which wouldn't necessarily be a problem in itself, but since there is no way to grind and level up your character, certain fights can be unwinnable as there is no way to do quests or gain XP even if you re-spec your characters.”
- “However, by the time you reach the third main area in the game (the Deva Fortress), the difficulty seems to take a tremendous spike with some ridiculously tough opponents, and you then start really noticing how bad this game's combat mechanics are.”
music
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
33%
7%
The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many players praising its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the immersive experience. The soundtrack features unique themes for different locations, drawing from Eastern European influences, and is described as both beautiful and memorable, though some noted it can be repetitive. Overall, the combination of music, sound effects, and environmental audio contributes significantly to the game's enchanting and engaging atmosphere.
- “It was a joy to explore the great looking dungeons listening to the amazing soundtrack.”
- “The music, artwork, characters and their banter, are all great.”
- “The soundtrack helps to carry the mood of the game and the ambient work is phenomenal (from nature sounds in forests, to cracks and rumbles in caves and dungeons).”
- “The soundtrack didn't catch me.”
- “The music was bland and repetitive...”
- “While the soundtrack may have matched the atmosphere, the various sound effects and general ambience of the sound design pretty much made that atmosphere.”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
22%
14%
The atmosphere in both "Legend of Grimrock" and "Operencia: The Stolen Sun" is highly praised for its immersive quality, with players appreciating the environmental storytelling, high-quality graphics, and well-crafted sound design that enhance the overall experience. The games effectively evoke a classic RPG feel, combining engaging music and sound effects to create a captivating dungeon-crawling atmosphere. Many reviewers noted that the atmosphere significantly contributes to the enjoyment of gameplay, making exploration both thrilling and memorable.
- “This game has an incredible atmosphere and story, interesting characters with great speech... basically it shows you what Legend of Grimrock could have been with a full story like this game!”
- “It's stunning to look at and the atmosphere and sounds are perfect.”
- “The graphics and music are impressively coherent and create a great atmosphere.”
- “While the soundtrack may have matched the atmosphere, the various sound effects and general ambience of the sound design pretty much ruined that atmosphere.”
- “In fact, I hated exploring spider-infested caves because of how well it managed to capture that atmosphere.”
- “What I admire most about this game is the whole atmosphere, which profits a lot from the tales and discussions between the characters.”
humor
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing, engaging voice acting, and character interactions, featuring a mix of sarcastic banter and witty dialogue that enhances the overall experience. While some players found the humor inconsistent, with a blend of funny moments and less effective jokes, many appreciated the lively character dynamics and the comedic elements woven into the story. Overall, the humor contributes significantly to the game's charm, making it a highlight for fans of witty dialogue and character-driven narratives.
- “Really liked the writing and voice acting; the character banters and snarky comments are very funny the whole way through.”
- “The story is very unusual, but it feels alive and is fascinating... the graphics and music are great and let you dive into this world of fantasy... the humor is spot on... sarcastic, funny... a real blast!”
- “Not only are they all voiced, but they have funny dialogue as well as interactions which make them feel real and not just some pictures on a screen.”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
77%
Reviews on the aspect of "grinding" highlight a mixed experience; while some players appreciate the absence of random encounters and the need for strategic combat, many find battles to be tedious and drawn-out, leading to a sense of grind. The combat can feel repetitive and slow, with some players expressing frustration over lengthy battles and the necessity to engage in them multiple times. Overall, while the game offers engaging elements, the grinding nature of combat detracts from the overall enjoyment for some players.
- “No grinding whatsoever, so things to discover and monsters to kill must be done in precise succession.”
- “No grinding, gonna figure out how to proceed if you can't beat the boss.”
- “Voice acting, a decent enough story, and good combat with no grinding as the amount of enemies in the world is limited with no random encounters.”
- “Everything has way too much HP and will grind you down through slow, tedious battles of attrition.”
- “Just long tedious grinds... absolutely boring, and it's gotten to a point where I'm on my 5th battle or so having to wade through golems.”
- “You don't have to play this way, but combat is so tediously long otherwise; I really wouldn't recommend that you do anything else.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
Overall, the game's optimization is praised for delivering strong performance and impressive graphics, with users reporting solid frame rates even on older hardware. However, some players criticize the lack of clarity in gameplay mechanics and the game's failure to adequately explain its systems, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “The game has great graphics, great performance, the story is nice and entertaining, the voice acting is awesome, characters are kind of likable and enemies are greatly designed.”
- “Btw, even using a GTX 1080, I got solid 90 fps using index res 200%, so performance and image quality are really awesome.”
- “The excuse of 'poor optimization' or teambuilding is invalid when the game does a terrible job of explaining anything and there is a hard mode for that type of optimization.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its witty and heartwarming dialogue, which enhances immersion and creates a surprisingly wholesome experience. Players appreciate the nostalgic storytelling that resonates deeply, evoking feelings reminiscent of their childhood. Overall, the game successfully combines humor and warmth to foster a strong emotional connection.
- “This witty and often heartwarming banter isn't just entertaining; it's crucial for building immersion.”
- “Surprisingly wholesome dungeon crawler.”
- “As a Hungarian, I can tell that they did a pretty good job telling these old stories, and they made me feel the same way, like when I first heard them decades ago.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
Reviews highlight a stark contrast in character development experiences across games. While titles like Skyrim offer extensive and non-linear character development options, some dungeon crawlers are criticized for lacking meaningful growth and exploration, resulting in a less engaging experience. Overall, the depth and impact of character development vary significantly, with some games providing rich customization and others falling short.
- “Lots of comments here and there, and a decent amount of character development.”
- “But as it is, it has no meaningful exploration, no meaningful combat tactics, and no meaningful character development.”
- “If you want a game with nearly limitless character development options and hundreds of hours of non-linear content to explore, then go play Skyrim for the 20th time.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's replayability is limited due to its static environment and lack of randomized loot, which diminishes the appeal of starting with different hero classes. While the story and character development are strong, the absence of build variety and character progression options results in a lack of incentive for multiple playthroughs. Overall, it offers a solid experience as a first-person dungeon crawler but falls short in replay value.
- “If Operencia had more depth when it comes to build variety and character progression, it would definitely be an absolute highlight. As it stands, it's a very good first-person dungeon crawler that focuses on story and characters, providing a great playthrough, but it lacks in replayability.”
- “Replayability - while starting with another hero class might sound enticing, be aware that everything in the game is static and there is no randomized loot.”
- “The lack of variety in character creation eliminates any replay value.”
- “If Operencia had more depth in build variety and character progression, it would definitely be an absolute highlight. However, as it stands, it's a very good first-person dungeon crawler that focuses on story and characters, but lacks in replayability.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is criticized for its poor stability, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay, such as enemies counter-attacking unexpectedly and multiple attacks occurring before the player can respond. This significantly detracts from the overall experience.
- “I played this for the first time, and it's a buggy mess.”
- “There are glitches that allow enemies to counter-attack and nullify your team's normal attack, so even when you ambush enemies in a battle, there are times when the enemies get to attack you literally 2 or 3 times in a row before you can attack again.”

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79%Critics’ scoreBased on 21 critic reviews

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11h Median play time

19h Average play time

5-40h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs

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Operencia: The Stolen Sun is a role playing game with fantasy theme.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox Series X|S and others.

On average players spend around 19 hours playing Operencia: The Stolen Sun.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun was released on March 31, 2020.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun was developed by Zen Studios.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun is a single player game.

Similar games include Ember, The Bard's Tale IV, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, Vaporum, Blackguards and others.

Operencia: The Stolen Sun

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