Scarmonde

About Scarmonde

Scarmonde is a single player role playing game with fantasy, anime, medieval, historical and others themes. It was developed by Ephiam and was released on October 7, 2024. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

The God of Dragons beckons you to Scarmonde. Gather your most trusted and skilled companions, then brave the The Depths to locate each of the Dragon God's Sacred Treasures. Legends say paradise awaits the one who gathers all three, but will you and your band of adventurers be the first to have their wildest dreams become their new reality? Before departing into The Depths below Scarmonde, you're t…

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Reviews

99%Audience ScoreBased on 216 reviews

story20 positive mentions

grinding19 negative mentions

Deep and flexible character customization with 12 classes and subclasses allowing many unique builds and playstyles.
Engaging, strategic turn-based combat that emphasizes buffs, debuffs, status effects, and equipment synergy.
Strong old-school NES JRPG aesthetic with excellent pixel art, atmospheric soundtrack, and a minimal but compelling narrative.
Exploration is rewarding with well-designed dungeons, secrets, and meaningful loot tied to progression.
Quality-of-life features like save-anywhere, shortcuts, and reasonable encounter rates improve pacing compared to classic RPGs.

Menus and UI can be clunky and laggy, especially given it is made in RPG Maker; navigating skills and equipment is sometimes cumbersome.
The combat speed is slow with limited speed-up options; random encounters can become tedious due to their frequency and length.
Class identity and balance issues exist; some classes feel less distinct or underpowered, and mid-to-late game party roles can become homogenized.
The story is minimal and sometimes hard to follow, requiring player effort to piece together; some players find the ending or postgame draw out.
Lack of modern conveniences like better encounter avoidance, comprehensive in-game information, or clearer indication of effects and stats.

