“Nomen Omen“
– A famous latin proverb
If you are one of those who regularly read this blog, it’s almost impossible you don’t know which are the main features of a roguelike.
Among the other interesting characteristics (like permadeath and turn-based gameplay) a leading role in a roguelike is played by randomness.
What does it mean? Simple, a true roguelike to be called that MUST have random generated maps, levels, and weapons, as well as random events.
On this regard Terra Randoma it’s clear since the beginning, since its name, so if your passion is represented by charismatic NPCs, articulated quests or well-written storylines, just forget about this game. Here, like in any other roguelike, your first enemy is “the Fate”.
A downside? Not at all, because the chief charm of a roguelike it’s exactly its randomness and its consequential replayability.
That being said, let’s see what Terra Randoma has to offer.
First thing first let’s talk about the story… wait, no, we’re talking about a roguelike so… there’s no story at all. In Terra Randoma there isn’t a plot to follow or a main quest to accomplish but you’re free to do whatever you want. Each time you will start a new game you will find a brand-new world at your disposal, where you will be able to do what you want.
Taking random quests in the cities or simply looking for treasures or lucky events, it will be all up to you! But beware, your actions won’t be without consequences. In fact, during your game, you will always have to keep in mind that your choices will influence the world around you. For example, talking about the settlements we can say that, during the game, they can face both negative and positive conditions (like famine, civil unrest or good harvest) and each of these states will have some kind of consequences on you. So, for example, if you need food, it will be better to buy it in a city with a good harvest, because of the cheaper prices.
Keep talking about cities, when you enter a settlement, you can choose among many actions: e.g. you may want to go to a tavern and get a random quest, or maybe you just want to talk to the Governor and get a primary quest (but only if your reputation is high enough) or, lastly, you may want to buy something useful for your adventures in the shop.
Unfortunately, at the moment, besides their states (e.g. famine, civil unrest etc.) the cities are very similar to each other, while it would have been interesting a greater differentiation among them.
During your adventure you will have to face a good variety of random events that sometimes (but not always) will end in a fight. You can always choose to fight or evade the combat but your behavior will always have an impact on your reputation. So for example, if you choose to flee from a fight, your fame will suffer from your decision.
About your enemies, they are taken from the classic fantasy bestiary and counts, among them, skeletons, snakes, bandits, golems and so on, each one has its own skills, AI, and different patterns of attack.
Overall we can say that the turn-based combat is quite strategical and funny, especially after you have acquired a good number of skills. Even more entertaining are the adventures in the dungeon where the number of monsters you will have to face is greater than in the wilderness. Entering a dungeon is always a hard decision because they are really challenging (sometimes even too much), but also full of quality loot. Obviously the dungeons are random generated and this means a lot in terms of replayability. The only downside I’ve found on this regard is the total lack of puzzles or traps (but who knows what the future holds?).
Terra Randoma will enter the Beta Phase very soon and the developers still want to add a lot of content in terms of enemies, events, quests and so on, but, even so, the game is already engaging and really funny to play. What I really appreciated above anything else is the fact that Terra Randoma tries to represent a “new kind” of roguelike: very accessible for novices but also very enjoyable for hardcore fans of the genre.
