Loot – at least in the early game – doesn’t feel particularly exciting or motivational. Cutscenes can feel eternal (although those can be sped up by clicking through them). That was probably my biggest gripe with Solasta: Crown of the Magister. I want to get lost in these worlds, but I always forget how slow these games can feel. Now, I haven’t played a tabletop game in probably a dozen years, and the last really beefy party-based RPG I played was probably Dragon Age: Origins back in 2017, although my library is positively bursting with them. The randomness that comes with being reliant on dice isn’t my favorite mechanic – I like to succeed or fail on my strategies and skills, and not because my random numbers are bad, and the monster’s random numbers are good. Dice rolls are plentiful in combat, less common (but not absent) from the rest of the game, and just like real dice, sometimes they hate you. I personally always felt like combat was the least interesting part of a good table top game. If you’re craving an experience close to the experience of playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, this might be a good choice, provided of course it’s tabletop combat you’re hoping for. In retrospect, I wish I had picked up some extra healing potions before I got on the road. There’s quite a bit in the town to explore and interact with, if you’re so inclined, but I just wanted to get into the meat of the game. Of course, you’re hired as a group, and tasked with checking out an outpost with which the kingdom has recently lost contact. While you wait for you prospective employer to show up, the party members exchange stories, which you get to play through to learn some of the basic mechanics of the game. The game begins in an inn, where all four of your characters have come together, all applying for the same job – to work for the Legacy Council.
You start with a four character party there are premade characters you can choose but the game recommends that you create your own. Solasta: Crown of the Magister is perhaps even a little short, by RPG standards – HowLongToBeat estimates a play time of 35-45 hours for the base game – but it took over an hour just to get my party created and through the tutorial portions of the game, and it was over two and a half before I completed the first major story beat. In recent years, I’ve found myself avoiding RPGs for exactly that reason – the length of the stories are intimidating. Knowing that when I bought a game, I’d be able to get lost in a story and spread that gameplay over weeks – or longer – made me giddy.
For quite a while, RPG games probably made up about 50% of what I played.
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