Islands of the Caliph
Islands of the Caliph imagines an ancient, seafaring Middle Eastern empire, spanning several islands to which the player may venture and explore.
Set in a fictional Island civilization, Islands of the Caliph is a unique mash-up of the old school RPGs the developer played in the 1980s, and Middle Eastern folklore and religion.
Numerous mythical and dangerous beasts lurk in waiting as you explore and discover new lands. From giant spiders and scorpions, to more supernatural beings like ghouls and jinn, Islands of the Caliph will introduce players to some of the creatures of folklore of Arab, Persian and African cultures among others.
Weapons are an important tool you will need to overcome adversaries. Find new weapons while adventuring or buy them from a merchant. Each weapon has different stats, so paying careful attention will help you to equip the best items.
As you explore, your map with be updated automatically. Use it to keep track of your location and to discover new routes of exploration. A small mini map appears in the corner of the screen while exploring, but you can open it to view the whole area when needed.
Many hidden treasures are waiting to be discovered by a brave adventurer. Some chests have coins, while others may have items to take. You may also use treasure chests to store items you don’t need, but are not quite ready to sell.
The player must explore this open world and discover the game’s primary quest for themselves. The game seeks to capture some of the open-endedness of classic RPGs like Might & Magic, Ultima and Bards Tale, with some modern conveniences. The player will be offered quests by some of the game’s NPCs. Some of these quests will be required to make progress in the game’s main story, while others will be optional. It is up to the player to figure out which is which, though often it will be obvious in the context given.
Game Discussion
Steam User 157
The retro-ist of retro!
Go in with an open mind!
Experience games the way your parents did.
Audio and art design is exquisite.
Theme is distinct and intriguing.
Also, The developer is very supportive of other independent devs - wishing him all the best with this title.
Steam User 139
I have an nvidia geforce RTX 4080.
This is the game I choose.
Steam User 59
Interesting and different game. Some things are really done well, like the real-time ship rides between islands. Other things not so much, like the constant management of various health afflictions ranging to poison to fever to stomach pain and even blisters. You also need to eat and sleep. Those mecanics get really tiring and I'm a fairy patient gamer. After two hours, I was annoyed by constantly having to sort out inventory space, with all the food, torches, médecine you need, it barely leaves space for crystals or sellable monster parts, quest items etc. So the game becomes à management nightmare pretty fast. It was after barely two hours of play.
Apart from those annoyance, the gameplay felt smooth. JoytoKey with a controller was a blast. The graphics are nice, although the very poorly implemented scanlines need work. The level design is very good and the towns are great. I think the game should have a section in the journal for us to leave our own notes. Not only would it add to immersion, but it would help mitigate the lack of map notes.
I would give this game 6,5/10. It has potential for an 8, if certain modifications in the gameplay are made. Keep in mind I played two hours though!
Steam User 32
This is a great little dungeon crawler! I've really enjoyed my time with it. It's a lot like Wizardry, or the old Elder Scrolls games. One of those games where you need to eat, and rest, carry a torch in dungeons etc. But the real star of the show is the setting. It's super cool having a game like this in such an earnest middle eastern setting. It's definitely a vibe you don't see very often, especially in medieval fantasy games. I recommend just diving in no walkthroughs or anything. (Not that any exist I don't think...?) It's not a huge game, but it's comfy.
Also questing during Ramadan is hard.
Steam User 82
you're looking at reviews wondering if this game is as good as it looks
its better
Steam User 13
It's a highly charming and authentically retro dungeon crawler in a setting that's criminally underrepresented, so what's not to love?
Steam User 13
Instructions unclear, became a pirate.
Joking aside this game is very nice. I has a few details that could use a bit of polish and a weird control scheme (strafe with arrows and move with WASD) that you can change by editing the config file. I found it much easier once I changed it to QE (turn left/right) AD (strafe left/right).
I read the manual before starting the game and I thought the whole piety aspect would become overwhelming but it's actually quite easy to get used to.