Vagrus: The Riven Realms

84%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,049 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • grinding
Vagrus: The Riven Realms Game Cover
If you’re looking for a very different kind of management sim and a steep challenge, Vagrus: The Riven Realms is the game for you.
Starting at $29.99Buy now
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In "Vagrus: The Riven Realms," you are a vagrus, leading a caravan across a dark fantasy world to survive and explore. With a focus on narrative and strategy, the game features a vast open world, unique locations, and various factions. Your goal is to punish the Empire for its wrongdoings while dealing with the perils of this strange realm. The Prologue is available for free on Steam, with about 3-5 hours of playtime.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Phone
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Tablet
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

84%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,049 reviews
story211 positive mentions
grinding108 negative mentions
  • Rich world-building and lore that draws players into a unique post-apocalyptic setting.
  • Engaging gameplay loop that combines trading, resource management, and exploration.
  • Well-written narrative with interesting characters and quests that provide meaningful choices.
  • Steep learning curve that can be frustrating for new players, often requiring save scumming.
  • Combat mechanics are clunky and can feel tedious, lacking depth and variety.
  • Limited playable map area compared to the size of the world presented, leading to disappointment for some players.
  • story688 mentions

    The story in "Vagrus: The Riven Realms" is widely praised for its depth, rich world-building, and engaging writing, drawing players into a dark, post-apocalyptic setting filled with intriguing characters and quests. While many appreciate the self-contained narratives and the immersive atmosphere, some players find the gameplay repetitive and the quest mechanics frustrating, often feeling bogged down by resource management and grinding. Overall, the game is recommended for those who enjoy story-driven experiences, though it may not appeal to players seeking a more action-oriented or streamlined narrative.

    • “With quite a few hours in, I've barely scratched the surface of the interesting and well-written story.”
    • “The storylines and attached characters are interesting; they'd have to be for you to go so far to visit some of the worst places humanity can imagine and fight the horrors you find there.”
    • “The writing is incredible in its detail and the story immersive.”
    • “I would have given up on this game already but I kept hoping that something would happen that would engage a main quest of a kind which didn't really happen.”
    • “The game promises a lot but I felt it never really delivered from sand wyrm story to the heir apparent, you just barely touch interesting parts of the world before you're sent back to haul obsidian across the waste for the 100th time left wondering if there was more to it or if the devs just left it open-ended because of budget constraints.”
    • “The story is text-based and very well written, but the quests offer somewhat reasonable rewards for their completion up until a point -- then it all breaks down.”
  • gameplay364 mentions

    The gameplay of "Vagrus" is characterized by a complex blend of trading, resource management, and narrative-driven quests, often requiring players to engage deeply with its mechanics and lore. While the game offers a rich atmosphere and compelling storytelling, many players find the mechanics to be frustratingly opaque and the difficulty curve steep, leading to a reliance on save scumming. Overall, the gameplay loop is engaging for those who appreciate strategic depth and narrative immersion, but it may feel tedious and punishing for others, particularly due to its heavy text reliance and intricate systems.

    • “Great storytelling, atmosphere, and gameplay loop.”
    • “The gameplay loop is good fun; it reminds me of early to mid-game in Mount and Blade: less of a mercenary band, more of a caravan.”
    • “Absolutely amazing storytelling, compelling setting, complex mechanics that require experimentation and planning to master; all in all, this is one of my favorite games right now.”
    • “Gameplay is difficult until you learn the basic mechanics, and then the only difficulty comes from some RNG encounters.”
    • “Unfortunately around mid-game I realized it's not true; the annoying core mechanics and the increasing amount of bugs I've encountered slowly made the game an unpleasant, tedious experience.”
    • “The gameplay loop is incredibly dull to me, as it is fairly passive and consists of clicking buttons in settlements and not much else.”
  • grinding108 mentions

    The reviews highlight that "grinding" is a central and often tedious aspect of the game, with many players expressing frustration over the excessive time required to progress, particularly in terms of resource gathering and combat. While some appreciate the game's depth and storytelling, the overwhelming consensus is that the grind can detract from the overall enjoyment, making the experience feel repetitive and unbalanced. Players recommend the game primarily for those who enjoy grinding mechanics, but caution others about the potential for tedium.

