SanctuaryRPG Review

Sanctuary RRG is the second retro style RPG in a row I have reviewed now and I think I am starting to develop a taste for them. This game has a very interesting business model, in which you can download it for free but they do suggest a donation. So it is very hard to critique a completely free to play game that has no micro transactions within it. I will however soldier boldly on as I really did enjoy my time I spent with Sanctuary RPG.

The game is a roguelike text based adventure and utilizes black and white text art to illustrate all its scenes and enemies. The game takes a bit of an irreverent spin of the genre and has a very tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, usually taking the form of potato based jokes. The game has three game settings, Classic mode which is your traditional roguelike with perma-death. The second mode is Soft-Core, this has no perma-death but gives you a 20% item drop rate. The third mode is a Survival mode, this sees you just attempting to win as many battles in a row as possible, levelling as you go without any of the story element of the game. Like most roguelikes the game is fairly challenging, however it is not as overwhelmingly difficult as some I have played. I found the challenge was just enough to make it feel like I had to play intelligently without feeling like the game was just trying to brutalize you.

The combat is a bit tricky to wrap your head around at first despite the tutorial at the beginning of the game, and initially I was not really sure what certain things were doing, but after a while you start to notice what is going on and how your moves and the link based combat system works. Each character has a heal and a series of moves that have an alternate effect than damage and will specifically counter different stances and actions of your enemies. Such as charging or going into a guard mode. The animations in the combat are non-existent but there are several in the story, and they do have a distinct charm to them.

The music for the game is fantastic and some of the best chiptune style music I have heard in a long while, and I am not usually a fan of that sort of music.  In this case it really adds to the feel of the game. The sense of humour is a bit hit and miss but I think it seeks to mock the sort of jokes that were in games of the time (the 90s) and as a wee baby some of it goes over my head. It also has a huge amount of references to pop culture and other games from the word go, and some of them are very funny while others feel a little forced.

While in theory there is a large variety of classes and races none of them really feel distinct. Each class has its three moves and a heal and because of the lack of animation none of them really feel any different from one another, despite varying in damage and effect. I do understand artistically why they decided to go down this route though and respect it as a design choice, however they might have been able to manage some very basic early Pokémon-style animations. I say this as someone who does play quite a few pen and paper based RPG’s, I just think that without the social aspect the lack of graphics does take something away for me.

I think Black Shell Games have done a great job with this title and have been very intelligent with their business model. I went into the game with a great amount of goodwill towards them, and I now look forward to seeing further offerings. I enjoyed my time with the game and I can wholeheartedly recommend the game to anyone, because of this business model. I would suggest if you like it that you do donate as it is important to support such consumer friendly practices whenever a company takes this line. The game will at least entertain you for a couple of hours and if you get into it you can spend a lot more time going for the challenges and trying out all the classes and races. I think the game would be great on a Windows tablet or as an app, as despite being an RPG it is quite easy to drop in and drop out.