ZORIA: AGE OF SHATTERING - REVIEW
Squad-based RPG Zoria: Age of Shattering is a massive indie role-playing game that mixes turn-based combat with base management, follower recruitment, and an extensive crafting system. After the release of a prologue in 2020 and a successful Kickstarter in late 2022, Tiny Trinket Games worked hard to release a fully-fledged 1.0 version in March 2024.
Made by a small team of three people, Zoria promises diverse tactical combat in a world of magic, mystery, and warfare akin to games like Baldur's Gate and Pillars of Eternity, but is sometimes getting overburdened by the superfluous complexity of its own systems.
OFF TO A GREAT START?
Having played the demo, I was intrigued to see what changes, for better or worse, had been made to the combat and storytelling in the full game. The main plot isn't anything you haven't heard before - a land filled with conflict and power imbalances, left in a vacuum after the end of 'The Great Fiend War.' Now, a new threat arises as one particular nation employs the evil magic of necromancy! Your main character served as a commander at a great fortress, part of a chain of bulwarks.
When evil warlocks and their foot soldiers inevitably overran the stronghold, our hero rushed into battle but was nearly killed by a catapult strike. I'm using the past tense because, by the time you reach the character creator, said fortress has already fallen. The remaining forces have gathered at a final fortified position, where our lucky hero regains consciousness among the survivors.
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Many issues listed here might not matter as much to you as they did to me though. If you're looking for a straightforward combat experience in a fantasy world that offers a wide assortment of different progressions, Zoria: Age of Shattering could be the perfect match. However, a lack of strategic depth and inconsistency in its writing highlights all too well that Zoria tries to be a jack of all trades but is clearly a master of none.
