Pendragon
Pendragon is a turn-based strategy game, where every move you make drives the narrative, and every story twist opens new gameplay opportunities. Will you advance and show your mettle, or cautiously retreat? Will you slip round enemies, or encounter them head-on? And when sacrifices are required, who will you put in harm's way? From the creators of the multi-award-winning 80 DAYS and Heaven’s Vault. Rally the Knights of the Round Table. Some will make it to Camlann and King Arthur. Others will fall. But every turn will change history. Will Sir Lancelot be reunited with Queen Guinevere? Will she spurn him, or embrace him? Will Sir Kay ever forgive Sir Gawaine for siding with Sir Mordred? Can Morgana le Fay be trusted? Where is Merlyn? Who lies buried in Mordred’s graveyard? Who is the archer in the woods? What has become of Excalibur? Secrets will be uncovered. Hearts will be broken. People will die. But maybe, just maybe, King Arthur can be saved…
Game Discussion
Steam User 1
I really love this game. It's difficult enough to feel challenging, but I feel like the story and particularly the characters, are the main part of the game. So many characters stories are told and character interaction is really well done.
It really forces you to slow down and can be really relaxing to play. The fireside stories can be hilarious and add depth to the characters and story.
It's replayable. The quest is the same each time but many things change between playthroughs which makes for an interesting experience. Choice of characters changes. Skills you are offered varies with the story choices and people you meet. Maps change so you don't get the same character interaction or challenges over and over. The difficulty can be increased with successive playthroughs making it perfect for people with varying skill at turn based strategy. The whole thing is crafted in a really interesting and immersive way.
Steam User 1
It's a great game with an interesting concept.
I do think it did not execute the concept very well. The game overall needs improvement.
The morale system is unintuitive. It's a combat game but if you spend too long in combat you lose. Except sometimes there's way too many stalemates going back-and-forth with nothing happening.
Sacrificing characters is encouraged by the developers in order to break stalemates, but there is nothing in the game that intuitively encourages that. You will always want to win the battle and not die.
The concept of dialogue based on how you move the character is intriguing. But again, it's not very intuitive.
I see Pendragon as a really good proof-of-concept. And I do have a lot of fun playing it.
But don't expect a supreme masterpiece.
If you are interested in hidden gems, then this is for you.
Steam User 0
One of the most bizarre gaming experiences I've ever had. Buy it cheap if you have any interest. The game does have some built-in replayability. I won't personally be replaying it, although I'm not sad I gave it one playthrough. FYI, one playthrough could be accomplished in a couple hours. I just left the game running for hours without actually playing it.
Steam User 0
Pendragon is a party RPG turn based game where you play as a knight of the round table to save the King.
Graphics- Okay
Soundtrack- Alright
Audience- Teenagers or Adults
Difficulty- Not too hard but requires some tactical thinking to prevail
Story- Okay story
Game time- Descent length
Price- Not that cheap
6/10
Steam User 12
Alright, so, if you like emergent narrative you're going to have a good time.
If you like game mechanics, you are going to have a BAD TIME.
Pendragon is very, very simple. Not simple but deep. Just simple. You move one square at a time, and you are able to spend an action to change directions between cardinal and diagonal. If an enemy is next to you and you can move into them, you kill them. And if there is an enemy next to them that can move into you, you die.
Abilities do things like letting you move an additional square sometimes, and that's about it. They're almost all bad. You just have to twiddle back and forth waiting for the cpu to make a mistake. This runs out your real hp gauge, the morale bar, and if you get the wrong random encounters you're SOL.
On the flipside, almost every encounter has some kind of narrative to it, and you can intuitively send it in different directions by making different movements based on cues in the narrative. That's cool. And there's a lot of stuff you can solve through dialog, and the writing throughout is sparse but uncommonly good.
There isn't a TON of story variety, which makes sense because of how intricate and bug free everything is, but there's a bunch of unlockable characters and they all have different and interesting tragic flavors.
I think if you look at Pendragon as sort of like the tactics version of a walking sim, you'll be in the right mindset for it. If you want roguelike arthurian tactics with a decent game length and solid mechanical depth, this is 10000% not that, and you will have an awful and frustrating time if you play it in that mindstate like I did.
Ultimately, I think Pendragon is cool even if it drove me up a tree. The emergent narrative would probably be stronger in a single player experience (like Banner Saga), but I don't think the roguelike elements are *wrong*, or the core design is broken or anything. It could stand to be a little clearer that it's a story experience for story people only, and that if you have ever so much as enjoyed a mechanic you will hate it, but within that niche it's really solid and the art, writing, and moody horn music do make it a lovely experience.
Steam User 0
liked it