Unforetold: Witchstone
- January 25, 2024
- Spearhead Games
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Unforetold: Witchstone" is a non-linear RPG set in the reactive world of Kalsundia, where every choice matters and impacts relationships and outcomes. With classic turn-based combat and stealth systems, players can shape their own journey and character in this open world filled with milestones and opportunities. Development has been paused indefinitely, so the game is being sold in its current state with no future full release planned.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a lot of potential with an interesting premise and unique gameplay mechanics, such as the ability to influence NPCs and recruit them into your party.
- The art style and world-building are praised, creating an engaging atmosphere that players find enjoyable.
- Despite its current issues, some players appreciate the depth of interaction with NPCs and the non-linear questing system, indicating that it could evolve into a great RPG with further development.
- The game has been abandoned by the developers shortly after its early access release, leaving it unfinished and buggy, which has led to widespread disappointment among players.
- Many players report significant technical issues, including crashes, bugs, and poor AI pathing, making the game frustrating to play.
- Refund requests have been denied for many players, leading to feelings of being scammed, especially since the game was sold as an early access title without clear communication about its viability.
- story19 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The game's story features an intriguing concept and worldbuilding, with a non-linear questing system that allows players to shape their experience. However, players have noted issues with quest tracking, stiff character interactions, and bugs that detract from the narrative immersion. While the writing shows potential for improvement, the current execution leaves much to be desired, particularly in terms of character engagement and quest coherence.
“Witchstone has a great concept, an interesting storyline, and worldbuilding, with very fun gameplay for any RPG lovers. The influence system was a great thing to explore, and the classes were all good and fun.”
“The gameplay is reminiscent of some of my favorite CRPGs; the non-linear questing system and story are intriguing, and the character creation is in-depth.”
“I haven't gotten too far yet, but the character building was more in-depth than I was expecting. The game world looks great, and the story so far has been good.”
“The first quest in the game is a fetch quest, and the map and journal disagree on where to go.”
“I understand that the story is meant to be fluid and isn't going to be to the level of a linear narrative, but right now I feel like interactions with other characters feel very stiff, like I am just giving orders to a robot and watching those orders either fail or succeed without feeling any connection to anyone I encounter.”
“When the battle ended, I also got a notification about a potential quest that never appeared in my journal, and another notification telling me that citizens just witnessed me murder others.”
- stability11 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 82 % negative mentions
The game's stability is currently a significant issue, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and freezes that hinder gameplay enjoyment. Many players express frustration over the game's unfinished state, citing problems such as mid-combat freezes, poor AI pathing, and incomplete quests. While there is potential for improvement, substantial optimization and bug fixes are needed for a smoother experience.
“It's not too buggy, and while I've experienced several crashes, the game shows promise.”
“There is a lot to fix and optimize to achieve a smoother and more stable experience.”
“This game is just too buggy to be enjoyable.”
“I personally don't enjoy save scumming every encounter, but you have to just in case the game freezes or pauses for no reason.”
“I've had several bugs, mid-combat freezes, poor pathing AI causing characters/opponents to get stuck, quests that don't seem to be able to complete, etc. Overall, my impression is the game could be quite fun, but it needs a lot more work at this stage.”
- gameplay9 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Witchstone is praised for its engaging RPG elements, including a non-linear questing system and in-depth character creation, appealing to fans of classic CRPGs. However, some players criticize the outdated graphics and awkward mechanics, suggesting that significant design changes are needed for improvement. Despite some bugs typical of early access titles, many users find the gameplay enjoyable and full of potential, particularly appreciating its D&D-inspired mechanics.
“With all that being said, Witchstone had a great concept, an interesting storyline and worldbuilding, with very fun gameplay for any RPG lovers. The influence system was a great thing to explore, and the classes were all good and fun.”
“The gameplay is reminiscent of some of my favorite CRPGs; the non-linear questing system and story are intriguing, and the character creation is in-depth.”
“The gameplay feels smooth, and I can tell the interactions are going to be impactful.”
“The game feels like it's 15 years old and not in a good way; the graphics are stale and the gameplay itself is awkward. No fixing can save this title unless they change the engine and rethink a good part of their design decisions.”
“As expected from an early access game, there are bugs, but none of them impacted the gameplay badly in my case.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- -40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews; while some praise the art style for enhancing world-building and note decent visuals that are not demanding on hardware, others criticize the graphics as outdated and stale, suggesting that significant improvements are needed for a modern feel. Overall, the visuals are seen as adequate but lacking polish and innovation.
“The art style is fantastic and really supports the world building.”
“The graphics aren't super polished, but good enough, and it's not too hard on the CPU/GPU, which is great.”
“The good: decent graphics, fantastic combat, and the persuasion system is absolutely great.”
“The graphics look outdated and lack detail.”
“I was disappointed by the low resolution textures.”
“The character models are poorly designed and unappealing.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game shows promise with its core systems, but performance issues and bugs significantly hinder the experience, making it difficult for players to recommend it at this stage. Optimization is needed to address these concerns, as is common with many early access titles.
“For the moment, work and optimization are needed, because like a lot of early access games at their release, it can be a little rough at times, and you can expect bugs.”
“This has the potential to be a good game, and I like the core systems (non-linear narrative, reactive factions, etc.), but performance issues are holding me back from recommending this right now.”
“But for the moment, work and optimization are needed, because like a lot of EA games at their release, it can be a little rough at times, and you can expect bugs.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its beauty and cozy environments, creating a sense of comfort and homeliness that enhances the overall experience.
“The game is very pretty and has a lot of places that feel very cozy, like home, and I love the general atmosphere.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by engaging and relatable NPC dialogues that often elicit genuine laughter, despite some playful insults about the player's fashion choices. Overall, the characters are portrayed as likable, adding to the comedic charm of the experience.
“Many NPC dialogues made me laugh out loud, and they're all quite likable (even though they can be mean and insult your fashion taste at times). There's a lot of relatable dialogue too.”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever puns and witty one-liners that kept me chuckling throughout my playthrough.”
“I love how the game balances humor with its storyline; the comedic moments feel natural and enhance the overall experience.”
