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In pagan party-based RPG Banquet For Fools, you can doodle your own spells in bloodOut in early access today, still has a demo
Out in early access today, still has a demo
Image credit:Hannah and Joseph Games
Image credit:Hannah and Joseph Games
Banquet for Fools Gameplay First LookWatch on YouTube
Banquet for Fools Gameplay First Look
The island itself is one of those “living, breathing"open worlds. Perhaps more “disquietingly animate” than “living, breathing”: some of the residents are ghosts. There are towns you can visit for clues where you’ll receive quests, and there’s a Morrowindy emphasis on exploring without the aid of modern UI fixtures - no questlog and no magic wayfaring compass.
Guards and merchants have schedules and you can steal from shops, at the cost of not being able to buy that item in future. Combat is real-time with a pause when your action bar fills up, as in the elder Final Fantasies. Party member stats may unlock unique choices in dialogue, together with evolving relationships. It’s certainly piling on the features - I’ve scraped the merest palmful fromthe squirmingly loquacious Steam page- but what I’m most here for is the haunted Plasticene art direction, which reminds me ofthat Keane video about beds.
I must confess, I wouldn’t know what paganism really looks like if it formed a torchlit procession to my doorstep and dropped a menhir on my head. I suspect I’m in danger of succumbing to caricatures of paganism as being squalid and fecund and excitingly gross. But I approve of the muckiness of Banquet For Fools, and welcome more games in this vein.
The game will be in early access for around 8-10 months, according to the Steam blurb. “Banquet for Fools is feature complete, we’re working on maps and content for the game over this autumn and winter,” the developers write. “We’re essentially done with all the hard parts and only have content to work on, and thought it would be a good time to open it up for ruleset suggestions and feedback for balancing out your gameplay. It’s a single player experience so we’re not too worried about over-balancing, but want all play styles to have challenges and areas of success.”
Possibly a good time to pounce on that demo. If you enjoy the aesthetic, you might also likeFelvedik.
