Solasta - Preview @ Slanted

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Slanted checked out Solasta: Crown of the Magister:

'Solasta: Crown of The Magister' Preview: A Strong Start

If social distancing has your D&D gatherings on hold, "Solasta" should be on your wishlist. The game recently launched in Early Access on Steam, under the title "Solasta: Crown of the Magister." The RPG is an ongoing project from Tactical Adventures, with combat based on the 5e ruleset.

You don't have to have prior knowledge of D&D to enjoy the game, and you can pick up the gameplay mechanics rather quickly. Many tactical games have borrowed from D&D in the past, so if you enjoy the genre, it shouldn't take you long to get a basic understanding of how combat and actions in Solasta play out. You will undoubtedly have a few stumbling blocks right out of the gate, but the game offers a lot of help and explanation along the way. Players will find familiar UI elements like spell and weapon slots, armor ratings, enchantments, positive and negative charms, a combat grid, turn-based gameplay, and a bit of randomized chaos.

Wizards of the Coast granted Tactical Adventures a license to use the Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.1 content and rules in "Solasta: Crown of the Magister," so experienced players shouldn't have any trouble diving into the more advanced mechanics.

The game's official description reads, "Solasta is a team-based adventure game where each character plays a critical role in the campaign and can be a hero. The dynamic and mysterious world features elements of verticality, allowing players to use their surroundings as an element of strategy. Players can position ranged characters on high vantage points or send their thief down into shafts and caverns to scope out what lies ahead. In Solasta, light is a tool to explore the depths and hallows of dungeons or can be used as a weapon against the creatures of the dark, but if players aren't careful, it will give away the party's position to nasty creatures bent on their demise."

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More information.
 
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I finished up Solasta this week with 30+hours of gameplay and a lvl-5 party. Here is my "Review":
Solasta is a low-budget game but it is amazing what they were able to do and the game holds lots of promise. Solasta implements the D&D5e ruleset so brilliantly and faithfully that really satisfies me as an avid D&D player. The last video game that surpassed my expectations in terms of D&D rules implementation was the Temple of Elemental Evil. And speaking of which, I would call Solasta a spiritual successor of the ToEE because it really reminds me of this game that I hold dear to my heart. Solasta is also very atmospheric, particularly the places that you go near the end of the game (of the early access). The library and the bone keep castle are just awesome. However, the game does test your patience when you start playing it: the character models are awful, the story is not that engaging at the beginning (but it gets better as you progress), the initial foes (Soraks) are just weird, the first place that you go is not that interesting, and the game is very buggy right now (this is expected as an EA version). Nonetheless, if you get past that and stick to the game it will be a very rewarding experience, especially if you are a D&D hardcore player.
 
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Does the narrative finish or does EA only cover the first one or two chapters?

You are asking if the story ends in EA? No, it does not. It doesn't seem that they divide the game by chapters, so I am not sure if the point that I ended up is like the end of a chapter or something.

Further, my party ended up lvl5 and they said that the players will be able to level up the party up till lvl10. So I guess the EA covers 50% of the story, more or less...
 
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Thanks for the minireview, Gabriel. That does indeed sound a lot like ToEE, which sounds kind of perfect to me.
 
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I never understood the cult-following of TOEE. I tried playing it and while the first part is interested, as soon as you enter in the Temple itself, the game suddenly becomes a hackfest with little story, interactions... you just fight one room after the other Ad Nauseam in an endless dungeon.

Certainly, DnD rules are very well integrated and combats are pretty well done... but imo, a game needs to be more than that.

Perhaps I didn't go far enough in the game to be hooked ?

Anyhow, I really hope Solasta is a more complete game.
 
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Gabriel, great review. I have not finished yet, but i just completed the library area you reference. i have pretty much the exact same thoughts, including the Soraks...

Did you notice a lot of attacks made being made at a disadvantage? I play tabletop 5e and I can't figure out why this would be happening.
 
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Awww, I'd have to disagree. It's no ToEE. (with CO8 patch!) But we'll see how it turns out. :)

Also, the devs said there was about 10 hours of game and you should get to around party level 6. Not level 10; 10 hours!
 
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I never understood the cult-following of TOEE. I tried playing it and while the first part is interested, as soon as you enter in the Temple itself, the game suddenly becomes a hackfest with little story, interactions… you just fight one room after the other Ad Nauseam in an endless dungeon.

I partially agree with you here. The strong point of ToEE was never the story. So yeah, not much to show there. However, ToEE is good at two things: atmosphere and D&D ruleset implementation. That's why so many people like it, it really feels like a D&D game session.

Gabriel, great review. I have not finished yet, but i just completed the library area you reference. i have pretty much the exact same thoughts, including the Soraks…

Did you notice a lot of attacks made being made at a disadvantage? I play tabletop 5e and I can't figure out why this would be happening.

Thanks. Most of the disadvantages that I got playing Solasta happened because of the lighting: if your target is dim-lit and if you have normal vision you get a disadvantage, and if your target is not-lit (at all) then you get a disadvantage even if you have dark vision.
 
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Also, the devs said there was about 10 hours of game and you should get to around party level 6. Not level 10; 10 hours!

This is only true for the EA. They said that at launch you will be able to level up your party up to lvl 10. Further, in my playthrough, I was only able to reach level 5, and I am a very completionist player (it took me 30+ hours to complete the game). So I don't think anyone will be able to reach lvl 6 in Solasta EA.
 
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I didn't play far, but tt definitely didn't feel done to me. I'll take another look at launch. And again with the short list of classes. It made me want to play Knights of the Chalice, the sequel of which has plenty of classes. It also feels like playing a D&D module, and its first game also suffered from a short list of classes.
 
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I can understand why they only put a limited range of classes in for early access, but I think I'd actually favour getting that aspect fleshed out first, even if it meant a bit less EA content. I think there's a lot of folks that are pleased when they see a rich variety of character possibilities, and that will get you some good word of mouth with RPG types.
 
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All a DnD game requires is a Rogue, a Cleric, a Warrior and a Mage. The rest are non-essential bonus that can be added later :)
 
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All a DnD game requires is a Rogue, a Cleric, a Warrior and a Mage. The rest are non-essential bonus that can be added later :)

Maybe it's just me but this is the basic premise I want from any RPG and I want more from D&D - rich class building is one of the strengths of D&D so why should I settle for the basic options only? :)
 
Because as grumpy RPG elites we only want the original classes from 600 years ago and not that other fancy modern classes that are totally useless.

(But I REALLY want a charisma based prepared arcane full caster! It's OBVIOUS that this MUST exist.)
 
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@gabrielarantest;
Yeah, 10 hours in EA. You've done alright getting 30 out of it!

All a DnD game requires is a Rogue, a Cleric, a Warrior and a Mage. The rest are non-essential bonus that can be added later :)
I always feel like I have to go fighter, cleric, mage, thief for the first four, just to make sure I have a solid party, then the last two are where I spice things up. Sucks to be limited to four in Solasta.
 
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