The Lantern of the Laughless Saint

Bought this on a whim and went in completely blind, expected little for a game being advertised on instagram (Possibly by a developer, unsure sorry). Its great, its janky, some quests are broken right now, and some voice lines are missing, and its the best early access game I have ever played. In nearly 12 hours I have not had a single crash or frame drop below 60. Gameplay is clean, exploring is amply rewarding, and the quests and story are interesting. If you have played morrowind or oblivion you will feel right at home. (I am 99.99% certain this started as a morrowind mod, the main give away being the alchemy ingredients and their effects, however very glad this was the result.)

Gloriously broken, in a good way. Just like Morrowind, Alchemy breaks the game with unlimited gold, semi-permanent flight and semi-invulnerability. Quest design and npcs are all interesting, the lore is wellwritten. Looking forward to more playthroughs in the future with more content and balance patches.

Absolutley broke the game 6h in... awesome. Can't wait for more balance fixes and content!

It's a good game but definitely need more polish, as of the time writing this the poison weapon mechanic is not implemented yet so alchemy feel a bit lackluster, mobs sometimes just standing there staring at you which is mildly frustrating if you are into summoning spells, minor suggestion but I would like if there is a bartering (charisma) mechanic Edit: They fixed the mobs stop attacking things after a day of this review, absolute cinema

Finally, an RPG without any of the modern ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that is in games nowadays. I really want to sink more hours in, but I am waiting for the full release. Pros - Its only 20€ - Gameplay is fun (for an archer) - Quests are fun and interesting - The world is cool to explore Cons - Bugs, but the devs are actively working on them. - Not much cool and unique looking loot. - Creating a playstyle is hard since most of the races play the same and loot is just an armor value. There is no light or heavy armor that has pros and cons for wearing them.

(very early EA review) Honestly, very promising. By that, i mean it is very fun, despite the bugs and voice acting that could use some work. You can feel the morrowind inspiration in every breath of this game. it has a well realised world of it's own though, with writing that compels one to learn more. The gameplay is good, though some of the weapons dont feel the best. The enemies can be defended against, and killed on a rhythmn, so some attack variety would be nice; only if a proper attack wind up is included. Attacks happen fast, beyond at least my reaction time. I understand though based off of the inspiration to ESIII:Morrowind. You get a roll, block, and heavy or light attack that controlled by how long you hold the attack button, and the heavy can be held until you release. I have only dabbled in the magic system, so i wont make a comment that means anything, but from what ive used of the offensive damage, it feels good enough (but refer to other reviews to get a better picture please). The writing I've encountered so far has been stellar, but some pertinent to quest objectives is a tad lacking. I will start off with the quest objective comment. Sometimes, the dialogue just isn't enough to figure out where you need to go, which wouldn't be too bad, but the journal (where the quest log is) doesn't explain to a person any directions. So, if someone were to start a quest, then log off for a week or so due to life being life, they would be hooped when it comes to knowing where to go. the world isn't huge (complimentory, it seems perfect for adventure without being overwhelming) so you would find it regardless eventually. As someone that enjoys continuity between game sessions though, it makes it more difficult than it needs to be. Now, for the world building. Oh my, do I ever want to know more of this world just based off the few hours i have played. the character just paint such a vivid picture. Hearing the npc's talk about the world they inhabit already has me conjuring up possible sequal ideas that excite me. I've abstained from traversing into the tower so far, but my mind is wracked by what might be in there, calling to the inhabitents of the island. From what the nps's speak of, there are a lot of similar stories for this world to tell, and I hope for the opportunity to see the stories these devs obviously have the ability to tell. For early EA, there is sooo much potential here. Dungeon crawling now. Honestly, haven't done too much. I'll go into ones I see and feel compelled to visit, but I'm mostly enraptured by the world as of now. The sense that I get is that a lot are rather short, it isn't a bad thing, but none have screamed "more dungeons now". I could very well have just hit a few flacid caves, or doors in the sides of hills, but there isn't much calling me to make an effort to search them out. Some have named enemies in them that you don't get much of an answer to why they are who they are (To be fair, they could be tied to quests I haven't yet discovered) but, at least there is decent rewards for traveling through them. Some extra flavour in the form of books or notes would be great. So, though they may not fufill the fantasy of being the worlds special little prince/princess, they are serviceable for the time being. Anywho, this is getting long winded for a steam review. Though some aspects aren't the most user friendly or creatrively thought out as of right now, I'd say The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is a beautiful love letter to the games that it took inspiration from. I will come back for more and more so long as the Devs keep updating it. i want to see more of the world and find more of what this mysterious island has to hold, and trust me, I will.

Mmmm that's good Morrow.... I mean The Lantern of the Laughless Saint.

Co-op is buggy as hell but my goodness do we have lots of fun playing and exploring. Can tell the devs put in a lot of work and love in this project for i havent been this invested in a game in such a long time.