Hey, all! I am the developer behind Fabled Lands. I am not sure if I'll do more harm than good by hopping in, but I kind of wanted to do that for a while anyway. As a sole dev with the help of one artist it's a blast for me that other people are talking about the game at all! I've been eyeing RPG watch for a while and hummed with excitement that people anticipate the title and discuss it before it's even been released.
This particular review from this Wizard Worm gets me though. He's absolutely enititled to his opinion nor I am trying to change it but when he actively doesn't recommend the game, I feel obliged to share my 2 cents.
First of all, from the video I can tell he's playing the Early Access version, not the final product, yet he is presenting it on Steam as a review for the full game. I want to post the final changes I've been working on (
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1299620/view/3307343554360354815) as I believe I've done vital additions and changes to the experience of the entire game.
The dislike of the lack of a main quest, buying skills from markets (or gaining them via ranking up) instead of a skill tree and not liking the combat is quite alright in my book, different people enjoy different things.
However, he has attempted to play a few hours on the Classic difficulty without touching Explorer mode (the recommended difficulty for new players), not understanding what to do, how to manage dice rolls and how to survive at all (a great guide written by the community on that can be found here (
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2566674510). Which turns this whole thing into a rant rather than a review.
The game is an open world experience without the pressure of a main quest. You can discover the world lore layer by layer. The whole notion of a narrative RPG is for you to be the hero, your actions to shape up your character and story, rather than a third person predefined character. Exactly this gives the game replicability through the various outcomes, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. You can shield yourself from negative outcomes and luck through resurrection deals, potions, the blessings mechanic, buying house stashes and storing loot and money there, etc. Hence the Ironman mode difficulty with no saves where experienced players can enjoy uncovering the whole content through tactical decisions where to do what depending on their character's weaknesses and strengths.
I do apologize if I am off putting you meddling with this topic. I am very thankful for the kind words, the anticipation, the constructive feedback I gather even from negative reviews. It's been a heck of a ride for 3 years to deliver this game and I am super happy for anyone that decides to pay it attention.
Regards,
Victor from Prime Games