Serpent in the Staglands
- May 28, 2015
- Whalenought Studios
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"Serpent in the Staglands" is a role-playing game set in the world of Vol, inspired by the late bronze age in a Transylvanian landscape. As Necholai, a minor god who has lost immortality, you must seek answers and allies to find a way home while exploring a detailed, politically complex world. The game features a chosen party of five and a soundtrack by V-Axys.
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Reviews
- The game features a beautifully crafted pixel art style that creates an atmospheric and immersive world.
- It offers deep character customization and a non-linear gameplay experience, allowing players to explore and make meaningful choices.
- The writing and lore are engaging, providing a unique and intriguing narrative that draws players into the game's dark fantasy setting.
- The combat system is frustratingly difficult, often leading to frequent deaths and requiring constant reloading due to long loading times.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it hard for players to navigate and understand the game's mechanics.
- There is a lack of guidance and quest tracking, which can leave players feeling lost and overwhelmed without a clear sense of direction.
- story87 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its lack of depth, coherence, and player agency, often feeling like a poorly executed tabletop RPG with broken quests and a corny villain exposition. While some players appreciate the unique and engaging narrative, they note that the absence of quest tracking and guidance can lead to frustration and confusion. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a mixed bag, with potential for intrigue overshadowed by execution issues and a reliance on player initiative to navigate the plot.
“The setting and story are original and fresh, and the writing is absolutely stellar.”
“Story is unique and engaging; there are three possible endings depending on your actions in main and side quests, and there are some choices to be made.”
“This game is a love letter to 1990s RPGs, doesn't hold your hand, and as such fully immerses you in its world and story.”
“The plot of the game gets explained to you by the corny fantasy villain in the end, and you will likely find yourself locked out of the 'good' ending because you followed one of the quests wrong, and the game isn't good at keeping track of things.”
“Unfortunately, after playing this, I feel as if I played a really bad tabletop RPG; the richness of the plot is hidden somewhere in the DM's head, and the story depends entirely on you being a hopeless fool with no agency, who gets duped at every turn and falls headfirst into traps.”
“The gameplay is frustrating and the storytelling rather uninspiring.”
- gameplay50 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of innovative mechanics and frustrating design choices. While some players appreciate the immersive elements and challenging combat, many criticize the unintuitive mechanics, lack of clear explanations, and the harsh consequences of permadeath. Overall, the game offers a unique experience that may appeal to those willing to invest time in understanding its complexities, but it can also be a source of frustration for others.
“Gaze upon the canvas of gameplay, a real-time ballet imbued with the artistry of pause.”
“The mechanics, an intricate dance of strategy and execution, reveal a magic system as arcane as the world itself.”
“But for a game made by just two people, the amount of content is pretty amazing: there are unusual mechanics to explore, the puzzles are challenging, the combat is fun, and the story is quite solid.”
“Unlike Darklands, there is no 'knocked out party member that can be revived later' mechanic - party members that go down are dead forever, with no resurrection mechanic.”
“The gameplay is unintuitive; the mechanics don't really make sense in the conventional way you would expect.”
“I really like what they are aiming for, but the mechanics and overall gameplay experience just doesn't do the vision justice.”
- graphics39 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Serpent in the Staglands" evoke a nostalgic pixelated aesthetic reminiscent of classic RPGs, which some players find charming and atmospheric, while others criticize them as rough and lacking polish. The art style is appreciated for its unique qualities and dark atmosphere, but many reviewers note that it can lead to gameplay issues, such as difficulty in discerning details during combat. Overall, opinions are mixed, with some praising the visuals as a fitting homage to retro games, while others find them detracting from the overall experience.
“The visual aesthetic, a pixelated homage to the classics, resonates with a sepulchral beauty.”
“Great pixel graphics, great gothic atmosphere and interesting mechanics made this title a must buy for me.”
“The setting is inspired, and the sound design combines with the aesthetics in really pleasing ways to create this moody, dark experience that's nothing like anything I've experienced in the best way.”
“The combat is awful and the graphics style is so ugly it's hard to look at without eye strain.”
“The art style is almost minimalist; you can't really make out any facial details on anything.”
“While they've made a visually aesthetic game, I wouldn't dedicate the time to it unless you got it for under $10 and are willing to deal with lack of polish.”
- atmosphere22 mentions
- 68 % positive mentions
- 18 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, immersive landscapes and intricate pixel art, creating a sense of danger and oppression that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the combination of gothic elements, compelling writing, and a unique setting that draws players in, despite some noting that the difficulty can detract from the enjoyment. Overall, the atmosphere is described as rich and engaging, reminiscent of classic CRPGs, with potential for even greater depth.
