Solasta - Preview of D&D 5e, Classes, Races in Early Access

WolfHeartFPS looks at the classes, races and version of D&D present in Solasta: Crown of the Magister.

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Solasta : Crown of the Magister is an upcoming CRPG that has many 5e dungeons and dragons elements to it. This rpg is coming to early access on October 20th. More solasta content on the way, subscribe.

More information.

I love the way they laid the game out, at least on the mechanical way, I couldn't get far enough to judge on the storytelling due to blocking bugs. It's a bit more tabletop-like than Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Divinity: Original Sin, for example the positions are really forced to squares that are made visible on each move, which I find neat. The stats are detailed and clear enough.

Controls in the demo are very crude though, no idea what the keyboard shortcuts are, but they're hardcoded for QWERTY keyboards only, sadly. No way to turn the characters to face a direction it seems (which has some impact), and the vertical direction is very clunky both in camera and character path control. I'm sure it's improved since then though, it's an old demo already. The rest seems quite spot on.

Its early access will come just a few days later than Baldur's Gate 3's own EA, so I hope it won't be completely ignored.

I'm more likely to play this EA than BG3 one, simply because I only want to discover BG3 fully by myself when it's a 100% finished product, and Solasta seems like something fun to mingle with on the side while waiting for other games to come out.

That said, I wish Solasta didn't have EA either so people could only experience it as a full product but that's a lost battle.

Originally Posted by Nereida
I'm more likely to play this EA than BG3 one, simply because I only want to discover BG3 fully by myself when it's a 100% finished product, and Solasta seems like something fun to mingle with on the side while waiting for other games to come out.

That said, I wish Solasta didn't have EA either so people could only experience it as a full product but that's a lost battle.

Just curious, but why would you care how others experience it?

Good video preview. That guy has a very soothing voice and one of the few people I can listen to early in the morning.

Originally Posted by sakichop
Just curious, but why would you care how others experience it?

Well, several reasons, but mostly because it all dips into spoilers and inaccurate reviews of the product. While we all want to seem like we don't care about what others think, a game's success is gauged by its review scores, and particularly metacritic is a very important one. If you didn't know, I can tell you in some cases the success of a game and the incentives the employees are paid are based in whether the game hits a certain metascore.

So I don't particularly care about how other experience it, but I do about how others reflect their experience of an unfinished product upon the internet, where their uninformed, anonymous opinion does count, even if a tiny bit. Even when people acknowledge that they are dealing with an unfinished product, truth is they don't, and they are quick to either praise or write off a product that in many cases will take an U-turn. There are countless instances of games that didn't look good at first, and turned into masterowrks that lost their momentum for releasing the unfinished product too early, and the other way around, too. I don't need to speak of, for example, No Man's Sky.

So that's why I wish products only reached the public in their final form, so they could be really and fairly judged, and also enjoyed collectively without spoilers, or the stain of others having an inaccurate opinion of it before it was actually a game.

This is a game for people who enjoy playing the table-top version of D&D. If you buy this expecting a grand RPG with good storytelling, and companion interaction look elsewhere.

Go read the Q&A it will give you all the answers you need.

Link - https://steamcommunity.com/games/109…46601431097416
Link - https://www.solasta-game.com/news/98…g-pax-qa-recap

I"ll probably skip the EA, but this is a likely buy for me just based on the demo. Too bad it's not an actual D&D campaign setting.

Originally Posted by Nereida
Well, several reasons, but mostly because it all dips into spoilers and inaccurate reviews of the product. While we all want to seem like we don't care about what others think, a game's success is gauged by its review scores, and particularly metacritic is a very important one. If you didn't know, I can tell you in some cases the success of a game and the incentives the employees are paid are based in whether the game hits a certain metascore.

So I don't particularly care about how other experience it, but I do about how others reflect their experience of an unfinished product upon the internet, where their uninformed, anonymous opinion does count, even if a tiny bit. Even when people acknowledge that they are dealing with an unfinished product, truth is they don't, and they are quick to either praise or write off a product that in many cases will take an U-turn. There are countless instances of games that didn't look good at first, and turned into masterowrks that lost their momentum for releasing the unfinished product too early, and the other way around, too. I don't need to speak of, for example, No Man's Sky.

