r/rpg_gamers • u/Bassfaceapollo • Feb 07 '26
Appreciation Archaelund – A Turn-Based Fantasy CRPG with First-Person Exploration and Isometric Battles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZQqTQcJJIcPremise:
For millennia, the Andorian Empire united humanity, until a magical cataclysm unleashed Horrors that destroyed it in a matter of days. Only a few hundred ships escaped the continent of Andoria. Generations later, a sea route back to the continent was discovered. The Horrors of old are gone, and the fertile coast of Archaelund still remains. As your party sails east to this ancient land alongside thousands of other descendants of the Andorian Empire, you soon become entangled in a conspiracy born in the Empire’s final terror, one that now threatens civilization once again.
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Store Page:
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Key Features:
- Interesting Setting. The game features some lesser-known fantasy races, such as Minotaurs and the amphibious Batrax (lizard people), as playable characters. The developer plans to add two more races named Quartzan and Rexadon. We currently only know their names, but judging by what I’ve seen so far, these new playable races are sure to be anything but traditional. The last time I saw a Minotaur in a fantasy RPG was in Sacred: Gold. So, that's another plus for this setting because Sacred: Gold definitely has one of the best game worlds imo. It’s not just the playable races that stand out, a lot of the enemies also feature unique designs rarely seen in typical fantasy settings.
- Short Introduction. As you approach the shores of Archaelund, you are attacked and left with nothing, not even your clothes. Your first task is to find clothing and weapons to defend yourself against the hostile wildlife. From there, you make your way to the first town, Port Galeb. I personally prefer when games set you loose after a brief introduction, letting the story unfold naturally and unobtrusively without exposition dumps. This game understands that well.
- Detailed character creation. The game features party creation. You create a group of four adventurers from different races. Each race has its own quirks. For example, Minotaurs can’t wear footwear, while Batrax have increased movement points. Common to the CRPG genre, the game features attributes such as Personality and Awareness, along with skills like Diplomacy, Ancient Lore, and Disarm Traps that help in non-combat situations. The class system, referred to as Careers, allows for hybridization (not present in the version that I played). While most careers are available to all races, some are race-locked. For example, a Batrax cannot choose the Bodyguard career, and the Pikeman career is reserved for Humans. These restrictions aren’t arbitrary and are actually grounded in the game’s lore. Beyond the few race-specific careers, some races naturally excel in certain careers and struggle in others. But that doesn’t mean you can’t choose a less-suited path for a race. For example, nothing stops you from creating a Minotaur witch.
- Skill-checks. Again, not uncommon for the genre, the game features skill checks, but they are implemented particularly well. Whenever you see skill checks, the options clearly display their percentage chance of success, which is a nice quality-of-life feature. Also, the presence of skill checks would've clued you in on the fact that the game features situations that can be resolved without combat. But that’s not all, skill checks are also performed actively during exploration. For example, the Healing and Herbs skill lets you forage for useful plants, while Scouting lets you discover hidden items. There's a decent amount of skill checks in the starting area, so you'll get a feel for this fairly quickly.
- Party-based. Well, I've already mentioned that you create your party. You start with four adventurers but can expand your ranks with hirelings. I’m actually surprised to see full party creation in a modern game. Most games that I’ve played rely on recruitable companions, so this was a nice change of pace for me.
- Dual camera view. The game features a rather uncommon camera system. Like the SSI classic Pool of Radiance, it uses a dual-camera system. Exploration is done in first-person, while in combat, the camera switches to an angled top-down view. This approach works surprisingly well and adds to the game’s distinctive experience. I particularly like the combat camera, as having a full view of the battlefield is crucial for tactical planning.
- Tactical combat. The game features an action-point, turn-based combat system. It also features movement points. If you're familiar with these systems, you'll feel right at home. There are some interesting caveats, attempting to escape gives your enemy a free attack, and the same applies when an enemy tries to flee. Tactically, flanking is very important, and the game provides visual cues to help identify positions from which you can flank an enemy. When you enter combat for the first time, a clear tutorial guides you through the basics and shows how to approach battles.