    • “The game is actually pretty easy once you know what you're doing, but it's a lot of grinding.”
    • “This would be fine if the game's main goal wasn't tied into grinding, and I mean a lot of grinding; but it is.”
    • “Overall, this is a tedious game with not much in the way of content.”
  • graphics69 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique and atmospheric artwork that enhances the storytelling and world-building. While some players appreciate the nostalgic and hand-drawn style, others criticize the outdated models and clunky animations, suggesting that the visuals may not meet modern standards. Overall, the artwork is seen as a strong point, contributing to the game's immersive experience, despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “The lore, writing, gameplay, and (albeit limited) graphics all tie together to produce a believable and engrossing world that is very easy to get lost in.”
    • “Great story, original idea, beautiful artwork, runs well on a potato PC.”
    • “The artwork is somehow both minimalistic yet brilliant, and provides a great sense of immersion.”
    • “The game has a few rough edges, namely the lack of sound effects and music, outdated graphics for some of the models during fights, and a clunky loyalty system.”
    • “Graphics are a pathetic excuse (even a five-year-old could draw a better caricature of beasts, designers should seriously consider this).”
    • “This is easily the weakest part of the game as it also contains the hit or miss character artwork and animations.”
  • music50 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric and fitting qualities that enhance the overall experience. However, several players note that the soundtrack can be repetitive and lacks variety, particularly during key moments and overland travel. While the music is generally described as beautiful and evocative, there are calls for more tracks and ambient sounds to enrich the gameplay further.

    • “It has beautiful art, a great soundtrack, interesting stories, engaging trading mechanics, and most of all, an extremely creative and enthralling fantasy post-apocalyptic universe.”
    • “The audio, including the soundtrack and sound effects, enhances the overall experience, even though it's not the game's main focus.”
    • “I was also very impressed by the atmospheric gloomy music that matches the world perfectly.”
    • “Music is a bit repetitive.”
    • “The game desperately needs at least a few more music tracks during overland travel and for moments during the story since there are many times I was reading and was briefly taken out of the experience due to a lack of music.”
    • “The looping ambient music is also rather weak.”
  • atmosphere42 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its rich storytelling, immersive world-building, and engaging audio-visual elements, creating a captivating post-apocalyptic setting that draws players in. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke a sense of urgency and accomplishment, with detailed writing and atmospheric artwork enhancing the overall experience. While the text-heavy nature may not appeal to everyone, those who appreciate deep narratives and atmospheric immersion find it to be a standout feature.

    • “The atmosphere, world-building, and story are top-notch.”
    • “The gameplay is enveloped in a unique atmosphere, good storytelling, and rich worldbuilding.”
    • “The atmosphere the game is able to pull off, if you are able to get immersed into it, is truly of the highest quality.”
    • “If you don't like to absorb written atmosphere and if you don't like the idea of probably being ground out by a harsh environment then this is likely not for you.”
    • “You may not like the game as much if you dislike reading, this is quite text-heavy to express its atmosphere.”
    • “Though most of the experience is defined by the plentiful text that you sift through, the art style is particularly fitting for the setting and I was impressed by how well it added to the atmosphere.”
  • optimization22 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, particularly during battles and initial startup, even on high-end rigs. While some appreciate the UI and content depth, others criticize the clunky interface and poor responsiveness typical of Unity games. Overall, the game is seen as needing substantial optimization and bug fixes, especially given its early access status.

