My Playtime: 19.5h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (17 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Smoke and Sacrifice is a top-down survival game where you need to explore a huge map and finish quests. It's focused on a loop where you need to gather resources to craft gears that will help to kill enemies, which will drop new resources that can help you to craft better gears.

Pros:
- Craftable items are limited based on progression, making them easy to digest
- A lot of save and teleport points scattered around the map

Cons:
- Combat is stiff
- It's easy to misclick items that are closely stacked on top of each other

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like quest-based survival games and don't mind a bit of a grind, buy this game at a sale.

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Smoke and Sacrifice uses 2D visuals that look slightly like 3D models with their shading. Sometimes, character's movements look stiff in the cutscenes, but the movement becomes smooth once you are in control. Each biome looks distinct and despite the lack of objects in the area, which is needed to avoid cluttering, they still look good to the eye.

The story is forgettable. There are just too many gaps between the story segments due to the gameplay. Luckily, you don't need to understand what happened to enjoy the game. Quest tracker will always be available to tell you where to go if you didn't pick up what you should do from the conversations, and dialogues tend to be made brief. I just didn't like whenever the game moves its camera back and forth whenever it tries to show a cutscene with another person that is slightly far from where the main character is - the game can just initiate the cutscene when my character is closer to prevent the camera movement.

Gameplay
Smoke and Sacrifice has one main goal: to survive. As I said before, the gameplay revolves around a loop where you need to gather resources and use them to craft gears that will enable you to kill enemies, which in turn will drop other resources that can help you to make better gears. Enemies will vary based on the biomes where you are located, giving a tougher one whenever a new one is unlocked.

Your gear can perish. All gears, including armor and weapons, have durability and will disappear once it's out of it. Weapons will lose durability once it's used for attacking, while armor will lose it once you take damage. There are ways to recover it: using items, upgrading, or crafting the gear again. Despite having to deal with it early game, I don't have to worry about durability late game. You'll have a lot of durability restoring items as quest rewards which you can save for that occasion.

Exploration
You need to be geared to explore the biomes. The game has 5 biomes in total, with four of them being split and stacked on top of each other. Although the first biome can be explored without any item, you need to craft a certain boot to help you navigate the other biomes. Unlike other gears, boots have no durability, meaning that they won't perish if you use them too much. Swapping boots in different biomes also can be done with just a simple click, making it easy to navigate the whole map.

You are free to explore the area in any order that you want, although progression to a certain biome is limited until you progress with the story. You don't need to explore the whole map, but you will be rewarded with some storage spaces, items, or recipes for crafting by doing so. Speaking of crafting, you'll get the mandatory recipes from the main quests, but having the optional ones will help you to survive the wild better.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402808419

The game has 2 in-game cycles: smoke and non-smoke time. The areas will turn dark in smoke time and you need to craft a light source to survive. Some enemies will be more aggressive, while others will only spawn during that time. You need to plan carefully since there is a better activity that you can do in each period.

Combat
The combat is stiff. You need to click on the enemy to attack, but it can give trouble if the enemy is either moving too fast or located close to other interactable objects. The game will only accept attacks when you hover at the enemy and wait until their name shows up. This also gives an issue whenever you need to collect items that are stacked on top of each other - it's hard to find the item that you need without clicking on the other items. Moreover, your character will also automatically move towards the enemy if you are attacking far from it, making it hard to position yourself in the right spot while attacking.

Enemies will be tougher in new biomes, requiring you to figure out the best way to deal with them. You might die several times while doing some activities, but the game has a lot of save points. Just make sure you save often, and you won't have to worry about it. However, some enemies might camp near important spots, making it easy to get hit. I died once in the last biome because I wanted to craft some items, for example.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1746696538

Quests
Smoke and Sacrifice rely on quests to progress. The quests will help you learn the ropes, making it easy to digest the numerous craftable items in the game. The fact that most items in newer biomes are similar to the others might also help, although I never feel overwhelmed early game because of it.

Sometimes, other NPCs will also give side quests. There isn't any indication when they will start giving quests, but most NPCs in the area tend to give the same dialogue, minimizing the need to talk to a lot of people. Moreover, you will also travel between the areas a lot, and you'll easily find the NPCs on the way.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1437459912

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 19.5h. The game isn't hard as long as you know what to do, although some progressions might be tricky since you need to experiment with some items. That being said, if you get stuck, there are a lot of guides that can help you.

Issues
The game crashed on me several times. All quests in the first village are also vague because there isn't a map or pointers to help. I had to blindly explore the whole map to find the main character's home, which can be hard to find even with the hint.

To be honest, I wasn't interested in the game at first. There is a bit of a grind needed at the beginning to kick-start you in the game. Your gear can degrade, so you need to have backups, and experimenting early-game means a lot of deaths and retries. Strangely, it doesn't take long until I found the right strategy, which makes me enjoy the game more. Exploring becomes fun and the quests keep me going.

People who like variety might get bored with the repetition, though since new gears tend to be the same, albeit in better quality. The process to get the new gear is also the same with slight tweaks. However, I didn't find it too bothersome. I enjoyed exploring the whole map, and it's easy to find the resources that you need just from that. There are times when I had to farm some healing items, but it doesn't bother me once I find some spots to farm them.

If you like survival games and like to be guided, you'll like Smoke and Sacrifice. It's not perfect, but it's good enough. However, the game doesn't seem to be polished enough since I got some crashes, especially whenever I'm Alt-tabbing. If you are interested in any of the aspects, feel free to buy this game, but make sure to do it on a sale.