story
107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19% positive mentions, 78% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions
The story in this game is minimalistic and largely serves as a backdrop to the core gameplay experience, focusing on exploration and character progression rather than cinematic or heavily detailed narratives. Delivered through sparse NPC dialogue and environmental cues, it offers a dark, intriguing atmosphere with slow, rewarding plot development that echoes classic old-school RPGs. While some find the storytelling understated yet engaging, others note it can be cryptic or feel unfinished, making the title ideal for players who prioritize gameplay over extensive narrative.
- “The story is delivered in bite-sized pieces of dialogue as you encounter various NPCs along the way.”
- “The story presented is ambiguous, but extremely intriguing, and the deeper and deeper I got into the depths, the more motivated I was to see it through to the end.”
- “I really liked the dark fantasy story, told mainly through one-sided NPC dialogue as you explore the world and titular town, and I think it smartly doesn't get in the way and take the focus from where this game shines, the dungeon crawling.”
- “The story is a bit of a downer once you figure out what's going on; the game starts to hit you over the head with its own plot and it's a bit unrelenting.”
- “There is some manner of story going in the background; the basic premise is that you're exploring the dungeon to get your wish granted, there's a couple recurring characters and other randos throwing some cryptic nonsense at you; the writing is a bit too edgy and on the nose towards the end, but generally the story and lore is there; it didn't really grab me either way.”
- “- Story ending is disappointing.”
music
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46% positive mentions, 47% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its nostalgic NES-era chiptune style, featuring catchy, atmospheric, and varied tracks that enhance exploration, combat, and key moments. While some players note occasional repetitiveness and a few out-of-place tracks, the soundtrack overall is considered a standout element that effectively supports the game's retro vibe and immersive fantasy setting. Volume balancing issues with battle themes were mentioned but are mitigated by in-game options and player customization.
- “Musical themes accompany exploration, combat, and important discoveries with compositions that feel appropriately adventurous and atmospheric.”
- “The music opens up after a few areas of generic tracks to be a complete "just gonna put the controller down and listen for a while" banger of an OST, and in the late game even takes an approach of "we've got enough good combat music we're just going to randomize what you get in each random battle for variety."”
- “The soundtrack is what makes this stand out, it's incredible with a lot of variation.”
- “I can't stand the main common battle music.”
- “It wouldn't be as bad, but the music is not normalized and the battles are too frequent, so you can be listening to the good map music and then get the super annoying 10x as loud terrible battle music that plays way too much.”
- “Having designated battle music by area type (say, overworld, cave, castle, dungeon, etc) would have done wonders.”
gameplay
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27% positive mentions, 68% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions
The gameplay offers a deep, nostalgic JRPG experience inspired by classic titles like Final Fantasy 1, emphasizing dungeon exploration, turn-based combat, and party customization. It features robust mechanics including job systems, buffs/debuffs, and strategic progression, appealing to players who enjoy min-maxing and experimenting with builds. While the story is minimal and secondary, the gameplay's depth, challenge, and quality-of-life improvements make it engaging and rewarding for fans of old-school RPGs.
- “An FF1-style RPG that feels really unique thanks to its mysterious and engrossing world and modern approach to mechanical depth.”
- “Its combination of retro charm, meaningful progression, challenging encounters, and exploration-driven gameplay makes it a standout example of how classic RPG design can still feel exciting and rewarding today.”
- “The mechanics of the game like the job system and passives encourage repeated playthroughs and different builds and strategies.”
- “I thought it would be pure gameplay with lots of customization like Siralim Ultimate, but it's fixed classes with not many options.”
- “Outside of bosses and some specific enemy encounters that walk around the area, the game features a (now often considered outdated) random encounter mechanic.”
- “The gameplay balance also becomes increasingly wonky as the game progresses.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 56% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The game features a nostalgic and authentic 8-bit pixel-art style that effectively captures the charm of classic NES-era RPGs, praised for its crisp visuals and retro fantasy atmosphere. While most enemy sprites are well-designed, some artwork is noticeably reused, and limited color palettes may feel unappealing to a few players. Overall, its graphics resonate strongly with fans of old-school JRPGs, enhanced by a fitting chiptune soundtrack that complements the retro aesthetic.
- “Visually, the game embraces a nostalgic pixel-art aesthetic that pays tribute to classic console RPGs.”
- “The aesthetic hits hard: 8-bit chiptunes, minimalist but effective spritework, and an atmosphere that feels like someone took Final Fantasy 1, polished it with modern hindsight, and sent it back through a time machine.”
- “As far as feeling like an NES RPG, this is one of the most authentic experiences, from the sound to the visuals and colors. I haven't played a retro RPG that feels this close to an actual RPG from that era in a long time.”
- “The downside is the large number of enemies with repeated artwork and the weak marketing on its Steam page.”
- “A RPG Maker MV made indie dungeon crawler RPG with a NES Final Fantasy aesthetic, a lot of the music and graphics used in the game are comprised of stuff anyone can download from the internet.”
- “I’m not saying the graphics are bad, but I think the limited color choices made it look unappealing to me.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is a mixed experience: while early and mid-game grinding can be mitigated through strategic play and useful abilities, the high encounter rates and lengthy random battles, especially toward the end and postgame, make progression feel tedious and overly drawn-out. Though dungeon exploration and combat remain enjoyable, the late stages often require repeated grinding or running away, which some players find exhausting. Overall, grinding is present but can be managed with good tactics, though the postgame and some dungeon layouts may still feel unnecessarily grind-heavy.
- “The last leg of the game got exceedingly tedious for me; by my count, the game could've been a good 4-5 hours shorter and it would have benefited from that.”
