Forsaken Realms: Vahrin's Call

At the time of writing this review, I had played roughly 20 hours of Vahrin's Call, entirely offline, and am now on my second playthrough after realizing I had rushed through the game up to and through Chapter 7 far too quickly. If you enjoy brutally difficult games and thrive on overcoming frustrating encounters or seemingly impossible sections, then this game probably isn't for you. Likewise, if you're expecting something akin to a root canal without anaesthetic, even the highest difficulty won't deliver. I'd describe it as a "cosy" Dark Souls instead (I've logged around 2,500 hours across that series). Combat never felt particularly demanding, and I never encountered anything genuinely frustrating. Death carries virtually no penalty beyond enemies respawning—you keep all your loot and never have to (tediously) retrace your steps to recover it or re-explore the same area again to open the same chest - again, for like the tenth time. Whether that's a strength or a weakness ultimately depends on what you're looking for. Personally, I consider it one of the game's strengths. These days I rarely have the time or patience for games that repeatedly erase my progress, so I appreciated the constant sense of forward momentum without major setbacks. Combat feels more like Skyrim with dodge rolls than a soulslike. The story is... well, it's there. It serves its purpose, but the world itself is the real star of the show, although I did genuinely enjoy the game's sense of humour. The controls are perfectly functional, even if they occasionally reminded me of old N64-era platformers—which, admittedly, gave me a pleasant hit of nostalgia. Performance has also been solid. I've been playing on a laptop with the graphics set to "High" and haven't run into any technical issues so far, although you'll still want reasonably capable hardware. What Vahrin's Call truly excels at is its exceptionally detailed, lovingly handcrafted world. It's packed with an astonishing number of small touches that only reveal themselves upon closer inspection—whether it's the wonderfully over-the-top death animations of [spoiler]Dirks[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Greepies[/spoiler], or the corpse in a library whose blood seeps through layers of fabric across multiple floors. Loot is hidden in virtually every corner of the world, making slow, methodical exploration consistently rewarding. In fact, exploration is arguably the game's defining feature, as it plays a central role in unlocking new abilities. Every chest opened and every skill book discovered provides a satisfying little rush of accomplishment. That same slow, methodical pace also gives you the opportunity to truly appreciate the level design, which honestly deserves to be in a category of its own. Every location feels unique, with virtually no recycled environments. The environmental storytelling is logical and immersive, and every object, corpse, and plant appears to have been placed with deliberate intent. It's rare to see a game world that feels this thoughtfully constructed. If you appreciate exceptional level design, enjoy taking the time to admire meticulously crafted environmentsand the mere thought of leaving loot behind fills you with revulsion, then I can wholeheartedly recommend Vahrin's Call. The fact that I immediately started a second playthrough to experience everything I had missed should probably tell you all you need to know.