Svarog's Dream

Great rpg. Takes a bit of getting used to as it doesn't work quite like any other. Resurrection mechanic is great. Plenty of choice when developing skills. Big open world with very little handholding. Storylines are interesting without being amazing. Overall its something like a cross between an arpg and a full blown story driven one. I highly recommend it with a strong 9/10 and, given that it is so cool I'd also suggest getting it with the expansion right away,

Fever dream of Diablo 2 & Grim Dawn with some Euro Jank-like stuff going on here, BUT its dope. You can trust me I once was a wolve who's entire pack was wiped out for not paying the troll bridge toll, I know loss. Hate losing progress, but the ability to find your old body is more than enough to hold me steady.

TLDR; Yes, yes, 1000x yes! Get the expansion too, VERY worth it. Svarog's Dream is an absolute gem of a game! There is so much to like about it that I'm not even sure where to begin. Suppose I'll start with the mechanical aspects. Shares some DNA with the likes of Grim Dawn in how the classes work, but I found Svarog's Dream far more accessible. GD felt more restrictive if you didn't have some kind of meta build going and constantly farming for better gear to get through to the end game. At least at default difficulty, Svarog's Dream is way more forgiving, you don't *need* to optimise every skill and stat and gear piece (but you can). Loot is fairly generous throughout and each piece can be upgraded to perform well enough. Class skills are more important and finding synergies between different classes can unlock some devastatingly fun combos, but you don't *need* to get heavy into theory-crafting the perfect build to clear end-game content. Because for the most part, you control the challenge. You decide how difficult of a quest to go on. You decide if you want to take on a monster 30+ levels above your character's level. All of this adds up to the best part, which to me is... You can actually roleplay. Shockingly, yes, an RPG in which you can RP. When you don't need to have all the loot and XP to "win the game", it opens up choices which are more "fun" than "optimal". And it works right from the start. You are effectively an immortal soul. The game opens with you taking a human form, and the game gives you a choice of characters to inhabit, each with their own little backstory. You can choose to lean into it for RP purposes (as I did) or ignore it and do your own thing. When your character eventually falls to any number of misadventures, you are reborn with a new choice of characters to inhabit. You keep your level, and can keep your existing classes and skills, or (again, as I did) respec them fresh to match the new character you'll be inhabiting. For each fresh character I chose, I would behave slightly differently in the world, but still leaning into the wider narrative I was building as a reincarnating soul. It was a level of roleplaying depth I have very rarely encountered in any CRPG, let alone an action-focused ARPG. The side-effect of this choice is that the gameplay stayed fresh right the way through, because the few times I died gave me a whole new build to come up with which made sense for that character, and a new playstyle to adapt to. One was a hunter, another a berserker, one a necromancer. Each wanted to watch the world burn, but for their own reasons. There is still so much I could say about Svarog's Dream that I have thoroughly enjoyed (I haven't even touched on how well the story supports RP with its branching paths and very tangible, game-world consequences, order/chaos soul and world states, faction wars, traits system, god favours, world events...) but I doubt anyone is going to read this far, and I could easily turn this into a thesis. 60hrs-ish for first run, doing basically everything to one ending of the main story, there are several endings and many alternate pathways to choose for replayability. Very highly recommend to RPG fans, ARPG fans, and fans of well-made, unique games in general.

This is one of those games that tries to boast about "difficulty" when in reality it's just brutally unfair and tedious. There is no difficulty, it just punishes you for playing anything but a ranged class, which easily cheese the entire game.. which tells me the dev didn't intend the game to be like this, but doesn't have the ability to properly balance anything. As a result, the dev used their inability to properly balance the archetypes as an advertising crutch. Difficulty is a measure of one's skill. Their ability to adapt to situations and apply appropriate tactics against the situation. Difficulty is NOT "play the most unbalanced builds and cheese the game, or don't progress at all." which SD is plagued with. Definitely don't waste your time or money on this.

This game is amazing. Such a great combination of open world exploration and ARPG character building and combat. Scratches multiple itches. Very unique and worth every penny.

This may be the most enjoyable game I've played since my first blind run of Elden Ring back in Feb of '22. No joke, I can't get enough of it. The story is enjoyable, the lore is great, and the world is ALIVE! Things are happening all around you all the time. Love it. That's it. Bam. Done.

The most beautiful game iv ever played. Never thought id say that about an action RPG. The game plays like top down Skyrim/Oblvion. It actually feels like an open living world which I didnt know I could get from a top down arpg. Thank you to the creators for making this <3 You're all amazing .

Titan Quest with Slavic mythology + Open World with day/night system. Quite the hidden gem.