Cralon

After 7 hours in Cralon I can confidently say this game has stolen my free time and I'm not even mad about it. The graphics are packed with detail, making exploration feel rewarding. The world is fun to wander through. The quests are interesting and best of all, the game respects your time. No spending three hours hunting for that one quest item that apparently only drops when the moon is full and your character is facing north. Cralon focuses on what RPGs should be, exploring, adventuring and actually enjoying yourself. Every time I log in and play it feels like progress not a second job. If you're looking for an RPG with great visuals and satisfying exploration, enjoyable quests and zero "collect 47 boar toenails" nonsense Cralon is absolutely worth checking out. I spent my $20 fast food lunch allowance this week on Cralon and I am not regretting it. Worth every bite of PB&J I will have to substitute this week! Highly recommended!

A game that knows exactly what it wants to be, and a small, endearing, and honest team that set out to make exactly this game. Players with a straightforward “loot and level up” mindset might be put off, but if you’re looking to dive into an interesting underground world and compact gameplay, this is the game for you.

Mir hats Spaß gemacht <3

Super Höhlenspiel ! Seid Black Crypt endlich wieder ein Treffer. (Amiga 500) Es ist ein Indy spiel mehr nicht. Es macht Spaß! Weiter so. Man muß das Rad nicht neu erfinden. Aber es rollt. Ich bin User und habe Spaß. 20 ist ok. Und alles in Deutsch guter Ton was braucht ihr noch!

This ain't no easy review, mainly because there is no neutral option... I was really hyped for the game, but after finishing it, I have mixed feelings. I personally did enjoy the game very much for it's gloomy atmosphere, sound and setting. The (mostly) friendly, plant-like creatures struck me as really cool. But I have to admit: Though I did enjoy the game, I only did so despite it's flaws: - to few variation in items/assets in general, especially to few to have meaningful interaction with (e.g. why the hell can't Cralon use one of the many hats lying around?) - everything inside the mine shaft is kinda static - very clunky and basic combat (a tiny bit better after the first updates) - sometimes rather poorly written dialogues - Cralon's and Incu's German voiceover (the others I found great, but those two where just dispassionate and boring, don't know if English is better) - Cralon (the player character) is dumb as a post (e.g. I as player saw the story twist dawning right at the beginning - Cralon did not seem to get it, even as his antagonist Incu explained it at the very end) - Cralon talks way too much, also he explains everything the player can see for themselves (felt sometimes as if Cralon thinks players are somehow too dumb to get it) on other occasions (the murders in the morass for example) he seems to see things that are not really there (those should have been just placed as assets and left for the player to figure out) Also the game has all points the shop page promisses, but everything is just very basic. E.g. there are different factions, but they neither really interact with each other nor is there much interaction possible with them. All in all: If I could, I would give Cralon a neutral assessment. But since I had actual fun playing it despite it's shortcomings, I give a thumbs up.

Cralon ist genau das was ich erwartet habe, ein Spiel das einen fesselt und und eine geile gruselige Atmosphäre liefert, Die Questen sind sehr geil gemacht und die texte sind genau das was man von jemand aus der Pütt erwartet einfach nur herrlich lustig ( ich muss Kohle für die ARGE scheffeln) , selbst die Grafik entsprach meinen Geschmack .ich hab es komplett durchgespielt und bin nach wie vor begeistert. Pithead Studio hat echt gute Arbeit geleistet ich hoffe das es bald noch mehr von ihnen geben wird . Ach so eins noch das ist in meinen Augen wichtig “ Der Dummvögel Der all nötzer wesse welle sull effe Der klappe halde un ov et nötzer maache “

This is a top tier immersive dungeon crawler. The game play is top notch. From the moment you are thrust into the dungeon, the environment envelopes you and invites you further. You know you are in for one hell of an adventure. The 3D elements of this game are top notch. After almost 30 hours exploring every nook and crannie of the dungeon, I can honestly say I am looking forward to heading back to Cralon and back into the dungeon night after night. This quite the adventure and one that I have loved playing.