“Darkened landscapes and intricate sprites coalesce, casting an atmospheric spell that ensnares the senses.”
“The atmosphere is great, the art is fantastic and only enhances the gloomy world you're thrust into and how oppressive it all feels.”
“Great pixel graphics, great gothic atmosphere and interesting mechanics made this title a must buy for me.”
“I feel like there is potential to do a better job here with some more tweaks to atmosphere and engageability.”
“I recommend it just to experience that atmosphere at the intro though.”
“It ranks up there for me with Morrowind and Stalker in terms of atmosphere and pacing.”
- music10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its quality and atmospheric contribution, describing it as lush and excellent, while others criticize the sound design for abrupt transitions and lack of sound effects for spells. Overall, the soundtrack is noted for enhancing the game's charm, despite some repetitiveness and inconsistencies in execution.
“The art, atmosphere, writing, and music are all to die for.”
“The music is good, the visuals are charming, and the writing is great.”
“Basically, sitsl has all the trappings of an amazing CRPG...it's atmosphere, premise and opening are incredible; its music is especially lush, and the game's balance is nice too - not too simple, not too complex - so its foundation really promises a lot.”
“Poor sound/music design.”
“Music frequently suddenly switches to another track - for example, from ambient moody to busy crowds with no transition at all - for no perceptible reason. Spells have no sound effects whatsoever.”
“Music was a little repetitive, but the pieces themselves were excellent.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is currently a significant issue, with numerous bugs affecting gameplay, including problematic controls, erratic bow mechanics, and unreliable saving and loading systems. While some players acknowledge ongoing patches that may improve the situation, many express frustration over the game's overall buggy experience. Despite these issues, there is a sense of optimism that future updates will address the stability concerns.
“Bows are incredibly buggy, and your arrows will often be wholly consumed by the game when entering a new area.”
“The saving and loading is also buggy, as sometimes you'll save outside of the field of view of enemies, and then you'll reload only to see more enemies instantly chasing you down.”
“This game is a buggy mess.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, featuring dark and brutal moments, such as a fox attacking the player, contrasted with lighter, amusing interactions like conversations with ducks. Players also report encountering funny bugs that add to the overall silliness, making for a varied comedic experience.
“Talking to ducks made me laugh; I'll give them that.”
“Below I will share some funny bugs I have come across.”
“At times it is clever or witty, and at others merely enjoyably silly.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that the game heavily relies on grinding, as failing to farm adequately can lead to a sudden difficulty spike that halts progress. This aspect has been described as tedious and can detract from the overall experience.
“Unless you do that farming, the game will suddenly grind to a halt, because the mob level just skyrocketed and you can't go any further.”
“Grindy”
- character development2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game features an intriguing narrative and character development, though some players feel that the progression system is overly simplified, making it difficult to truly impact character growth. While the game offers a compelling story, it lacks the depth and challenge found in earlier titles, leading to a more passive experience in character development.
“Great game with an intriguing narrative and character development.”
“The character development system is engaging and adds depth to the gameplay.”
“The progression of characters feels meaningful and enhances the overall experience.”
“We have kind of been indoctrinated to know our hands will be held, and we can just click through everything or not worry about the character development system because gimping your character is impossible and combat is mindless.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful choices, making it hard to feel invested in my character's growth.”
“I expected a rich character development system, but instead, it feels like a series of checkbox tasks with no real impact on gameplay.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users express a mix of frustration and emotional disconnection, highlighting that unclear goals can lead to feelings of confusion and disappointment. The mention of wanting to cry suggests that the emotional impact of the game is more negative than positive, overshadowing potential engagement.
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for causing excessively long loading times, which detracts from the overall experience, alongside issues with dialogue and quest triggers.
“I don't know what is worse, poor optimization or broken dialogue/quests/triggers - this game takes way too much time to load.”
“The optimization is so bad that it feels like I'm playing on a potato, even with high-end hardware.”
“Frequent frame drops and long loading times make the experience frustrating and unenjoyable.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that the game's immersive experience encourages a slower, more patient approach, which enhances its replayability. This suggests that the depth of the game allows for multiple playthroughs, rewarding players for their investment in the experience.
“I've definitely had to approach this more slowly and with a lot more patience than I usually have for games, but it's paid off in immersion and potential replayability.”
“I've definitely had to approach this more slowly and with a lot more patience than I usually have for games, but it's paid dividends in immersion and potentially replayability.”
