SKALD: Against the Black Priory

SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a godsend to all those who wish for a Lovecraftian Dungeons and Dragons type game done in a classic retro style. Reminiscent of a different age of gaming, this will take you back in time but do away with all the limitations that those older titles had to deal with. This game offers players a fantastic new experience with some incredible turn-based combat that requires a tactical mind, engaging branching stories and exploration that will please RPG fans from all walks of life.

Gameplay

The gameplay of this title has a function that is reminiscent of Escape from Monkey Island. There is a top-down map where you traverse the lands, doing away with long sections of walking around. There is tactical, turn-based combat that really strikes a chord with games like Final Fantasy XII.

Your objective is to explore, learn and discover new things about your environment. You travel around, fight enemies and unravel Lovecraftian mysteries to find out what is going on at this island. Be sure you take care in how you act as this is, after all, a roleplaying game, so what you do makes a difference.

Choose your class, background and pick your feats, spells and equipment as you battle on and take the party from level 1 all the way to level 20. You can take a very active role in every step of the story or you can put it on ‘auto-resolve’ and let each problem sort itself out as your party carves a bloody path through the enemy.

Story

Waking up in a strange and scary land, you take the role of a mercenary who must delve into a dark fantasy world and discover the dark secrets of the Black Priory. I cannot tell you more than that at a risk of spoiling things but let me tell you that this game has a fantastic narrative driven story with branches that stretch out farther than you would imagine. This game brought me right back into the fold of RPG games that keep you hooked for hours on end.

Art Style

Enter into a rich and detailed, living world. A vast, expansive map waits for you to explore with thousands of hand-drawn titles and images that have been illustrated in that classic pixel art style. The game comes with an optional CRT filter for an even more legitimate, authentic old-school experience.

I cannot stress enough how impressive this game is to look at. You’re staring at the screen and its like being taken back in time. Everything has been done so perfectly that it is indistinguishable from a real classic title.

Pros:

• Great looking game
• Fantastic premise

Cons:

• Sometimes the art form can hold the medium back