Cralon hat mich wirklich positiv überrascht. Schon nach kurzer Zeit merkt man, wie viel Herzblut die Entwickler in dieses Spiel gesteckt haben. Liebe zum Detail findet sich an vielen Stellen wieder und sorgt dafür, dass sich die Spielwelt lebendig und durchdacht anfühlt. Besonders gefallen haben mir die dichte Atmosphäre, das gelungene Leveldesign und die Mischung aus Erkundung, Rätseln und spannenden Momenten. Das Spiel nimmt einen nicht ständig an die Hand, wodurch sich jeder Fortschritt umso befriedigender anfühlt. Ein echtes Highlight ist für mich die Vertonung. Besonders cool finde ich, dass sogar Mitglieder des Entwicklerteams selbst Sprechrollen übernommen haben. Man merkt, mit wie viel Leidenschaft und Engagement sie dabei waren. Die Dialoge wirken lebendig, die humorvollen Momente kommen hervorragend rüber und bringen einen immer wieder zum Schmunzeln. Genau solche Details zeigen, wie viel Liebe in diesem Projekt steckt. Auch optisch und akustisch macht Cralon einen starken Eindruck. Grafik und Sound tragen hervorragend zur Atmosphäre bei und runden das Gesamtpaket ab. Insgesamt ist Cralon ein Spiel, bei dem man merkt, dass es mit echter Leidenschaft entwickelt wurde. Das Herzblut des Entwicklerteams spiegelt sich in allen Bereichen wider – vom Gameplay über die Atmosphäre bis hin zur Vertonung. Wer atmosphärische Spiele mit viel Liebe zum Detail, Humor und spannender Erkundung mag, sollte Cralon unbedingt ausprobieren. Eine klare Empfehlung von mir!

👍 Recommended ⏱ Playtime: 19 hours 🏆 100 % Achievements Collected 📖 Description: Atmospheric open world game with progression locked stages, character progression and a focus on exploration. ✅ Pros: • Overall look of the game was very good. I also liked the level of details. • The atmosphere was well done. • Besides the main story, there is also some side-lore included. • Voice dubbing for indie titles is not very common. Pushed the immersion strongly. • Connection between fictional and real world topics of mining was unique. (Pictures of Mines) • Secrets and Hints for the secrets made exploring more fun. • Some smaller easter eggs with pictures or logos of the developer. • Relatively large stages with different themed areas. • Loved the "X Marks the spots" idea with the lamps. • Prison System was a nice idea for the start. • Beside of having relatively low frames for such an title (screw UE5), the game was running very smooth. 🔶 Missed Opportunities: • While the real-world connection to real mines (pictures) were included, the opportunity of using this angle as "collectable" was missed. • The black "pithead studio boxes/cans" could have been included as "collectable" into the game and placed in hidden spots. • Sadly no context to the real world pictures, there could have been more lore about this. (pictures from where/when?) • The fights of the games were a bit clunky, but still fine for an indie game. Neither pro, nor con for me. • Repetitive assets. Nothing that breaks immersion, just a bit repetitive. I probably would have used a bit more variety. • Hideouts were implemented well, but the loot to be found there was often (not always) not different from any other part of the world. ❌ Cons: • A few world textures in dark/wet places look a bit strange (e.g. Abyss), but it did not affect my overal opinion about the game. • Some quests required to interact with specific items without knowing to interact with them. 🏁 Final Thoughts: With Cralon you will find a progression-locked but immersive and atmospheric game featuring multiple stages and combat encounters. While there are no real RPG elements, there is a leveling system without character customizing beside and also some useable items and gear. Over all the clear game focus is exploration. If you overcome the fact, that this is a indie title with a clunky fighting system, you will still like the game. The story was nothing crazy and even though there were no "wtf moments" that kept in my head after playing, I had fun with it. 🎥 For transparency: I purchased the game myself on Steam and completed it while streaming on Twitch. If you would like to verify any of the points mentioned in this review, my full playthrough is or will be available on YouTube. Demo Playthrough: https://youtu.be/KTJTjpGOUWQ Full Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh2YkWfQkvs_z_mT-w0MnrFaZ9VlwhocG

Mir gefällt bei dem Spiel vor Allem das Sammeln und Erkunden. Jede Ecke nach Kohle oder anderen nützlichen Gegenständen abzusuchen, macht mir einfach Spaß. Auch die kleinen Zettel, Hinweise und das Suchen der Geheimverstecke machen mir Freude. Dank der Armbrust sind die Gegner bisher (in Level 2) auch noch gut schaffbar. Ich bin gespannt auf den weiteren Verlauf und die Geschichte des Schachtes.