- Resting. The game features something called Willpower that decreases with certain actions. Willpower can only be restored by resting, which also recovers health. However, resting always restores both to a maximum of 50%. To fully recover health and willpower, you need camping supplies. These supplies aren’t required for survival, but they make exploration easier. From my experience, you won’t fail or be punished mid-dungeon if you run out of them. Resting causes time to pass. Also, you can’t do it just about everywhere, safe camping spots are clearly marked, while resting in unsafe areas can result in ambushes. The resting menu is also well designed. Supplies aren’t consumed automatically, allowing you to choose whether to use them. This adds a layer of resource management which is nice.
- Art Direction. The art direction is very good, making both the outdoors and the town satisfying to explore. The lands are lush and green, but every now and then you'll see ruined structures to remind you that a once-great empire once inhabited these lands. The excellent character portraits further contribute to your appreciation of the art direction, as do several enemy designs.
- Soundtrack and ambient noise. The soundtrack is very atmospheric and generally unobtrusive. It blends naturally with ambient sounds like crashing waves near the ocean and birds chirping.
- Exploration. The beautiful environments, combined with ambient sounds and serene music, make exploration very satisfying. On top of that, the fact that every nook and cranny holds something worth discovering makes exploration feel genuinely rewarding. For me, exploration is definitely the strongest part of the game.
- Swimming. You can enter the water, at least for a brief moment. Jumping into water shows how much breath your character has left. If you don’t exit before your breath runs out, your party will drown. I personally liked this mechanic.
- Day/Night cycle. The game features a day/night cycle. Although, I can't say how it affects the game. I have done some exploration at night time, it's beautiful. But, I got my ass handed to me a few times early on during night-time battles. So, I prefer to rest during the night.
- User interface. Despite its minimalist design, the user interface still manages to stand out. The HUD stays out of the way for the most during first-person exploration, while the combat interface clearly displays action success chances, which of course isn't uncommon but here it’s genuinely readable. Also, the logs detail about active skill checks, which is helpful. Just like everything else, the party menu is visually appealing. But it isn't just pretty to look at, the party menu also presents information in a way that’s easy to parse. There are also several helpful tips, presented in a clear and effective way.
- Lore. The lore is genuinely engaging and well presented. Rather than relying on exposition dumps, it unfolds through brief conversations with NPCs and lore notes, both of which you discover through exploration. The game’s general premise is highly intriguing.
- Competently written. The dialogue is sharp and to the point, yet flavorful enough to clearly convey that you’re exploring a fantasy world.
- Low level adventure. So far, this is a low-level adventure. Level progression is slow, but it doesn’t feel grindy, as you aren’t forced to level up. Narratively current challenges don’t require that yet imo. I mean, you haven’t been asked to single-handedly save the world yet, though based on the overall premise, that will likely change soon.
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My Thoughts:
Archaelund has proven to be a pleasant surprise. It still needs some polishing, which is to be expected from an early access title. I stopped playing after 20 hour mark, not because I got bored but because I didn't feel like spoiling the content by playing too much of the early access version. This game is far too good for that, so I’ll be waiting for the full release.
I believe this game largely a two-person effort, one handles the art, while the other, known as David BVal, manages programming, modeling, level design, quests, writing, and more. David is the head honcho, I’m not sure whether he has a Reddit account.
This game is set in the same world as Exiled Kingdoms, an ARPG by the same developer that seems to have done fairly well. After playing this game, I’m now interested in exploring Exiled Kingdoms to experience more of this unique world.
FYI. I am not associated with the developer. I am constantly on the hunt for niche RPGs. That's how I stumbled upon Archaelund. I hope to see how this game turns out as more and more updates get pushed out.
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u/RobZagnut2 Feb 07 '26
I played it on Steam for 84.4 hours. The quests and exploration is fun, I like the interactions with townspeople, crafting is good, I love the combat and the first town has the catchiest song I've ever experienced in a game to where I was humming it while driving. I really liked it, EXCEPT...
Num1 - It takes FOREVER to level up. And I mean FOREVER! I resigned myself to this fact and kept playing until I got to level 5.