    • “They learned all the right lessons in terms of UI optimization, adding variety, and deepening the content.”
    • “Whereas Sunless Skies felt like a lot of tedious waiting, Vagrus feels like a lot of optimization and planning, so if you prefer optimizing and planning over watching a very slow ship move across the map, you'll probably also like Vagrus more.”
    • “Firstly, you must remember that this game is in early access, so bugs, optimization issues, etc. are a given, but I for one enjoy the direction the developers are going with the game.”
    • “People with better rigs also complain about the performance, but for me the performance was horrible even though the graphics are quite simple.”
    • “The performance of the game is oddly crap in fights and the initial startup time of the game is also very long.”
    • “But it is very rough around the edges, unpolished, and poorly optimized, so keep that in mind.”
  • replayability16 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate its non-linear structure and multitude of quests that offer high replay value, others find it limited due to static elements like the world and character options. Many agree that with adjustments to content accessibility and starting conditions, the game could significantly enhance its replayability. Despite these concerns, some players still report enjoying over 100 hours of gameplay, indicating potential for long-term engagement.

    • “I think if you've got the patience to have a real go at this, then it could be an obsession and give you tons of replay value.”
    • “The game's non-linear nature and the multitude of quests and secrets offer high replayability.”
    • “Overall, I'd say it has well over 100 hours of fun and quite a bit of replayability.”
    • “I'm beginning to worry, now 60 hours in, about the replay value.”
    • “This makes the game pretty much un-replayable.”
    • “The big difference between this game and Battle Brothers is there’s really not much replay value here because, unlike Battle Brothers, the world, the start, and characters (including the companions you can hire) are static.”
  • stability9 mentions

    The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, crashes during load screens, and unresponsive UI elements, particularly in combat. While some players noted that glitches are often minor and can be resolved by reloading, the overall impression is that the game feels unfinished and requires further polishing to enhance the user experience.

    • “Beyond that, the game is surprisingly buggy, with the rest screen sometimes not going away, forcing you to quit out of the game to fix it, and the game will often crash during load screens, happening 3 times in my 17 hours of gameplay.”
    • “Technically, it's a buggy mess.”
    • “The actual combat UI is often buggy and unresponsive as well.”
  • character development6 mentions

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the rich backstories and RPG elements for both the main character and companions, others find the development lacking in depth and impact, particularly after completing companion quests. Overall, the character arcs are seen as engaging but could benefit from more defined changes in dialogue and interactions.

    • “I'm really enjoying the backstory and character development.”
    • “It is a unique game filled with storylines, character development, and a variety of gameplay.”
    • “RPG elements exist in character development, both of your main character and companions.”
    • “Would also be a lot better if character development was more defined after completing companion quests (changes in dialogue, etc.).”
    • “The fighting and the character development is tedious at best.”
    • “The combat is extremely shallow, and all the options for RPG character development seem hollow.”
  • emotional5 mentions

    Players find the emotional impact of Vagrus to be significant, with intense gameplay that elicits genuine satisfaction in victory and a bittersweet sense of loss. However, there is frustration regarding the lack of clarity in game mechanics and the feeling that the rich storytelling and emotional depth are not fully accessible or appreciated during gameplay. Overall, while the emotional elements are praised, they are somewhat undermined by gameplay choices that detract from the player's ability to engage with the narrative.

    • “One may only wonder what's the point of investing so much talent and effort creating quests matching the creativity and emotional impact level of 'bloody baron' in Witcher 3 and then just don't let the player enjoy the art.”
    • “Playing is intense, winning is genuinely satisfying, losing is heartbreaking in a way that still makes you smile instead of just being frustrated.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of dark comedy and professional wit, with players finding amusement in the unexpected "game over" scenarios and the unlikable character Garrik. While some aspects of combat are perceived as unintentionally funny, the overall tone maintains a lightheartedness that enhances the experience.

    • “Also, the devs are kind of funny; you can actually die, like 'game over,' from some decisions, but not in a bad way, lol.”
    • “It's professional and even humorous at times.”
    • “Nobody likes Garrik, and I find that hilarious.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game is heavily criticized, with users feeling that the tutorial serves more as an advertisement than a helpful introduction, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “The monetization system feels exploitative, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
    • “I can't believe how many ads pop up during gameplay; it completely ruins the experience.”
    • “The game is designed to push you towards microtransactions at every turn, which is frustrating.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

70% average critic score

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Play time

35hMedian play time
74hAverage play time
17-100hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 14 analyzed playthroughs

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