The Waylanders
- February 2, 2022
- GATO STUDIO
- 2h median play time
The Waylanders is an interesting concept let down by poor dialogue and inconsistent challenge, but it’s not without its charm.
Get on Steam"The Waylanders" is a party-based RPG that transports players between Celtic and medieval eras. Control a customizable character and six companions, switching between human and animal forms in strategic combat. Explore a rich, historically inspired world filled with mythical creatures, political intrigue, and the complexities of friendship and romance.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a unique setting inspired by Celtic mythology, which is refreshing and offers a different narrative experience.
- The graphics and art style are visually appealing, with colorful landscapes and character designs that stand out.
- The voice acting is generally well-received, adding depth to the characters and enhancing the overall experience.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and technical issues, including crashes, missing cutscenes, and unresponsive controls.
- The dialogue and writing are often criticized for being awkward, juvenile, and inconsistent, detracting from the immersion and storytelling.
- Combat mechanics are clunky and frustrating, with poor AI behavior and a lack of strategic depth, making encounters feel tedious.
- story380 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of "Waylanders" presents an intriguing premise rooted in Celtic mythology, but suffers from significant execution issues, including uneven pacing, missing cutscenes, and numerous bugs that disrupt quest progression. While some players appreciate the potential for character development and engaging dialogue, many express frustration over plot holes, rushed narratives, and a lack of meaningful choices, leading to a disjointed and often confusing experience. Overall, the game shows promise but requires substantial refinement to deliver a coherent and immersive storytelling experience.
“The story felt compelling, something fresh and different which is why I originally supported it.”
“I definitely enjoyed the story, the characters (love Nazhedja and Amergin), the atmosphere, and the art style.”
“With its unique setting and interesting story mechanics powered by time-traveling, great sense of scale, and nice visuals, The Waylanders had the potential to be a remarkable role-playing game.”
“For anyone who is heavy into dialogue, well-written characters, and heavily story-driven experiences, steer clear of this game!”
“The story is messy as can be and from what I've heard only makes less sense the further you go.”
“The story could be, and has the potential to be, interesting, but the execution is awful.”
- gameplay109 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Waylanders has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players citing clunky mechanics, frequent bugs, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the potential of the unique formation system and the game's setting, the combat is often described as tedious and unbalanced, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the gameplay fails to deliver the fun and engagement expected from a CRPG, overshadowing any narrative or visual strengths the game may possess.
“Waylanders has great potential - interesting story, gameplay mechanics, setting, etc. It could actually become your very 'indie Dragon Age'.”
“The gameplay reminded me of classic squad real-time strategy titles such as X-Men Legends, where you can select the heroes that are going to be part of your squad and level them up to make the ultimate strike team; with cool added features such as formations which could be a game changer once the game is fully tuned.”
“Gameplay-wise, I'm really interested in the formation system, and I really hope they iron out the bugs and develop it further.”
“The problem is the actual gameplay: the combat is a grindy, tedious, unbalanced mess, and it is probably one of the worst examples of real-time with pause I have encountered.”
“I'm sorry but when you encounter a bug or a glaring lack of polish every 30 seconds of gameplay, if not more, it becomes just painful to go on.”
“When the core of the gameplay is bad, no amount of interesting characters, good story, or dialogue will make up for it.”
- graphics100 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as charming and cartoon-like, with some users appreciating the unique art style and vibrant landscapes. However, many critiques highlight that the visuals feel outdated, with comparisons to graphics from earlier generations, and express disappointment in the lack of polish in animations and character designs. While the art style is often praised, it is noted that the overall graphical quality does not compensate for other gameplay shortcomings.
“The artwork and colors are impressive!”
“Very nice graphics, lighting, and art style.”
“Unique art style and very emotive!”
“The graphics are from 2002, the controls are from 1964 and the game is unfinished and in a genuinely woeful state.”
“Visuals are extremely weak for this time of gaming.”
“In terms of visuals and story away from gameplay, the voice acting ranges from fine to absolutely horrible, animations are generally poor but facial animations especially are horrible to look at.”
- stability66 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous reports of freezing, glitches, and bugs that render it nearly unplayable. Players have encountered a variety of problems, including characters getting stuck, missing animations, and incomplete quests, leading to frustration and frequent reloading. Overall, the game is described as lacking polish and should not have been released in its current state, with many users expressing hope for future patches to address these critical issues.
“This, along with a number of glitches, black screens, etc., has made the game unplayable.”
“The game is steeped in bugs, should not have been released in its current state, and I spent countless hours reloading and troubleshooting trying to get the game to work and progress properly.”
“A great premise severely hampered by low quality audio, glitches, bugs, and an overall unfinished game.”
- humor32 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as a mix of oddball and snarky dialogue, with some players finding it engaging and funny, while others feel it often falls flat or becomes cringe-worthy. Many appreciate the lovable characters and humorous situations, but criticize the dialogue for being overly reliant on modern phrasing and forced quips, leading to a lack of depth in character interactions. Overall, the humor elicits a range of reactions, from enjoyment to frustration, depending on personal taste.
“It's beautiful and the characters are hilarious.”
“It's got campfires, lovable dogs, romance, and funny dialogue options you can choose.”
“Funny, engaging story and characters.”
- character development18 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Character development in "The Waylanders" has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating the unique world and lore but feeling that significant portions of the story and character arcs are lacking or have been cut for time. While the game offers romanceable companions and a class-based system, critics argue that more attention should have been given to character design, customization options, and overall writing quality to enhance the depth of relationships and narratives.
“It's hard to underestimate how important it is to someone like me to have that representation, especially in a game that promised great character development and relationships.”
