Banquet for Fools

Banquet for Fools is a classic RPG game, reminiscent of the hits of the genre, like the initial installments of the Baldur's Gate and Divinity series. The game was developed by an independent two-person studio, Hannah and Joseph Games, whose portfolio includes the Serpent in the Staglands project set in the same universe.

Plot

Banquet for Fools takes us to a fantasy land, or more precisely – to the island of Invimona. It was colonized by the subjects of a certain lord in order to cultivate an expensive spice on the slopes of the hills covering it. The inhabitants of one of the farms have stopped giving signs of life. As a result, the nobleman decides to send a four-person expedition to investigate. During the game we take over the team that takes up this challenge.

Gameplay

In Banquet for Fools we view the action from an isometric view. We start the game by creating a team, deciding on the race, gender and appearance of each of its members, as well as giving them names and archetypes (or setting their statistics ourselves).

The adventure takes us through various locations on Invimona. By exploring them (on foot or on board a boat that allows us to cross local rivers and sail the sea), we get to know the inhabitants of this piece of land and perform various quests for them. The quest givers may include farmers, scribes or craftsmen who have to deal with problems like graverobbers plundering the tombs.

We often have to reach for our weapons in the game. Battles take place in real time. We have an active pause at our disposal and once we have turned it on we can set goals and actions for the individual characters. We can only control one team member at a time, but the game allows us to freely switch between them. Control over the remaining characters is exercised by artificial intelligence, which behaves according to the rules we set in the formation menu.

We develop our characters as we progress in the game. Individual skills and spells can be improved on our own (we can count on various bonuses for the most frequently used abilities) or by using the services of teachers. In addition, over time we collect more powerful equipment (primarily weapons and armor).