- “Overall, the dungeon layouts were very basic labyrinths with high random battle rates. Enemies start to put up a fight around midgame, making battles long and grindy. By the end, powerful skills that add extra actions make the numerous pointless encounters even more of a pain.”
- “Towards the end of the game, I found myself running a lot more often as battle difficulty increased, and each fight was taking longer and becoming more tedious.”
replayability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 19% negative mentions
The game offers high replayability primarily due to its extensive class variety and deep character customization, allowing players to tailor their experience and experiment with different playstyles. Unique subclass mechanics and additional modes like a roguelike random mode and postgame content further enhance the incentive to replay. Overall, these features provide a rich and varied experience that encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “The incredible customizability of your characters and party leads to a great deal of replayability.”
- “The fact that classes don’t have their innate bonuses when selected as a subclass makes choices at the beginning meaningful, increasing replay value – a paladin/warrior feels different than a warrior/paladin.”
- “The game adds replay value through a roguelike random mode at the start and postgame backtracking after defeating the final boss, providing lots of replay opportunities.”
- “Also, the fact that classes don’t have their innate bonuses when selected as a subclass gives that much more meaning to the choices you make at the beginning of the game – a paladin/warrior will feel a bit different than a warrior/paladin, and increases the replay value of the game.”
- “With the ability to choose 12 classes and have 4 subclass shrines, you can alter your playstyle a lot based on how you like, giving it a lot of replayability.”
- “Edit: fortunately, the game has added replay value from a roguelike random mode (upon starting a new game) to postgame (backtracking after defeating the final boss if you suffered through that difficulty spike) to add a ton of replay value and not have to hunt for shortcuts, though the battles are tough.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 17% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions
The game's atmosphere evokes a nostalgic, souls-like experience characterized by exploring a bleak, mysterious world through sparse storytelling. Its distinctive blend of colorful 8-bit visuals, minimalist spritework, and evocative chiptune music creates an adventurous yet haunting tone reminiscent of classic Final Fantasy titles. Overall, the atmosphere effectively immerses players in a cryptic and compelling world that sparks imagination despite minimal plot details.
- “The colorful presentation and clear visual design make exploration and combat easy to follow while contributing to the game's distinctive atmosphere.”
- “Musical themes accompany exploration, combat, and important discoveries with compositions that feel appropriately adventurous and atmospheric.”
- “The aesthetic hits hard: 8-bit chiptunes, minimalist but effective sprite work, and an atmosphere that feels like someone took Final Fantasy 1, polished it with modern hindsight, and sent it back through a time machine.”
- “More like a souls-style atmosphere where you're traveling through the ruins of a miserable world and learning its history piecemeal through NPC interactions.”
- “The plot is minimal and quite cryptic for the majority of the game, but manages to create a solid atmosphere of mystery and dread.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Optimization in the game enhances combat effectiveness by rewarding powerful equipment and viable class choices, though some classes like warrior may be less impactful. While the game is enjoyable, it could benefit from quality-of-life improvements such as better saving options and always-on dash.
- “Finding a powerful weapon or piece of armor often has a noticeable impact on combat performance, making treasure hunting feel worthwhile.”
- “Now, I'm sure someone has done a nutty run with a wholly non-optimized party, and almost every class can absolutely be useful (warrior felt like the lone exception).”
- “Fun game, just needs optimization for some quality of life (saving and always dash are good).”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions
The game is generally stable and runs well, including on the Steam Deck, with significantly fewer bugs compared to similar titles. However, it is not entirely bug-free. Overall, the improved combat system contributes to a smooth gameplay experience.
- “Great game for anyone looking for some old school fun, runs great on Steam Deck as well.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions
Character development in the game is highly flexible, allowing players to customize skills and passives for each character by spending magic orbs without level restrictions. However, the overall plot and character growth are minimal.
- “Character development is highly flexible, with all skills and passives being unlocked as you see fit by spending magic orbs on individualized unlocks, allowing you to prioritize what you need on each character rather than being level gated.”
- “Minimal plot and character development.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The emotional aspect is impacted by the game's unpredictable battle encounters, which range from random battles outside town to specific zones with no encounters or only roaming enemies that trigger fights upon contact. This variability can affect player immersion and emotional engagement.

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Play Times

22h Median play time

32h Average play time

20-69h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Scarmonde is a role playing game with fantasy, anime, medieval, historical and others themes. Common tags for Scarmonde include turn-based, dragons, indie, exploration, pixel graphics and others.

Scarmonde is available on PC, Steam Deck, Windows and Xbox.

On average players spend around 32 hours playing Scarmonde.

Scarmonde was released on October 7, 2024.

Scarmonde was developed by Ephiam.

Scarmonde has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Scarmonde for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Scarmonde is a single player game.

Similar games include Monster Sanctuary, Last Dream, Crystal Project, False Skies, Monsters' Den: Godfall and others.

Scarmonde

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About Scarmonde

Games Like Scarmonde

Monster Sanctuary

Last Dream

Crystal Project

False Skies

Monsters' Den: Godfall

Chained Echoes

TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children

Caves of Lore

Tangledeep

Gordian Quest

Reviews

story

music

gameplay

graphics

grinding

replayability

atmosphere

optimization

stability

character development

emotional

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Scarmonde

Scarmonde

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