Meditative, stylish simulator of a medieval alchemist. Crafting, resource management, recipe research, trading. Early access.
The game is announced for the Windows platform.
Our character comes across the abandoned house of a sorcerer. So lucky, because the hero is an alchemist and can use the remains of the missing predecessor’s inventory.
The gameplay is an alchemist simulator in a fantasy world.
On the very first day of the game we are given a short but detailed training.
Let’s go through the main features that the game provides.
Gathering ingredients. At the beginning, they throw in some herbs to get started, in the future we must obtain resources ourselves from different sources.
The most obvious one is the garden. Once a day you can collect what has grown there. Enough resources are falling. You can buy some things from the merchants who come into the shop from time to time.
Brewing potions. The process seems complicated, but is actually simple and consists of several aspects. The first thing you need to look at is what resources are available and which of them you don’t mind spending (some should be saved for research, in my opinion).
Next, some logical work is carried out – we compare the ingredients added to the cauldron with the alchemical map. To do this, hover the cursor over the grass and see in which direction on the map the craft will go when adding this particular resource. Our task is to add ingredients so that ultimately the research path leads to some beneficial effect. Often you have to rely on intuition, although the map is not particularly conducive to reaching a dead end. Sounds complicated, but it’s actually quite simple.
I’ll reveal a not obvious nuance. Each type of resource guides crafting according to a specific pattern. That is, if we have already remembered that this mushroom draws such a loop, then it will always draw this loop. This helps plan the development of research on the map.
By the way, there are also places designated as a field of bones. If the research goes there and we “tread around” there for a certain time, then the craft will fail.
In order to start cooking, we throw https://royale500-casino.co.uk/ the ingredients into a mortar (you can directly into the cauldron, but this will waste more resources), grind them and add them to the cauldron. When the path is planned, stir the brew in the cauldron with a spoon. At the moment when, when moving along the research map, the potion has a beneficial effect – we heat it up with the help of fur. If everything is done correctly, we get a potion.
Recipes for once brewed potions can be placed in an alchemy book. The number of possible entries is unlimited, but initially there will only be six recipe slots. You can expand your alchemical book by purchasing special pages from merchants.
What is good about the studied potions – you can either craft them with one click of a button or continue research on the map starting from the point that turned out to be the end point in the recipe, if of course there are enough resources here and now.
Potions trading. The creation of flasks does not occur with the purpose of creating them. The fact is that every day various visitors and traders come to the store. The first, obviously, can sell the results of their experiments, and buy from the second (you can also sell herbs and potions to them, but much cheaper) something you need.
It’s interesting that every buyer tells his own story based on which we need to understand what he needs and give it to him. Not difficult, but adds some interest. From the buyer’s reaction to the proposed potion, you can determine whether it is what you need. If everyone is happy, the deal is completed.
If the buyer requires something that is not in stock, then if you have the resources, you can craft him what he needs “on the go”. There is no time limit for visitors to wait for goods, so there is no fuss.
You can also bargain in an attempt to win more gold, then you will have to play a small, simple mini-game.
Coins are very useful in order to get special ingredients, equipment and upgrades from merchants.
Level and reputation set. These are extremely important aspects of the game. For a set of levels we get character development points, which can be spent to get additional profit in research or trading.
Experience is gained by completing special “tasks”, collecting herbs, brewing potions and any successful action. Also, every day special icons (green books) appear on the research map, for passing through which (including those appearing in already explored areas of the map) experience will be awarded to raise the level.
Reputation level increases when trade goes well. If it is not possible to obtain the goods required by the buyer, the price is reduced. A high reputation leads to pleasant perks and increasingly complex visitor requirements.
Global goals. Brewing potions for peasants and royal guards is of course wonderful, but the game also has a global goal – the most difficult crafting of the philosopher’s stone. To create it, you will have to thoroughly study recipes, including complex ones, purchase equipment and craft a lot of potions. Moreover, you will need to go through as many as five stages of crafting.
These special studies are carried out in the basement, which will also have to be equipped.
When all the goals of the game day are completed, the ingredients are collected, the customers are served, then you can rest in the attic, which will start a new cycle.
The game is in early access and inside the game you can visually see the development plans.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of the game and summarize.
+ Simple but stylish, nice graphics.
+ As far as I understand, there is only one melody playing, but it emphasizes the atmosphere quite well.
+ Excellent yet easy to understand crafting system. Many ingredients, the types of potions themselves, a wonderful research system in the form of a large map.
+ Good character development system.
+ Good Russian localization of the text (no voice acting).
– Several minor grammatical errors in dialogue texts.
Nice game. Especially suitable for lovers of leisurely exploration and crafting. Although this is early access, everything is already playing well. If promises are kept, it will become even better.
PS: I probably didn’t cover all the aspects, I might have missed something. I will be glad to add/correct the review or answer questions along the way in the comments.
PPPS: Particularly warm is the fact that this wonderful game is domestically produced (at least with our guys in key development positions, the credits still include an international cast). We really need this kind of gamedev.