Overall, the experience feels very harmonious. There is no filler content, no sudden difficulty spikes, and no half-abandoned ideas, with the exception of magic. The developer is self-aware enough to focus on what he is capable of and delivers a well-put-together game based on his original vision. The end result is a fun and enjoyable short adventure, although at times it may feel overly simplistic and predictable. Recommended for any RPG player who can overlook somewhat shallow underlying systems, such as character development and combat.

Full review: https://rpghq.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=112649-skald-against-the-black-priory

So, I finally got around to finishing my first playthrough of SKALD after taking a break over the summer. I wish I hadn't put it down temporarily, though perhaps the ending wouldn't have had as big of an impact on me that way?

Either way, I am not all too familiar with the "Cosmic Horror" genre (I cannot think of any other game off the top of my head that I've played that fits that description, though maybe Mass Effect comes close), as some would describe it, so I will not focus on the narrative and story much more than simply saying that it does a good job at keeping my interest and it has left me wanting more.

With that out of the way, I will speak on the topics that I am far more familiar with when it comes to gameplay, and that is to say that the art style, overall look and feel of the game, are S-tier. I am a sucker for old skool games and pixel graphics anyway, but for me, SKALD takes these elements to a level that goes well above and beyond what you get in most games with this type of look and field. The sound design, music and atmosphere go a long way to make the combat feel crunchy and meaty, and it leaves me wanting more--it satisfies a cathartic itch inside of me, though perhaps that is just my inner neanderthal who just wants to wield an axe and smash things? Either way, the game checks a lot of boxes in that arena for me, and I could play this game again and again just for the combat alone.

The characters are great, the game does an excellent enough job at giving you a taste and an overall feel for their differing personalities without it feeling overbearing. I personally would have liked to see the character development pushed a little further, maybe something closer to a Dragon Age: Origins with the whole romancing option and the +/- approvals depending on your actions throughout the game, but that may distract from what is a very good game at its core and it certainly would take away from that old skool feel.

I sincerely hope we get another title from this developer built on the exact same engine, with an entirely different story and universe that focuses largely on the combat, has a great story, and maybe 2x - 4x the content. Honestly, my only real complaint about SKALD is that it was over too soon (35 hours for me, and I did take my time). I know this won't be an issue for some gamers, but when it comes to any sort of RPG, I tend to long for a huge world to explore and many ways in which to do it. SKALD offers me a very satisfying bite of the pie, but leaves me wanting for more!

That said, SKALD is also the type of game I can easily find myself picking up and playing again to explore playing different class combinations and to try to create an even more coordinated team of characters. That's another thing I like--SKALD does the whole party based RPG right, and allows me to create my own characters, not just my primary character. You do have to slip into the game a little bit before that option presents itself, but it's almost a requirement for me to be able to create my own--so I am very happy to have it.

A+ experience from me. I highly recommend giving it a go if anything I described above is even remotely interesting to you.

If you like CRPGs, Skald is a fairly average, simple offering. It has a nice atmosphere, interesting visuals and good music, but leaves a bit to be desired in gameplay, writing, itemization and story - so, pretty much the most important points in a CRPG. It's not terrible, mind you, but overall, I felt a slight inclination towards voting against rather than for recommending the game, but I'd rate it "Mixed" if Steam would allow such a thing. There is clearly effort put into this, don't get me wrong, but overall, I can't recommend it.

In the Outer Isles, while searching for a specific person you're tasked to find, you shipwreck on one of the islands and essentially have to contend with lovecraftian horrors while finding out what's going on and where they even come from while continuing to search for said person. Like in many other CRPGs, you can create your own character and slowly put together a party of premade / hired adventurers.

The battle system is grid- and turn-based. Before the battle, you can move around your characters to set their starting position and then go to town. There's DnD-reminescent spells, abilities and different classes. Every level up, until the max of 20, you can distribute 3 skill points in a simple skill system. It works, but is nothing fancy.

Now to the nitty-gritty. Let's mention the good things first: the atmosphere, as mentioned, is very good. It's dark, gruesome and fitting for an island full of lovecraftian beasts, cutthroat bandits and so on. There is plenty of gore, maiming, killing and all the good stuff. The soundtrack is good too, if a bit repetitive at times, but I did actually enjoy listening to it. The visuals in their simplicity portray what's going on very well - probably my favorite part of Skald.

The actual battles are mostly on the easy side. You can customize your difficulty at any time, but aside from a few options, I felt that regardless of difficulty, hard battles are still hard and easy battles (most of them after the first few hours) are still easy. What annoyed me most about the battles, though, is how many of them are in cramped quarters. It's hard to make a true ranged character as the only ranged weapon is the bow, which actually consumes arrows, so unless you have spellcasters with a lot of mana in your group, you will mostly attack in melee - which means there will always be characters that can't reach enemies with so many fights being in sewers, houses, caves, tunnels...it happened often enough to get really annoying by the end of the game, and it's hard to work around it. The gameplay stays rather simple as most spells and abilities, aside from those that heal, are never really needed and basic attacks do a good enough job most of the time. Luckily, the game isn't long enough for that to become too repetitive - it took me 13 hours to finish the game doing everything with a few reloads here and there.

The itemization is, frankly, very boring for a game such as this. It's hard to find unique or better items - I could count a handful of interesting or unique weapons, the rest are just "Generic Sword of X" that maybe adds 1 point to Lore or Crafting, but is otherwise the same as every other sword of it's type, of which there are only few. Sure, it's a short game, but the itemization is too simple for a CRPG and there was only rarely an item I was actually happy to find because it was an actual upgrade. Once your party is equipped, you will probably equipped for the rest of the game, with only few exceptions. Merchants don't add much to that lack of excitement, selling that same equipment anyway.

My biggest complaint, and which ultimately made me not want to recommend the game, was the story. It never really goes anywhere until the very end, where it suddenly escalates in a way that makes me think that the developers didn't know how to properly finish the game. It doesn't help that there are barely any decisions to be made throughout the game - again, very atypical for a CRPG - and the story is almost entirely linear. It's very mundanely lovecraftian, until it suddenly isn't, but it comes so late and out-of-nowhere that it just feels weird. Overall, I felt bored with the plot and then the ending was just a sudden slap in the face.

Skald is, honestly, "just fine". For what it is, it is a visually interesting simple little CRPG with not too many options in itemization and gameplay, focusing on atmosphere instead. But with the disappointing, way too linear story and little to no variation beyond choosing your own class and the class of one or two people you may hire that aren't premade, it just didn't feel all that satisfying to play, and then the ending just made me upset. The first half imo was very good, but it fell off from there. If you do like CRPGs, then get it on sale if you want to check it out - but, let's be real, there are a lot of better games like this on Steam. As an intro to this genre, Skald might serve well enough, but I'd probably recommend Tyranny over it if you want a fairly small, easy to get into CRPG.