“The character design, the world, and the lore/story are a unique welcoming change since lately the RPG market has just been swarmed with indie titles that are just boring.”
“I like the story, love fantasy RPGs with romanceable companions, but holy moly it feels like giant chunks of the storylines and character development have been cut for time.”
“I appreciate all the work they put into the menus, the lore, the 'codex' and quest log - but they should've put more work into the character designs, story, flexibility in character customization, and in-game visuals (especially lighting), if you ask me.”
“Overall, the writing and character development could be improved, but I really love the setting, world design, and game mechanics.”
- music16 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed feedback; while many praise the soundtrack as beautiful and elevating the overall experience, others note a lack of background audio that leaves certain scenes feeling empty. Additionally, there are concerns about the mixing of voice acting and music, with some voices being drowned out. Overall, the music is highlighted as a strong point, despite some technical issues.
“Other than that, I see a lot of potential with this game: the soundtrack sounds amazing and really elevates the game experience, the dialogue is fairly entertaining and voice acted quite well, the animation and graphics do seem a little bit like a last-gen game but I find it charming, and at this point in the story it seems like there will be a lot to look forward to (like romances).”
“Good story and graphics, but what I really love is the music.”
“The parts that are finished look really great, the writing and the art style are amazing (especially the landscapes) and the music is beautiful.”
“The background OST is pretty empty and just feels like this massive gap in the world that could easily be fixed by good audio or even a passable one. As it stands, scenes that would have been massively helped by some background audio just feel empty and hollow.”
“First, the characters' voices aren't normalized; some sound loud and clear while others are very low to the point of being drowned out by the music. Additionally, the subtitles rarely match the dialogue.”
“The background OST is pretty empty and just feels like this massive gap in the world that could easily be fixed by good audio or even a passable one. As it stands, scenes that would have been massively helped by some background audio just feel empty and hollow.”
- optimization15 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 53 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues, including stuttering gameplay and missing cutscenes, which detract from the overall experience. While some improvements have been noted since the initial release, many users feel that the game still lacks polish and requires further optimization before it can be fully enjoyed. Overall, the consensus is that the current state of optimization is poor, and players are hopeful for future patches to address these concerns.
“One thing I did like is the developers fixed the performance issues that caused me to quit after 10 minutes on release.”
“I would rate it 7/10 in early access and I think it can swing one up or down on the full release depending on the story and optimization.”
“If you have something better than GTX 960, then feel free to play it, but I'm going to wait for better optimization before I return.”
“Maybe they uploaded the wrong build, but missing a very important cutscene in the beginning of your game already shows the lack of polish and care that went into this game, not to mention the poor optimization.”
“Missing translations, missing cutscenes (on purpose?), poorly optimized, lackluster combat, awful UI, overly complicated character stats that make comparing items a headache, cringy dialogs, bare-bones character editor... should I go on?”
“I made it to the first map but the gameplay was so stuttering and terrible, and I didn't know why I was there, and it just wasn't a good experience.”
- grinding11 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and unbalanced, particularly in combat, which many players find frustrating and overly time-consuming. While some players note that combat becomes more engaging as they progress and unlock new abilities, the initial experience is marred by a lack of fluidity and excessive micromanagement. Overall, the grindy nature detracts from the enjoyment, leading to breaks in gameplay due to frustration.
“The problem is the actual gameplay: the combat is a grindy, tedious, unbalanced mess, and it is probably one of the worst examples of real-time with pause (RTwP) I have encountered.”
“I attempted to overcome this obstacle by changing the game to 'cinematic' (story) mode, only to find the combat became even more grindy, with the mobs not reducing in difficulty, my mana/health pools not regenerating. The only difference is that the last character standing in a combat will now just 'not die' and will continue to grind away for as long as it takes until the mob is defeated—the opposite of 'cinematic', I'm afraid.”
“I had to take a break because constantly pausing to issue each of my characters' next moves got tedious and frustrating.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the emotional aspect of the game is lacking, with characters failing to convey a full range of emotions despite the narrative's attempts to evoke feelings. This disconnect leaves players feeling unengaged with the emotional stakes presented in the story.
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as feeling like a half-hearted cash grab, suggesting a lack of genuine effort from the developers. This has led to disappointment among users, who expected more from the game's financial model.
“Some of these aspects could be forgivable from a new developer, but altogether this just feels like a half-assed cash grab.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers consistently praise the game's atmosphere, highlighting its immersive quality and strong connection to the story and characters, particularly noting the art style as a significant contributor to the overall experience.
“I definitely enjoyed the story, the characters (love Nazhedja and Amergin), the atmosphere, and the art style.”
Critic Reviews
The Waylanders Review (PC)
The Waylanders is to be commended for the way it takes Celtic mythology and extracts cool moments and conflicts. It’s a great jumping-off point to learn more about the Tuatha De Danann and the stories of pre-Christianity Ireland. It also tries to innovate party-driven RPG combat by focusing on formations and their advantages. Unfortunately, engaging with the game world and its mechanics is not fun enough. Most combat encounters feel interchangeable, companions do not have much personality, there’s a lot of walking around. Working the camera never feels good, especially in tight quarters during battles. The Waylanders also needs major tweaks to its difficulty if it wants to attract more than a very niche audience. Review code provided by the publisher.
75%The Waylanders review
The Waylanders is an interesting concept let down by poor dialogue and inconsistent challenge, but it’s not without its charm.
60%The Waylanders Review
When The Waylanders succeeds, the game is one of the most solid experiences I’ve had all year. But those successes are few and far between, while the rest of the title fails to keep itself afloat among a sea of bugs and poorly thought out gameplay decisions.
30%
