Europe in the early Middle Ages -- Nobles and clergy rule and the trade between nations brings prosperity as well as envy, distrust, and greed. Military conflict is everywhere and entire continents are changing.
You can choose to follow the main chapters, solve the questlines or just roam around and explore the vast medieval world – but be careful as wolves or bears may try to take a bite from you... Begin with the simplest things for your own survival like hunting and farming as well as building yourself a home. Found a family and have a heir - entice others to live near and work for you, erect many other buildings to transform your settlement into a vibrant village and, ultimately, a thriving dynasty that will reign for generations.
A massive medieval open 3D world awaits… Be aware of harsh winters and unexpected events while honing your skills to turn from a medieval survivor into the ruler of a dynasty. Grab your axe, hammer, or hunting bow - and craft your legacy!
Steam User 646
This is a fun game with a lot of potential. However, I have noticed in survival games the character eats way too much. Not just this game either, all survival games. Someone wanna explain the logic in having to hunt three to four dear daily and drink 1/16 of a river just to survive? Pretty sure one dear would feed a family of 6 or more for a week. Not trying to dis this game. As i said it does have potential, but balance would be nice as well.
Steam User 1100
Do I recommend this game? Yes. But...
If you're happy to pay £18-£23 for a game that will keep you entertained for around 12 - 25 hours, (£1/£1.50/Hour) then by all means, go a head with the purchase. You will have fun if you're into this genre and you will get engrossed in it. But then you'll just stop.
You'll enjoy getting yourself set up, building your first village and investing in who you want to work in it.
You'll enjoy laying it out, and doing the side quests and getting it to look pretty.
You'll enjoy the atmosphere, hunting game, and growing your dynasty as you explore and unlock more things.
But then, all of a sudden, you'll realise there really isn't that much more to do.
All of a sudden you'll realise just how bad the AI is at operating in its current state,
you'll realise that after all those villagers joined your town, and they're all working for you, that you still aren't making any gains in your resources.
In it's current state, this game isn't finished, but it never said it was. The game is enjoyable, but it's just not there yet. The management side for me, was one of the biggest draws to this game. I want to make a village, have it thrive and use that as my base village to leech off of, so I can go and make a better, bigger, more planned main village. However, at the moment, this just isn't possible.
So, would I recommend this game? Yes, I would, BUT, don't go expecting a completed game. I think if the developers stick to what they're trying to achieve, this game will become a classic - We've just got to hope they stick with the original vision. I love sandbox games, and I love management games.
What does the game need:
+ Better UI displays, making it clearer what villagers are up to, where you need to place tools and what symbols mean
+ More buildings orientated around the growth of your city - E.g. Inns, (Enabling sleeping in other cities, drinking in your / other cities, money to go back into your city), Stores (So you don't have to keep going and selling berries to the nearest town), Guest houses, (for passing hunters, miners, travellers, traders), localised laws, etc etc.
+ Life, it needs character - At the moment, your villagers wake up, go to work, and reappear before the nights end, to go to bed. That's as close as you'll get to your villagers. After you've got yourself a wife, I saw no point in even engaging with any of them apart from the odd quest to benefit my dynasty points. I want villagers to have dinner together, to hook up together, to celebrate years end together, things like that.
+ Transportation: At the moment, if you wanted to go live in a nice empty space next to a river, you'd have to do SO many walks back and forth to build up your buildings. We need something like The Forest has, that enables you to transport logs quicker than only being able to carry the max of like 13 I think? Further more, if you decided to base yourself somewhere away from the starting town, you'd have to continuously travel back and forth to this town, just to follow the main story line.
+ Difficulty: I just started a fresh save, and within the first 15 minutes, I had killed numerous deer, 2 wolves and a bear. If you've got a spear, and you can aim at a head, all you need to do is crouch up to them, and hit the head. GGWP you win.
+ A more detailed explanation on how processes work: For instance, if you were to make a lumbercamp, and set a worker to it, you'd presume that would mean that worker would collect you wood. And for a while, it 'wood'. However, if you do not continue to put axes in the chest of THAT lumbercamp, then eventually they'll collect sticks instead of wood. But, your only way to notice this, is if you keep inventory of your resources and log that your logs aren't going up, whilst your sticks are. I built a workshop and assigned someone to that, but I've no clue what they were doing other than lowering my sticks. I put someone in a tavern, I think they made food but I'm not sure. Do they needs tool? I had people working my farms, they'd do fine when there was something to harvest, but they never managed to re-sow anything. I had someone working as a farmer in my barn, but they never processed any rye into flower - It's just all a bit unclear.
+ Travelling NPCS - Apart from the people in the town, you'll encounter no one on your travels. This makes the whole area seem very.. empty. I want to see people going from town to town, trading or visiting family. If carts or something similar were added to this (I'm sure it's planned), this would help a lot.
