Forsaken Realms: Vahrin's Call

Overall a fun experience with some flaws. There are 9 chapters, a finale, and an epilogue. The epilogue gives you access to a dev room, they left notes and fun things to look at, which I loved. The first 70% of the game were the best. Sidequests, mobs to hunt, chests to find, lots to see and explore. A good mix of weapons and magic and potions to use. You can make your own potions! With different effects. And you name and color it. I liked that. If I had to compare it with other games, I'd say Fable and Tainted Grail and Skyrim had this as a baby. But after the fun times, the last 30% show that it is made by small team and that there were limits to their budget. The last sets of dungeons appear to be maze-like, but when you actually walk through them, they become veeery linear. Also, the mobs repeat in the end a lot, lots of zombie like blob creatures. I admit I ran through some sections, because I didn't feel like fighting the same thing for the 10th time. I played this on normal and sometimes on easy, when I died too much to a boss near the end. Towards the end there were no story sidequests, or I wasn't able to find any. I enjoyed the music, voices and story, everything was fitting. The only thing I hated was the jumping. It's weird. Sometimes you have minor platforming sections, but it drove me nuts at times. It seemed momentum based? This is the only thing I wish the devs would look into again.

Visually and artistically, the game is absolutely stunning. The fantasy world and exploration truly immerse you in a medieval fantasy setting. I'm currently enjoying my playthrough and haven't finished it yet, but I wanted to jot down some key areas for improvement. If these elements were added, they would easily elevate the game to a masterpiece level: Character Origin: The beginning of the game would benefit from a more story-driven introduction. I’d love to see a prologue showing how the protagonist actually became a mercenary and how they learned swordsmanship, magic, and alchemy. Spellcasting Audio: Casting spells needs more audio feedback. It would add a lot of immersion if the character spoke a short incantation or made a specific sound when initiating a spell. Inventory UI: The inventory menus are currently a bit too basic. Adding hand-drawn or 3D icons for items, displaying the character's 3D model in the equipment screen, and redesigning the menu borders and colors to fit a medieval aesthetic would be a fantastic upgrade. World Liveliness (NPCs): The world feels a bit empty due to the lack of NPCs. While I understand the lore mentions mass migration because of the war, the game needs some life. Adding a few wandering NPCs, playing children, traveling merchants you can bump into on the roads, or random encounters with strangers asking for help would make the world feel alive. This alone would allow the game to compete with massive AAA titles. Narrator Commentary: Adding a narrator who reacts to story events, voices the character's inner emotions, or drops witty and humorous comments would make the overall gameplay experience so much more entertaining. Last but not least, the game is incredibly fun, and I want to thank the developers for their hard work. We rarely see this specific style of game in today's market anymore. The adventure continues!