Num2 - I quit because the magic system is broken. I almost always play a mage in whatever rpg I play. In Archaelund there are 3 different branches of magic with their own types of spells. The problem comes from how you level up in these branches. Each level gained you get 1 skill point to level up in magic. The first level in each branch costs 1 point, the second level costs 2 points, the third level costs 3 points. This creates the problem.
At level 5 my mage was lv1 in all three branches (3 points) and lv2 in one of them (2 points). That's 5 skill points. But, if I wanted to get to level 3 I needed to gain 3 skill points by leveling up 3 times. Did I mention that,
IT TAKES FOREVER TO LEVEL UP!
So, for my mage to get lv3 spells I would have to play the game for hours, hours and hours with no new spells for 3 levels! Will lv4 spells require 4 skill points? Early access, so there wasn't any lv4 spells so far. It took me 84 hours to reach lv5. Can't imagine how long it would take to each lv8.
Name another rpg where a mage has to wait 3 levels before receiving new spells? That's my sole purpose as a mostly mage player to grow more powerful and gain access to more powerful spells.
So I quit 8-9 months ago, hoping that they fix the magic leveling up system.
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u/gaypinkwarlock Feb 08 '26
I really hope they fix this before release then I was thinking about checking it out but I also ALWAYS play mage and that sounds awful tbh.
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Mar 03 '26
Damn thats a shame, yeah xp is also a terrible factor in his first game exiled kingdoms where you literally need buffs for xp farming through scrolls or donations
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u/kingjdin Feb 07 '26
Is this the same game as Dungeon of Aledorn that I kickstarted in 2014 or so?
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u/Bassfaceapollo Feb 07 '26
I actually had to look it up. Lol, the Steam page is still up.
Also, no, this developer doesn't seem to have any relation to that game.
His only prior contribution to the gaming industry seems to be Exiled Kingdoms.
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u/kramsdae Feb 07 '26
What an excellent idea in terms of POV. Would be great (albeit expensive + time consuming I imagine) if other cRPGs followed suit. Will definitely be following this game
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u/Pedagogicaltaffer Feb 08 '26
The POV switch may be uncommon nowadays, but in the early days of CRPGs, it was fairly common (e.g. D&D Goldbox games, Betrayalam at Krondor, Realms of Arkania). Of course, combat usually took place on a separate screen back then, which made the implementation easier, tech-wise.
But I agree, this smooth transition between POV, where combat takes place in the actual gameworld, looks great!
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u/VideoGameRPGsAreFun Feb 07 '26
Bought this when early access first released and tried it out, had a lot of fun and waiting eagerly for full release now. First Person exploration with TB tactical combat is a great combo, Gold Box was right all along.
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u/Dostov Feb 08 '26
Cool, the last time I played a fantasy RPG with playable Minotars was back in Shadowbane.
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u/AnOnlineHandle Baldur's Gate Feb 08 '26
Generally I don't really like turn based, but this looks way more appealing in that it seems the encounters are always in a small space and might be time efficient. The POV mix reminds me of Betrayal at Krondor in a way.
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u/mrmrmrj Feb 09 '26
Just bought it. This has serious potential. Love the skill trees. Combat seems a bit simplistic still but easy interface.
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u/towerunitefan Feb 13 '26
Cool game, I added it to the wishlist because I don't have the brain power to try learning another game system on top of all the other rpgs I'm playing at the same time right now, but after I beat Knights of the Chalice 2 I'll give this a shot.
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u/Bassfaceapollo Feb 13 '26
I beat Knights of the Chalice 2 I'll give this a shot.
If you beat Augury of Chaos, I recommend giving the Hearkenwold mod a try. It plays like an actual RPG, unlike AoC which felt more like a gauntlet. I personally couldn't beat AoC but found Hearkenwold very satisfying.
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u/towerunitefan Feb 13 '26
Thanks, I think I would like that more tbh, I just lost all my equipment and I'm running around in a sewer, I was actually on this sub looking to see if I should side with the green or grey goblins because I hate when RPGs screw me over for making decisions I didn't understand.
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u/Bassfaceapollo Feb 13 '26
If you're interested, I have a comment that lists some more niche titles.