TLDR: Yes, I recommend the game if you're willing to play around 10-20 hours in it's current state. But, just please be aware, this is an EA, you're putting your trust in this developer (which I recommend you do at the moment, the updates have been coming in thick and fast), they've stated their intentions of what they want this game to be, I just hope to god they make it, because this could be bloody fantastic!
Steam User 590
It's been a long time since I found a game this immersive. At almost 100 hours, I've been cutting down trees, hunting deer and wild boar, chased through the forest at night by a pack of wolves, and scouring the ground for rocks as I build stone walls for my house. I've convinced people to join me by a lake in the mountains, in order to establish a small village. Now I've married and have a son who's in his fifth year, the heir to what I hope will be my dynasty.
While there are certainly flaws to the game, the graphics are stunning and the music is beautiful. For a small, 15 person company, it's an amazing achievement. It's easy for me to forgive the somewhat confused technology tree that requires far too many levels in order to learn daub, even though you've already figured out how to build wattle ages ago. And somehow you can build a campfire, but not be able to add stones around it for several levels? Um... yeah.
But I absolutely love the game and have trouble pulling myself away for that humdrum thing we call "reality." Can't everyone see I have a half-built wattle and... well, wattle house to finish before nightfall, and a fuming villager waiting by the campfire?
I've heard criticisms that this game doesn't look like the "Middle Ages," but I think it's fine on that front. It looks about right for the EARLY Middle Ages. Say, around 800 or 900 CE. And it's clearly meant to be Poland (where the developers are located) or somewhere else in that region, where circular wooden fortresses were common, rather than the Late Middle Ages in England with armored knights stealing from and murdering the peasantry under the guise of "Chivalry." I do want to warn potential players that the hunting can be brutal. It's unpleasant to shoot an animal with bow and arrow, and before I acquired a bow, I had to kill deer with my hand axe. That method is nightmarish and bloody. Not as bad as it could be, I suppose, but still the poor thing gets covered in blood as it dies. I hate that. But I confess it adds to the realistic feel of the game.
Steam User 496
*Be sure to read the blue *NOTICE below, so you're more informed about this Publisher (Toplitz).
Only one small thing is missing for my immersion, and that's the Voice Acting/Overlay, but I hear that the Dev's are working on that, so I'll wait, and see.
The game does have it's fair share of bugs, but it's Early Access, and I'm not expecting miracles. None of the bugs are game-breaking, just annoying, so I suggest you save often (very often), especially just before you converse with NPC's. Many quests are a bit buggy, but if you save, and reload, most work fine. The learning curve is high, and I would suggest a few YouTube: Walk-through videos before purchasing this game, to see if it's up your alley. There's plenty to do, explore, and the map is a decent size too. The graphics are superb, and the music score is soothing, but repetitive. You can learn/upgrade many things in this game, including yourself. The skill tree is very diverse, and immersive to watch your character grow, and mature. Yes, you can even marry, and build a family, and a whole interactive community as well.
I'm not going to bash this game or the Developer. At it's current state (Oct 28, 2020), it's a wonderful game. I am enjoying it, and the patches are fairly regular for an EA game, and this is why I've recommended it. I won't punish a Developer for the actions of a Publisher, as many do. I'm just hopeful they (The Developers) continue development on it, and actually finish it. At the same time, I also want to make you aware of Toplitz (The Publisher), track record before you purchase this game. After you read the notice below, and still think the game is worthy of a try, then by all means, buy it, or at the very least, try it before the 2 hour refund clock expires. In this game, you can do a lot in 2 hours, and be able to form an opinion. So read on. The final decision is up to you, not me.
*Notice - Buyer Beware:To reflect a growing concern for EA Supporters on their (Toplitz) previous games "Farmer's & Lumberjack's Dynasty" Regardless if you like those games or not. "Buyer Beware"
Before you buy this, I'd recommend you see how it's coming along, read some reviews (Good & Bad), be cautious of the Supporting DLC (they are actually charging you for a GAME MANUAL}, and observe the forums, as this company (Toplitz) has recently displayed a history of not completing what they ask their Developers to start (Farmer's & Lumberjack's Dynasty), and abruptly stops communicating on the forums with those that helped support their EA projects in the past. Dozens of inquiries go Unanswered. Always check the track record of the Developer & Publisher, at the top-right on the Store Page, before hitting that "Add To Cart" button. Especially for EA games.
You may also want to note that Render Cube, is both a Developing Company, and a Publisher, but I truly don't believe they have publishing rights with this game judging by the way they are listed on the Store Page. The reason I'm posting this is because they Render Cube also have a game out called Monster League, where they are listed as Developer/Publisher, and that game has been in Early Access since October of 2018 with only 38 favorable reviews currently (Oct 28, 2020). It's also their only game out, and hasn't seen an update since June of 2019. Read that game forum, and draw your own conclusions.
