The Foretold: Westmark Legacy
- April 30, 2024
- Nodbrim Interactive
Get on Steam"The Foretold: Westmark Legacy" is a gothic horror adventure deck builder set in the corrupted peninsula of Burrmouth. As paranormal investigator Herbert Westmark, you'll explore the map and uncover the mystery behind missing people, accompanied by a parasite demon named Ambrose. With a unique card puzzle mechanic, players must think carefully before making each move to survive the dark corners outside of town. The game is inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and Mary Shelley, and features a stunning hand-drawn art style.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique deckbuilding mechanic that is challenging yet rewarding once mastered.
- The art style, voice acting, and immersive horror atmosphere contribute to a compelling narrative experience.
- It offers replayability with different paths and outcomes, making it engaging for players who enjoy exploring various storylines.
- The game is criticized for being too short, with some players feeling it lacks sufficient content for the price.
- There are numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with save systems and inconsistent character interactions that break immersion.
- The combat can feel slow and tedious, with a steep learning curve and RNG elements that may frustrate players.
- gameplay24 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a unique card mechanic and a compelling atmosphere, but it suffers from a steep learning curve and a lack of content, leading to mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the depth and visual design, many find the mechanics overwhelming and the overall gameplay experience lacking, making it difficult to recommend despite its potential. The game offers an interesting narrative but struggles to maintain cohesive gameplay, leaving players divided on its value.
“I really enjoy this game; it's fairly unique with its core mechanic, and the art style and story are great.”
“Have so far streamed a normal playthrough on my channel and don't think this game deserves all the negative reviews it has collected... charming grimdark card battler/deck builder with an interesting story and combat mechanic against a variety of cosmic horror entities.”
“Learning curve is a little steep, but I'm super pleased to see a genuinely fresh card game mechanic--don't worry, you get better cards that give you better board control over time!”
“Whilst I do quite like the combat mechanics, there is a serious lack of content in the game.”
“Despite the visual appeal and solid concepts, the game struggles to keep either a cohesive story or have strong gameplay to carry the game.”
“This game has a unique concept ruined by obscure mechanics and an obscene difficulty.”
- story23 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story is praised for its unique and immersive qualities, featuring a compelling dark narrative set in a Lovecraftian atmosphere, complemented by solid voice acting. However, many reviewers note that the storytelling feels fragmented and unpolished, with side quests that can lead to confusion and missed content due to the roguelike mechanics. While the story is engaging, its brevity and lack of cohesion detract from the overall experience, leaving players wanting more depth and clarity.
“I really enjoy this game; it's fairly unique with its core mechanic, and the art style and story are great.”
“Seemingly shorter but highly replayable, it embodies style over content, comes with an interesting story and Lovecraftian setting that's an immersive experience.”
“Have so far streamed a normal playthrough on my channel and don't think this game deserves all the negative reviews it has collected... charming grimdark card battler/deck builder with an interesting story and combat mechanic against a variety of cosmic horror entities.”
“Unfortunately, the story feels scattered around in small independent fragments, while the combat doesn't have enough depth or variety to warrant replaying the game more than a few times.”
“But starting again after unlocking a more difficult version of exactly the same story doesn't compensate for its brevity.”
“Despite the visual appeal and solid concepts, the game struggles to keep either a cohesive story or have strong gameplay to carry the game.”
- graphics11 mentions
- 91 % positive mentions
- -18 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique art style and atmospheric design, effectively capturing a creepy, Lovecraftian mood. Players appreciate the polished visuals and impressive graphic-novel style artwork, which, combined with superb voice acting and sound design, enhance the overall immersive experience. While the combat may be less refined, the strong visual and narrative elements contribute significantly to the game's appeal.
“Narrative and graphics are great and creepy, sound design fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the game and voice acting is superb.”
“The Lovecraftian mood is perfectly captured by convincing visuals which are darker than in the prologue.”
“Impressive graphic-novel style artwork, atmospheric audio and voice acting add to the overall feel.”
“The graphics feel outdated and lack the polish expected from modern games.”
“Character models are poorly designed and lack detail, making them feel lifeless.”
“The environments are bland and repetitive, failing to create an immersive experience.”
- atmosphere10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "The Foretold: Westmark Legacy" is widely praised for its immersive horror setting, enhanced by impressive graphic-novel style artwork, compelling sound design, and superb voice acting. Reviewers highlight the game's creepy and mysterious ambiance, which effectively supports its Lovecraftian narrative and replayability through different paths. Despite some gameplay issues, the overall atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
“The Foretold: Westmark Legacy is a short yet replayable deckbuilder RPG with a pretty immersive horror atmosphere and setting.”
“Narrative and graphics are great and creepy, sound design fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the game, and voice acting is superb.”
“It has a great setting, which oozes atmosphere, along with a Lovecraftian narrative that's very compelling.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
"The Foretold: Westmark Legacy" is a short yet highly replayable deckbuilder RPG, offering multiple paths and an immersive horror atmosphere that encourages exploration. While some reviewers note its brevity, they emphasize the game's replay value due to its compelling story and Lovecraftian themes. However, a few mention limitations in replayability, particularly due to bugs in the final fight.
“The Foretold: Westmark Legacy is a short yet replayable deckbuilder RPG with a pretty immersive horror atmosphere and setting.”
“Seemingly shorter but highly replayable, it embodies style over content, comes with an interesting story, and a Lovecraftian setting that's an immersive experience.”
“Especially those who enjoy the Lovecraft theme and very short, replayable games.”
“Despite being a short scripted game, it has been built to be very replayable.”
“Not much replayability.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is generally acceptable, with no crashes reported; however, players frequently encounter bugs and glitches, including savegame issues and frozen screens, which can lead to frustrating immersion breaks and potential progress loss. Overall, while the game has been fully released, it still requires further refinement to address these stability concerns.
“There are a few immersion-breaking issues such as save game glitches and frozen screens.”
“It is prone to a fair amount of glitches, with a few leading to potential softlocks.”
“Fully released, but still needs some work to address a mix of bugs and glitches.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be repetitive, as enemies are consistently located in the same areas, leading to slow and tedious combat experiences.
“Enemies are always in the same place, and combat is slow and can become tedious quite quickly.”
“The repetitive nature of grinding makes it feel more like a chore than an enjoyable part of the game.”
“Leveling up takes an excessive amount of time, leading to a frustrating experience rather than a rewarding one.”
