SanctuaryRPG: Black Edition

When I first started this, it seemed like a sort of Text Adventure / RPG-lite experience with bizarre writing. Eventually it kind of ends up as a turn based battle simulator where you move to harder area -> Try to push your combat numbers/equipment to higher numbers -> Beat area + boss -> Move to harder area. It certainly has it's moments early on, when it's all new and feels like an adventure. However, everything but the combat/crafting ends up falling to the wayside. Exploring for equipment/treasure/money ends up falling by the wayside compared to crafting/grinding up your level. Quests with interesting rewards stop appearing after the first area. Your class has no effect on the game apart from some combat mechanics. The story is both linear and uninteresting. And so on. The combat mechanics are decent, with some depth. But it ends up boiling down to figuring out your Class/Archtype's gimmick, and using it till you win. Once you've figured out your class, then you've figured out most of the game. The save system is also somewhat flawed. This game is neither dynamic nor nonlinear, which makes the inclusion of permadeath somewhat baffling. This works in something like DCSS, ToME, Don't Starve, or Spelunky, because they are built around the concept... Here... It's just kinda tedious to retread old ground and grind a character up to where you were before. Taken as a whole, I'd probably give it a 3/10. While it was amusing and somewhat enjoyable at times, it wasn't memorable, engaging, or even fulfilling. So unfortunately it's score got dragged down.

It took me about 8 years to get around to trying this and it's not bad. I like it because I'm old and I played games like this when they were cutting edge. The music is from around 1992, it sounds a lot like SoundBlaster music. The gameplay loop is from around 1983. The ASCII art is very good. Most of the humor is just dumb, honestly. Game dev humor is never as funny as they seem to think it is. It's not like your normal roguelike, Don't expect this to be like ToME or ADOM. it's like a text adventure where you move from one encounter to the next and you've got a 'base' where you can sort of pick from different things to do. On balance, it's alright. It's got good atmosphere if you're into the retro aesthetic. It's very shallow strategically and there are probably more engaging games that you can play, but it's OK. You won't be unhappy with it. Is it worth $8 at this point given that it's like 10 years old and not all that deep? Probably not. I'd get it on sale. Though I mean it's only $8, if you're not hurting too much for money. It's not an enthusiastic recommend here, but it's a solid recommend.

Thought i'd write a review since it feels like it's been forever since i've been playing on and off. I play in roguelike mode at max dificulty, so i haven't gotten very far in the game since i die. Just from the first zone, there is a nice variety of events and enemies. Multiple mechanics that you can do outside of combat and story events that influence somewhat in the npcs. Every time i play i discover something new, and that's how you know it's a good rpg.

i like it

It is honestly a neat idea, but I can't enjoy a text/ascii game for any length of time.

Çok iyi bi oyunsun sen

I bought this years ago. Still keep coming back to it when nothing else sounds fun.