About Developers & Publishers:I've seen my fair share of contracts between Game Publishers & Developers. In most cases the Publisher has the copyrights, and ownership of the game (90% of the time), and calls the shots as to its Development in almost all aspects. The Publisher has the purse-strings. This holds true whether the Developer is in-house or outsourced.
The only time this changes, where the Developer has more say in the games Development, is when a Developer is seeking a Publisher, to market a game, or the Developer & Publisher are one in the same.
Final Assessment:So, based on everything, I give the game a 8/10 (The Developers). This is why I bought it. Looks good, feels good, and sounds good, but I'm still skeptical about it's completion should they (Toplitz) start another EA game. I'm just pointing out what Toplitz did with Farmer's & Lumberjack's Dynasty, regardless whom the Developers were. It's the Publisher that calls the shots. So Toplitz gets a 1/10 on Communications & Support for their loyal EA backers on their previous games. Total Rating: 4.5/10.
𝓐𝓼 𝓐𝓵𝔀𝓪𝔂𝓼,
𝓚𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓞𝓷 𝓖𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰! 🐱👍
Steam User 473
Decent game. Worth $20 bucks or so.
Needs to add FISHING! Also would be cool to to coop with a friend.
Steam User 308
Hello,
BE AWARE!
This game is going to be awesome if its not going to stop developing, the problem whit most of Toplitz Production games are that after finishing the road map for updates there are moving to an other projects (Farmer Dynasty for ex.), so lets hope that after the fourth big update there going to be a 10th and 20th update whit content. So keep that in mind if you want to buy this game.
Steam User 170
Disclaimer: This review is to the game's current state in Alpha 0.2.0.3 when posting this.
As someone who loves city builder games, this one has a soft spot for me and am beginning to become addicted to it. Currently on my 5th year of my village, I think its high time that I put in something as to why I am enjoying this game and to what I hope for in future patches.
First thing, I'll list everything I enjoy about this game.
The second you load into the game, I swear I thought I accidentally got on Kingdom Come. The graphics is just as similar to that game which was pleasing to the eye. I just love walking through the forests and along the rivers on this game.
The building aspect of the game is hands down easy to manage and interesting. I will admit that took me a few starts until I got the hang of things but that is because I am the kind of player who goes in without reading any prior instructions, even if the tutorials and tool tips literally just saved it in my face. The part that I enjoy the most is how each of the houses can be customized (with the proper materials and tech levels). After my 3rd restart, I learned before you build the walls of homes, you can change them to be walls, doors, and windows. No two houses has to look alike!
The music I could listen to it for hours, probably I am a huge geek for anything medieval. First time I loaded the game I caught myself listening to the music for a good 20 minutes before I realized it was night time on the first day.
The fact the game works as a 'dynasty' is a unique charm to the game. Even if you die of old age, you have a child successor that you basically 'respawn' to (granted if you married and had a child yet, otherwise game over). This aspect has me wondering just how many years one can go.
Now for the Cons, which per say are more than bug issues than any other, since afterall this game is in Alpha when writing this.
Tools seem to bug out on me at times when, for instance, try to cut a tree. I swing even though in range and it doesn't register the hit. Face hug the tree and look down I can then hit the tree. This happens once in a blue moon but it was still something that was happening to other tools like the hammer not hammering what you are building, or spears not registering hitting the animal.
Quests as much as I like doing them just to get away from the settlement building and management parts, I feel they are a bit repetitive. I know there can be just so much you can do but still, I find the hunting quests to be the more annoying ones. Not sure if the game bugs with them but when ever I get a hunting quest, I go to a common spot that I've seen X animal to do the quest, just to find them all gone. I travel to other several locations to find barely anything. Not sure if intended but do find it annoying. Can say that of all the hunting quests I have done, I say I completed 2 out of over a dozen tries.
NPC spawning/rendering seems to be limited to how far you are from them. An example is my main playthrough has my village east from Gostovia across the river. I have a lumber yard little bit northwest and a hunting lodge straight north near a tiny pond. Each night my villagers goes to the tavern to wind down and relax, but those who I set homes next to those work stations never come by. Only when I venture out to them, they spawn in and THEN walk to the tavern. I'd like to see that fixed that the games code at least has them walk around without having you having to be nearby to have them be 'interactive'.
Another npc problem is their pathing. Have some get stuck on fences, buildings, trees, even each other. I know its Alpha but just something to keep an eye out for to better improve the pathing AI.
Now this part is just some suggestions I would love to see added to the game. Some here are stuff already planned but I just want to say how much I will love to finally see them added.
ROADS! I NEED MY ROADS! :D I know this is coming soon but ROADS NAOW PLZ~
Signs: Simple to add, just something to add more Roleplay like names to families or buildings.
Bigger map. Nuff said.
Terrain editor: Using the shovel to dig out the land a bit to level it out to build on. There are so many great places to build that is restricted to the uneven terrain. I'm a man who loves to build his villages in the mountains.
With that, that is my review to the game. So far, I am loving it and plan to dump many hours into it.