X
- Assemble Entertainment
- Assemble Entertainment
- Assemble Entertainment
- Assemble Entertainment
Roadwarden
Released On: Sep 12, 2022
83
8.2
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
83
67% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
83
67% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
11% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
I haven’t encountered writing anywhere near as good as this since Disco Elysium, yet that isn’t to say one is better than the other. Roadwarden is sort of dark fantasy, while Disco Elysium is an irreverent inspection of human psychology, society, and the Apocalypse. At about thirty hours, I cannot complain about my time with Roadwarden. A part of me is terribly sad to say goodbye to this world and its people, but it certainly didn’t overstay its welcome; that’s important. While I experienced amazing successes, I also made horrible mistakes and oversights that the game punished tastefully and forcefully. I don’t need or want a perfect adventure where everything ends with a neat little bow on top, and Roadwarden delivers just that. Some mysteries were left unsolved, while others were solved a little too well. Succeeding is sometimes a form of failure. So much to chew on, and I am thankful for the adventure.
As vivid and memorable an evocation of a place as any hyper-detailed triple-A fantasy universe. [Issue#377, p.106]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
8.2
86% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
7% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
7% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
8.2
86% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
7% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
7% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Roadwarden is a great game with superb writing, good and fitting design and a perfect soundtrack.
The choices you make matter, you can play the character you want to play and if you pay attention you get rewarded.
This is one of the best roleplaying-games I have played.
Report
PC
Roadwarden is a highly compelling, vividly realized text-based expedition into a dynamic fantasy setting, with a deep and layered story that allows players to experience as much or as little as they choose while deciding what kind of role they want to play in its deceptively vast world.
Roadwarden skillfully transports text-based role-playing into the modern age.
An atmospheric and compelling text-only role-playing game, with a realistic approach to survival and building relationships – where every action and failure comes with lasting consequences.
Roadwarden is a fascinating take on the RPG genre that has a lot to love. Its setting is deep and well fleshed out, and the interactions players have with it are impactful and fun to navigate. The stories it tells are often somber but handled in an undeniably human and engaging way. While anyone who doesn’t like reading will want to skip it, I cannot recommend it enough to players intrigued by the possibilities of a detailed, text-based RPG.
Roadwarden takes a page out of the choose-your-own-adventure playbook, incorporating combat, role-playing, and diplomacy into its visual novel trappings. Although surviving its world can be stressful, there is plenty of worthwhile adventuring to be had.
A beautifully structured, rich and thoughtful adventure with gentle but decisive RPG elements. [Eurogamer Essential]
So much of what I enjoyed about Roadwarden was its unknowability. You’re a traveller in the peninsula for a little over a month, and it reflects that. You can’t fix every problem, you can’t make everyone happy, and you can’t know everything there is to know. Instead, you take in as much of it as you can, try to improve people’s lots slightly, and leave with a journal full of questions and sense memories.
Great writing and world building. Meaningful choices.
If you enjoy games like Disco Elysium and Pentiment, you'll probably like this one too.
Report
PC
Really wanted to like this game, but unfortunately it tried to be too many things at the same time. This really would've been better as a linear or semi-linear visual novel-style game rather than this open world survival RPG. Although I appreciate the ambition of the developers, I really felt like the survival aspects of Roadwarden were dragging the whole experience down. Every time you think you're onto something, the "realism" is there to ruin it for you. A lot of the times you'll lose at critical moments just because you're tired, unequipped for the situation, or the npc's won't talk to you because you look dirty or something. In theory, you can eat, sleep and earn money to always stay clean, healthy, and good-looking all the time, but in reality the semi-realistic arbitrary timer within the game always forces you to hurry. This would've been fine if the quests in this game were more linear, but no, they almost always involve a lot of variables, backtracking and require precise timing, so in the end you lose no matter what you do. If you push through, you will often be unprepared to handle the task at hand (tired, hungry, moneyless, unequipped, dirty, etc), but at the same time, if you take your time, you run the very real risk of losing the game's main global objective.
Another big problem is with the writing. I understand the writer's desire to go into detail because of the game's inherent super-minimalistic visuals, but the overabundance of descriptions here is such an overkill. Like, I get it, it's sunny afternoon and I'm in the middle of some plain - I don't want to read about every tiny ant beneath my feet. The quality of text here is pretty good for the most part, but most of the time it's just redundant.
Certain aspects of Roadwarden are fantastic. The rich atmosphere, unique visual style, amazing soundtrack and fairly interesting plot really **** me into this world, but unfortunately the feeble gameplay legs just couldn't carry the weight of the massive scope of this game.
Report
PC
Summary A brave stranger putting your life on the line to make a difference in this grim fantasy world. While most people would never risk a solitary journey through the wilder parts of the land, you willingly accept the struggle. You guard travellers, connect isolated villages, support merchants, and repel attacking creatures, bandits, or even ...
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Sep 12, 2022
Developer:
- Moral Anxiety Studio
Publisher: Assemble Entertainment
Genres:
