Serpent in the Staglands reviews

I played the game for 16 hours. I give up. I regret this purchase and don't think it is worth 20 $. I am a fan and veteran of the Baldurs Gate series, Fallout 1&2 and Dark Sun: Shattered lands. I like old school RPGs. I thought I would get an old school game with a rich world and a good story here. Serpent in the Staglands did not deliver either. I like the graphics. The setting has potential. About the rest: Dungeons: The dungeons are monotonous to the extreme. You go through level after level of the same tiles and the same monsters and the same useless loot. At the end of the dungeon there often simply is nothing but a dead end. The same goes for forrest areas. They all feel like a chore... I feeling I never had in Baldurs Gate. Atmosphere: The world is poorly fleshed out. There is almost nothing to do and no reactivity from the NPCs. In some cases you can trigger special responses with the skills (nobility, linguistics, etc.) but that is rare and does not change the fact that the NPCs are nothing but quest-giving-machines. They dump quests and exposition on you and in most cases it does not matter if you are friendly to them or not. If you liked cool conversations like in the original Fallout... you will not find them here! Story: Haven't come across anything worth being called a story in 16 hours. I know... I WISH I was joking. The fact that there is no quest log and no journal is supposed to make the game more immersive... but because of the shallow world and the shallow NPCs it does not work. There is so little to do in the wirld and so little side quests that you really don't even need to write down anything. Maybe the makers of this game wanted to do the Dark Souls approach: Not telling the story explicitly, but telling it trough obscure hints and the environment. If so, they failed: Dark Souls had a rich and immersive world. Serpent in the Staglands would be shallow and unimmersive even without the bugs. Bugs: The game is still full of bugs... even after coming out of Early Access which is basically free extended Beta-Testing. For example: Sometimes after reloading a quicksave, the game spawns all previously killed enemies in the area right on top of you. Made me ragequit once. Combat: Combat is extremely repetitive. There are a great many spells and abilities... but you don't need them and most of them do essentially the same (hit harder / hit faster / get hit less). You get by with a few combat buffs for your fighters and ONE heal ability for your designated healer. Since the game does not have a class system, most characters feel very similar. Most magic and traps are gimmicks, nothing more. The AI is incredibly stupid, so don't expect much strategy. With most enemies hit&heal is enough. The rest can be kited very easily. Conclusion: Serpent in the Staglands is impressive for a game made by 2 persons. It is also not worth 20 $ and not worth my time. I regret that I put in 16 hours. I was holding out for the story to get better... alas it never did!