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 19.5h (100% achievement, finished the game) [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No. [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (17 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] [b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b] is a top-down survival game where you need to explore a huge map and finish quests. It's focused on a loop where you need to gather resources to craft gears that will help to kill enemies, which will drop new resources that can help you to craft better gears. [b]Pros:[/b] - Craftable items are limited based on progression, making them easy to digest - A lot of save and teleport points scattered around the map [b]Cons:[/b] - Combat is stiff - It's easy to misclick items that are closely stacked on top of each other [b]Specs[/b] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]Yes.[/b] [i]If you like quest-based survival games and don't mind a bit of a grind, buy this game at a sale.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] [b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b] uses 2D visuals that look slightly like 3D models with their shading. Sometimes, character's movements look stiff in the cutscenes, but the movement becomes smooth once you are in control. Each biome looks distinct and despite the lack of objects in the area, which is needed to avoid cluttering, they still look good to the eye. [h3]Story[/h3] The story is forgettable. There are just too many gaps between the story segments due to the gameplay. Luckily, you don't need to understand what happened to enjoy the game. Quest tracker will always be available to tell you where to go if you didn't pick up what you should do from the conversations, and dialogues tend to be made brief. I just didn't like whenever the game moves its camera back and forth whenever it tries to show a cutscene with another person that is slightly far from where the main character is - the game can just initiate the cutscene when my character is closer to prevent the camera movement. [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] [b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b] has one main goal: to survive. As I said before, the gameplay revolves around a loop where you need to gather resources and use them to craft gears that will enable you to kill enemies, which in turn will drop other resources that can help you to make better gears. Enemies will vary based on the biomes where you are located, giving a tougher one whenever a new one is unlocked. Your gear can perish. All gears, including armor and weapons, have durability and will disappear once it's out of it. Weapons will lose durability once it's used for attacking, while armor will lose it once you take damage. There are ways to recover it: using items, upgrading, or crafting the gear again. Despite having to deal with it early game, I don't have to worry about durability late game. You'll have a lot of durability restoring items as quest rewards which you can save for that occasion. [b]Exploration[/b] You need to be geared to explore the biomes. The game has 5 biomes in total, with four of them being split and stacked on top of each other. Although the first biome can be explored without any item, you need to craft a certain boot to help you navigate the other biomes. Unlike other gears, boots have no durability, meaning that they won't perish if you use them too much. Swapping boots in different biomes also can be done with just a simple click, making it easy to navigate the whole map. You are free to explore the area in any order that you want, although progression to a certain biome is limited until you progress with the story. You don't need to explore the whole map, but you will be rewarded with some storage spaces, items, or recipes for crafting by doing so. Speaking of crafting, you'll get the mandatory recipes from the main quests, but having the optional ones will help you to survive the wild better. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402808419 The game has 2 in-game cycles: smoke and non-smoke time. The areas will turn dark in smoke time and you need to craft a light source to survive. Some enemies will be more aggressive, while others will only spawn during that time. You need to plan carefully since there is a better activity that you can do in each period. [b]Combat[/b] The combat is stiff. You need to click on the enemy to attack, but it can give trouble if the enemy is either moving too fast or located close to other interactable objects. The game will only accept attacks when you hover at the enemy and wait until their name shows up. This also gives an issue whenever you need to collect items that are stacked on top of each other - it's hard to find the item that you need without clicking on the other items. Moreover, your character will also automatically move towards the enemy if you are attacking far from it, making it hard to position yourself in the right spot while attacking. Enemies will be tougher in new biomes, requiring you to figure out the best way to deal with them. You might die several times while doing some activities, but the game has a lot of save points. Just make sure you save often, and you won't have to worry about it. However, some enemies might camp near important spots, making it easy to get hit. I died once in the last biome because I wanted to craft some items, for example. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1746696538 [b]Quests[/b] [b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b] rely on quests to progress. The quests will help you learn the ropes, making it easy to digest the numerous craftable items in the game. The fact that most items in newer biomes are similar to the others might also help, although I never feel overwhelmed early game because of it. Sometimes, other NPCs will also give side quests. There isn't any indication when they will start giving quests, but most NPCs in the area tend to give the same dialogue, minimizing the need to talk to a lot of people. Moreover, you will also travel between the areas a lot, and you'll easily find the NPCs on the way. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1437459912 [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game in 19.5h. The game isn't hard as long as you know what to do, although some progressions might be tricky since you need to experiment with some items. That being said, if you get stuck, there are a lot of guides that can help you. [b]Issues[/b] The game crashed on me several times. All quests in the first village are also vague because there isn't a map or pointers to help. I had to blindly explore the whole map to find the main character's home, which can be hard to find even with the hint. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] To be honest, I wasn't interested in the game at first. There is a bit of a grind needed at the beginning to kick-start you in the game. Your gear can degrade, so you need to have backups, and experimenting early-game means a lot of deaths and retries. Strangely, it doesn't take long until I found the right strategy, which makes me enjoy the game more. Exploring becomes fun and the quests keep me going. People who like variety might get bored with the repetition, though since new gears tend to be the same, albeit in better quality. The process to get the new gear is also the same with slight tweaks. However, I didn't find it too bothersome. I enjoyed exploring the whole map, and it's easy to find the resources that you need just from that. There are times when I had to farm some healing items, but it doesn't bother me once I find some spots to farm them. If you like survival games and like to be guided, you'll like [b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b]. It's not perfect, but it's good enough. However, the game doesn't seem to be polished enough since I got some crashes, especially whenever I'm Alt-tabbing. If you are interested in any of the aspects, feel free to buy this game, but make sure to do it on a sale.