Lawless Lands

Like other Corrosive Studios games, Lawless Lands is a bit of a rough gem - the settings are usually grim, dialogue is serviceable, but where the games truly shine is the sense of slowly growing your character into someone more powerful and more able to navigate the grim world they inhabit.
In that sense, Lawless Lands is no exception and stands out as in my view the best of what Corrosive Studios has to offer. This is IMO their best setting and with the best balance of progression in their games. The studio also still continues to add on to their games, even to this day. Easy recommend for me.

The game is good a lot of work and thought has been put in.
Now i wanted to play this game as a solo wizard and see where it could bring me, after 10 hours unfortunately i can say it's nearly impossible.
The spells alone aren't enough they deal an abysmall damage, the level ups fail to bring enough upgrade
the accuracy of a smite with divine energy on a ghost is nearly zero and when you take them it does less damage than scorch the spells themselves have a fixed damage so when you got them they will remain at that level of damage (bar the 4 points you can put in the stats using fame), so even gifting myself a dozen levels to counterbalance the disantvantage of playing alone still dosen't do it.
Sure by paying 40 something euro for the dlc maybe one of them will have an upgrade, still leaves a bitter sensation
This is a good game, as long as you don't try to play a solo wizard.

Lawless Lands is a role-playing game that wears its inspirations proudly, delivering a sprawling fantasy adventure rooted in the traditions of classic Western RPGs. Developed and published by Corrosive Studios LLC, the game transports players to the fractured realm of Crossia, a land where political instability, corruption, and endless conflict have pushed society toward collapse. Rather than guiding players through a tightly scripted experience, it encourages them to forge their own path in a world that feels indifferent to their existence. From the outset, Lawless Lands establishes itself as a title designed for enthusiasts of deep character progression and expansive exploration rather than players seeking a streamlined, cinematic experience.
The game's greatest achievement lies in its commitment to player agency. Character creation offers an extensive collection of races, professions, religions, alignments, and personal traits that significantly influence interactions throughout the adventure. The choices made during creation are not superficial additions but meaningful elements that shape how NPCs respond and how certain situations unfold. This dedication to role-playing extends across the campaign, allowing players to embrace the role of a wandering adventurer, an honorable champion, or an opportunistic outlaw. Combined with multiple endings and numerous branching outcomes, the game provides ample reason to return for additional playthroughs.
Crossia itself is impressively large, featuring dozens of settlements and a vast number of locations to uncover. Exploration is consistently rewarding, with hidden caves, dangerous ruins, and side activities waiting beyond the main questline. The world is supported by more than a hundred side quests, many of which contribute additional lore and flesh out the setting's grim atmosphere. Randomized events and campaign modifiers further enhance replayability, ensuring that journeys through the kingdom retain an element of unpredictability. The sense of scale is remarkable, particularly considering the game's independent origins and modest budget.
Beyond questing and exploration, Lawless Lands incorporates a substantial number of gameplay systems. Players can engage in crafting, establish bases, hunt bounties, gather resources, fish, delve into tombs, and battle enemies representing numerous factions across the continent. Equipment durability and resource management add a layer of strategy that prevents combat from becoming mindless. The inclusion of weather effects, a day-and-night cycle, and New Game Plus mode demonstrates the developer's ambition to create a living world packed with activities. There is almost always another task to pursue or another corner of the map to investigate.
However, the game's ambitious scope occasionally works against it. Built with RPGMaker, Lawless Lands carries a visual presentation that may feel dated to modern audiences. Menus can become cumbersome, and some mechanics lack the polish found in larger productions. The abundance of systems can also be intimidating, particularly during the opening hours when the game introduces players to its many interconnected features. Those unfamiliar with old-school RPG design may find the learning curve steeper than expected, while others may perceive the pacing as uneven due to the sheer volume of available content.
Even so, Lawless Lands succeeds by understanding exactly what it wants to be. It is a game made for players who miss the era when role-playing games prioritized freedom, experimentation, and consequence over spectacle. Its retro aesthetics and occasional rough edges are offset by the passion evident in every aspect of its design. Few independent RPGs offer this level of customization, replayability, and worldbuilding in a single package. While it may not appeal to everyone, those willing to immerse themselves in Crossia's harsh and unforgiving landscape will find an experience filled with memorable adventures and meaningful choices.
Rating: 8/10

A solid roleplaying experience that keeps situations tense without being too overly punishing; you can't save scum, and saving costs resources, but saving at a reasonable rate is doable.

Plenty to watch for and be careful of. If you play at the baseline normal and expected way, this game is fine. Take heed if you play the Loner style (start your playthrough with the Loner modifier to reduce companion group size), you can wind up in a tough spot travelling on the world map and getting ambushed by an enemy group you can't flee from.

A slight problem you can fine-tune with volume settings: overly noisy horror sting sound effects in the environment could alarm you into thinking something terrible just happened when really, that's just ambience. It could jar you into being attentive just to realize nothing happened. I question the choice of the horror sting effects is all, some of them are questionably much.

7/10
A little confusing at first but has an interesting plot

This game is easy to spend all day playing; it's got a surprising amount of game customizations available, has fun quests and a solid (if not slightly generic) world to explore. I do wish that there was more color/less dreariness, but for the price you get a lot of hours of content to play through in multiple ways.

This was made in RPG Maker, which comes with a whole lot of baggage. It means some things that would be a UI selection are instead items you need to use to get said UI to pop up (see: using your Fame to upgrade things like "able to have more companions" and "get a few more stat points", which I found out quite a while in) but once you learn it, it just becomes an annoyance.

That said, it's very well made and largely lets you do what you want, Skyrim-style. There's a main story that you'll need to follow at some point, but there's so much content, characters you can recruit, and stuff to do that will keep you entertained for quite a while. I spent a whole lot of time just wandering around and doing stuff before doing the storyline after a while, because I am an explorer.

The combat is turn-based and kind of familiar to anyone who plays this stuff, but it's been changed enough to be both awesome and painful. Awesome in that there's a lot of ways to affect combat (bleeding, knocking someone off balance, stunning, arrows that do all kinds of status things. That said, it's all percentages, and I think it's a pretty raw percentage so there's an awful lot of RNGesus happening with these. With three levels of bad guy, it can get REAL difficult with some fights.

That said, it's a low magic fantasy world. Magic's there, but it's pretty fickle, and the most powerful spells can only be cast through staves. There's also crafting. Unfortunately, there's also encumbrance, which is really important to know that you can upgrade your party size. I am a collector. I grab everything.

Also worth noting: There's levels, but no classes. Your companions have a list of equipment they can and cannot use (but also a unique ability!) , but your main character can do anything they want to spend points on.

The main story is pretty good - not a tear-jerker, but a solid one. The side quests range from rote to rather interesting.

Overall, this is a pretty positive, solid experience. You'll find a couple of stressful spots depending on how you approach things with your character, but I enjoyed it as a nice, open-world romp from an indie developer.