Skautfold: Into the Fray
Into the Fray is a sequel to Usurper and Shrouded in Sanity, as it is part of the Skautfold series. However, knowledge of the previous games is not necessary to enjoy the game.
Into the Fray is an oblique top-down action shooter.
The focus is on fast, bloody combat with satisfying feedback and environmental reactivity; all under the heavy presence of a dark Lovecraftian story of civil strife.StoryThe story is set in 1899, based on an alternate history of the island of Portland, off the south coast of England. You take control of Hito, one of the Knights of the Empire, and head to the Island to investigate reports of a missing royal, and the presence of a rebellious faction called the Sons of Washington. Soon, the Fog descends, leaving you and the islanders to fend off the would-be rebels who have made a pact with entities from the Cosmos.GameplayInto the Fray is framed around an overview map of the island; where you can pick from a range of missions to undertake as the story progresses. These missions will have you visit the streets of the island, dank cave systems, and even secret underground tunnel networks. But all is not as it might appear; the streets are filled with corpses and infested with eldritch entities, whilst the tunnel networks are home to a series of horrific rituals that are aimed at growing the Fogs’ influence… and as you search for a way to stop the ongoing destruction, you’re sure to stumble upon some of the deepest darkest secrets of the island.
The tools of your trade will include an arsenal of devastating top-of-the-line firearms; from hand-cannons, to triple-barrel shotguns, as well as prototype weaponry from the great Nikola himself. These weapons will be your best friends and only hope of survival if you want to put an end to both the bloodthirsty rebels, and eldritch abominations alike.
To aid your enjoyment of the carnage that will unfold, gore and environmental reactivity are top priority; break just about anything, kick around barrels of oil and then set them on fire as traps, or just straight up give the boot to your enemies and watch them trigger traps. Why open a door when you can break it down?! Persistent gore and debris will help immerse you in the world as you rip, tear and explode your way to victory.
Game Discussion
Steam User 0
Good isometric shooter with excellent style and atmosphere. The plot thickens even more, and it pushes you straight into the next game. It is a hard game, and the healing mechanic is very tough, but when you get used to it, there are no critical moments where you would quit. Alas, sad that you cannot get other endings if you received the A ending without replaying the whole game. Enjoyed it and preparing for the next one.
Steam User 1
Skautfold: Into the Fray is a very good lovecraftian, top down shooter and a way better sequel for Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity then Usurper was, but let's get into this story. It has only been a year since the citadel incident in London unfortunately nothing is ever quiet in the empire for too long, for the sons of Washington; a rebel group has made a counter-attack attacking the very heart of the empire.
The rebels are located on Portland Island, the very same island where the Berelaii’s Manor incident took place and more troubling than that is the rebel group is led by none other than by princess Lillian the daughter of former King Guildford and niece to queen Eleanor. Something must be done unfortunately sending a massive army would only be a sign of weakness, so Queen Eleanor sends the sharp shooting marksman the third knight Hito, his mission is simple defeat the rebels and bring back the princess to the capital, but just like the fourth knight and the queen herself complications arise and Hito is severely injured, but thankfully a mysterious cyborg is able to save his life with a living cape, now with his newfound supernatural power the third knight must fight the S,O.Ws and the eldritch horrors in order to end the uprising before it’s too late.
Now then let's get into the likes, the story is very good like the previous games it has a good sense/use of world building, we find a bit out about the sons of Washington and the world itself, we also get to find out what the king tried to wish for in the first game and the story also does a good job in setting up for the fourth game in the series as well as the last game. It also takes a little bit of souls like inspiration were you find out about the story and stuff through clicking on certain objects and talking to certain people.
The gameplay is very good, way better than Usurper, here it feels a lot more balanced and fair, also since you're playing the third knight Hito if you played the first game you'd find out that he uses guns, so over the course of the game you'll be picking up different types of weapons which means this is more of a shoot em up then the previous two games.
The gameplay also does a good job in keeping you on your toes especially in much more harder play throughs while still being fair, also Hito has a super dash that allows him to dodge enemy attacks, but using that dash drains your stamina so you really have to learn to master that as well memorizing enemy attack patterns. Also unlike the second game, this game has a way to heal basically when you fight an enemy and they're near death you can do a super kick and you're able to get health, but in exchange for health you can’t pick up any ammunition drops, so there's a level of strategy you have to implement which I found to add to the balance of this game.
Lastly another good thing about the gameplay after you beat a level you don't immediately start a boss fight, no in fact after beating the level you can go back to the hub area and upgrade your character and refill your ammunition before trying to challenge that boss that was a very good idea, especially in particularly hard levels. The weapons were good each one had their own unique looks, you start with your standard pistol, shotgun and rifle, but we also get more unique weapons like a flamethrower, a Tesla gun and even a railgun that was quite fun to use and it all requires a strategy and mastery of the dodge mechanic and memorizing enemies movements.
The characters were very good each one is well written with some unique personalities, the third knight is very good he's definitely more straight down to business kind of guy and has a bit of a dry sense of humor, but definitely has more human moments like his reaction to the final boss is just gold. He kind of feels like a more traditional knight, but he uses guns more than a sword. Howard and his demon friend were still delightful, I liked the image of Howard’s demon just sitting in a bar enjoying a drink with humans, it's both absurd and adorable. But I have to say my favorite character happens to be princess Lillian, I don't know she's cute and I also feel bad for her as I come to understood why she did what she did, it doesn't make it right but it's understandable.
The enemies and bosses are very good, the game does reuse a lot of enemies that were in the previous two games, but there are also some new enemies as well like the sons of Washington with their guns, I also liked the bosses they have their own unique looks and they're hard, but fair for the most part it just requires practice.
The pixel graphic art style is still very good like with the other two games the creator really took it to the extreme with interesting set pieces, nice uses of colors and designs. The levels are very good, the over world itself has a sort of old school final fantasy kind of look too it and a lot of the levels is a bit detailed with some interesting set pieces that help each place stand out. The music is okay it's nothing really to write home about, it's just stuff you can download for free.
Now this game is a horror game but I won't say it's scary it does have some creepy moments, especially when you get to the Asylum part but this is more of an action game than a horror game and it doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
Now then let's get into the dislikes, okay there are some bugs in the game nothing really game breaking though. One thing that felt weird to me was the fact that there is no new game plus mode, after beating the game the first time I expected there to be a new game plus like in the first two games, but not here which would have been a bit helpful for getting the last three achievements.
Also after you beat an area you can't go back to it, so if you missed finding a pug or picking up a ye stone, that's basically gone forever until you replay the game from the beginning.
And while I did praise the overhead map’s look, it can be a bit cumbersome as your just bumping into buildings and stuff, it takes a bit of time to get around.
Alright with that finally done Skautfold: Into the Fray is a very good lovecraftian, top down shooter and a way better sequel for Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity then Usurper was, it has a very good story, very good gameplay, very good characters and just even more stuff to like about this game. So I definitely recommend this game if you weren't exactly a fan of the usurper then I think you'll definitely find this game much more manageable and enjoyable to play.
Steam User 0
i got sloth like reflexes