So that's why I wish products only reached the public in their final form, so they could be really and fairly judged, and also enjoyed collectively without spoilers, or the stain of others having an inaccurate opinion of it before it was actually a game.

Thanks for the explanation and all fair points.

I’ll have to take your word for it as to the importance of meta critic. I’ve never been to the site and wouldn’t know it existed if it weren’t for people referencing it.

I agree with peoples unrealistic expectations of EA games as I’ve seen to many instances of people complaining about bugs or broken features in an EA game as if they expected to be polished.

Acknowledging the negatives though I still enjoy EA. Especially in a game like this as it gives me a chance to play around with classes, builds and mechanics before release. Having the chance to give BG3 EA a try in a few days is better for me than waiting a year or more for the finished product.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I"ll probably skip the EA, but this is a likely buy for me just based on the demo

Same.

Personally not a fan of Early Access. Though I played a few if the game interested me. As for neagtive reviews they never stopped me from enjoying any media I liked.

I lost track of all the movies and games given negative scores that I enjoyed.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Personally not a fan of Early Access. Though I played a few if the game interested me. As for neagtive reviews they never stopped me from enjoying any media I liked.

I lost track of all the movies and games given negative scores that I enjoyed.

Same here, can't count how many Netflix movies I've watched out of random browsing on a bored evening and I kinda liked it, to then find out it had a 5.5/10 score. But when you're looking to try something new, it's inevitable to get a feel of the general quality of the game by checking its reviews. It's a natural thing to do, nobody has unlimited time to check by themselves if every game or movie.

I'm not fond of EA in general, as said before it tends to ruin the game somewhat. I also find it a bit strange to pay half the price or more, to help and get a lesser gaming experience. For some other people, it is counter-balanced because they can play the game earlier so it's certainly subjective.

In this case, however, if it can help Tactical Adventures even a little bit with this first game of theirs, I'd be glad to live the alternate experience of EA and testing/reporting… and see the baby grow to completion. Especially since IMHO they nailed the balance CRPG / tabletop feeling and have produced a very neat demo already.

TA also seem inclined to listen to suggestions from fans before deciding where to go next (if there is still time and budget for that, of course), that's another incentive. I certainly wouldn't do that for a big studio.

Originally Posted by Nereida
Well, several reasons, but mostly because it all dips into spoilers and inaccurate reviews of the product. While we all want to seem like we don't care about what others think, a game's success is gauged by its review scores, and particularly metacritic is a very important one. If you didn't know, I can tell you in some cases the success of a game and the incentives the employees are paid are based in whether the game hits a certain metascore.

That's quite interesting, I wasn't aware of that either, but it makes sense. KPI are often based on the success of products. Hopefully such a small team will follow another pattern, but perhaps it's wishful thinking. Time will tell

Pretty excited to play this. If nothing else, it'll be a good intro to 5e for me, which I have yet to try. I'm more into Pathfinder.

This is a game for people who enjoy playing the table-top version of D&D. If you buy this expecting a grand RPG with good storytelling, and companion interaction look elsewhere.

I play tabletop D&D weekly. Playing tabletop D&D is almost entirely about storytelling and companion interaction!

Maybe I misunderstand you? Perhaps you mean this is a TTRPG combat simulator? In which case, I get your point. But most of our time playing TTD&D is about interacting with the other players, the NPCs, the DM and following (and co-creating) a story.

I'm keeping an eye on this one but not going to jump in for EA - would love to hear impressions from Watchers though

Originally Posted by FizzyShellfish
Maybe I misunderstand you? Perhaps you mean this is a TTRPG combat simulator? In which case, I get your point. But most of our time playing TTD&D is about interacting with the other players, the NPCs, the DM and following (and co-creating) a story.

Yep you misunderstood basically it's not Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Tyranny, or Pillars of Eternity, and so on. The developer has a clear vision of what they want the game to be.

Probably has to do with not having the budget needed so it's mostly a combat simulator due to limitations. Tabletop RPGS and CRPGs share similarities but play differently.

BG III will be the better game because it combines the best of both.

The closest comparison to this game, imo, would be The Temple of Elemental Evil.

Yes that's the perfect comparison to make. Hopefully this game sells better.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The closest comparison to this game, imo, would be The Temple of Elemental Evil.

And this is exactly why I'm not super hyped about Solasta - I really hope personality tag/dialogue system is decent since there are no companions with story/dialogues.