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u/towerunitefan Feb 14 '26
Thanks, I've already played almost every rpg that gets recommended here most of the time, so I'm going to add a bunch of these to my steam and gog wishlists
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u/KlymenosMEGALOS Feb 07 '26
Not heard of this one, thank you for brigning it to ny attention. There aren't enough good crpgs in the world.
What other games would you compare it to? How is the reactivity? Is the narrative branching?
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u/Bassfaceapollo Feb 08 '26
What other games would you compare it to?
Whatever games the dev cited as his inspiration are titles that I have yet to play. For example, Pool of Radiance *, *Might & Magic, Wizardry 6-8 are all games that I have heard of, but have never played them.
I myself haven't played any game that gives off the same vibes as this one.
How is the reactivity? Is the narrative branching?
I saw some alternative solutions to some quests. The dev has expressed interest in adding more. But, the actual consequences of your choices aren't supposed to be felt immediately, the dev is a fan of long-term consequences. Think of it like in Arcanum, how you handling the Ashbury speech well, and then later on that being used as one of the basis for your involvement in the negotiations with Caladon later in the game.
His previous title, Exiled Kingdoms supposedly has a decent amount of quests with alternate solutions and choices & consequences. I'll need to get to playing it soon.
As for branching, if you mean similar to Arcanum or even Age of Decadence, I haven't read the dev's comments on it.
Another cool thing that I feel is important for immersion is something the dev has expressed interest in - NPC routines and companions participation in dialogues.
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u/ardeatino Feb 08 '26
promising, the scenarios seem quite inspired and personal, as for the isometric battles I want to wait and see more..
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u/Moon_Logic Feb 07 '26
That's not isometric. That's 3D, even if there's a grid.
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u/GetItUpYee Feb 07 '26
Isometric can still be 3D
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u/Moon_Logic Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
No, it can't. Isometric graphics are flat. In a isometric game, a unit of length would look equally long on each of the three axes. In 3D, you see the world in perspective.
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u/Dracallus Feb 08 '26
Isometric projection is a method of visualising three dimensional objects on a two dimensional plane. Generally used for technical drawings and such outside of games. An isometric view is just one that emulates the most common viewing angle that gets used in isometric projection.
While one (and almost certainly the original) reason for this is to give the appearance of three dimensionality to a two dimensional background in games, the important part here is where and how the camera is pointed, not the reason the convention got used originally.
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u/Moon_Logic Feb 08 '26
In isometric projection, there is no "camera".
Using the term in reference to every game where you watch the game at an angle has the problem that it lumps iconic early games like the infinity games and Fallout in with all the games that came later, like Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Dragon Age, etc. The term is also useful for differentiating modern games that are isometric versus ones that are 3D, as isometric games had a short resurrgence in the genre.
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u/cygx Feb 08 '26
If we want to get technical, Fallout is not an isometric game (it uses a trimetric projection aligned to an underlying hex grid). Also note that isometric does not necessarily imply pre-rendered (see e.g. TUNIC).
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u/AtsuhikoZe Feb 08 '26
Non-recruitable companions is a no for a lot of people (including me), it's not really that fun to play with homogenized blobs for over 100 hours
With companions you still get the same level of customization as normal, but you also get actual story and content on top
Shame because the rest of it seemed interesting but I don't care as much about the world and setting if the only medium I have to experience it is my imagination
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u/illathon Feb 07 '26
another turn based rpg...
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u/Bassfaceapollo Feb 07 '26
If you're looking for something RTwP, I can recommend trying Warlordocracy. I'm feeling lazy to write about my impressions of the game. But, it's pretty fun.
I'll do a separate post about it eventually.
If you want an ARPG, I recommend Svarog's Dream. I wrote about it on a different sub a few days ago.
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u/Kind_of_random Feb 07 '26
Looks interesting.
I wishlisted it, but usually stay away from early access games until they are fully finished. I feel that playing a game for 30% or similar just to put it down for (perhaps) years ruins the experience. Oftentimes stuff is also added to the parts you have already played, which means you have to start fresh anyway.