Serpents in the Staglands is an injection of good old RPG directly into your veins.

Game is done by a husband-wife duo but it feels like the work of a larger indie studio. I don't like pixelated graphics other than 2d platformers, but Staglands actually looks good. The sound effects are okay too and I liked the soundtrack.

This a detailed RPG, with a pen&paper&dice system. Combat plays like Baldur's Gate, it is not turn based but you can pause the game and give commands to your units. I find it mostly strategic and fun and oddly satisfying. Skill system is both familiar and unfamiliar. For example spellcasting is not your every traditional spellcasting, but without spoiling it, I can say that it is a different and enjoyable system.

Besides the combat, gameplay is mostly old-school. There is no automatic journal to track your quests, you need to write down them manually into the in-game journal or to a paper. No one will hold your hand for a quest. There is no mini-map, no quest-markers. Enemies won't scale to your level. Game has a beautiful world-map where you can wander like Fallout 1&2. But even the towns are not shown until you discovered them, and the locations of your destinations are generally hinted by dialogs or hand-drawn maps, and sometimes not hinted at all. And yes, this is an open-world game. You can wander wherever you want unless you get killed.

Staglands is a hard game. You will reload many times. At the beginning, your entire party can be easily killed by local wild life and low-life grave diggers will beat you to death. I recommend everyone not to give up in the first hours. Slowly you will be used to skills and you will gain a few levels. Spend your points wisely and you will find yourself enjoying the combat and the game.

I wished the game contained more dialog, for an old-school RPG, I think it lacks a little bit text. Another pitfall is the loading times, they are frequent and long.

Staglands was a good distraction from modern RPGs for me. I recommend this game to every RPG fan.

Serpents in the Staglands is an injection of good old RPG directly into your veins. Game is done by a husband-wife duo but it feels like the work of a larger indie studio. I don't like pixelated graphics other than 2d platformers, but Staglands actually looks good. The sound effects are okay too and I liked the soundtrack. This a detailed RPG, with a pen&paper&dice system. Combat plays like Baldur's Gate, it is not turn based but you can pause the game and give commands to your units. I find it mostly strategic and fun and oddly satisfying. Skill system is both familiar and unfamiliar. For example spellcasting is not your every traditional spellcasting, but without spoiling it, I can say that it is a different and enjoyable system. Besides the combat, gameplay is mostly old-school. There is no automatic journal to track your quests, you need to write down them manually into the in-game journal or to a paper. No one will hold your hand for a quest. There is no mini-map, no quest-markers. Enemies won't scale to your level. Game has a beautiful world-map where you can wander like Fallout 1&2. But even the towns are not shown until you discovered them, and the locations of your destinations are generally hinted by dialogs or hand-drawn maps, and sometimes not hinted at all. And yes, this is an open-world game. You can wander wherever you want unless you get killed. Staglands is a hard game. You will reload many times. At the beginning, your entire party can be easily killed by local wild life and low-life grave diggers will beat you to death. I recommend everyone not to give up in the first hours. Slowly you will be used to skills and you will gain a few levels. Spend your points wisely and you will find yourself enjoying the combat and the game. I wished the game contained more dialog, for an old-school RPG, I think it lacks a little bit text. Another pitfall is the loading times, they are frequent and long. Staglands was a good distraction from modern RPGs for me. I recommend this game to every RPG fan.