Selenwald

Selenwald is an action RPG with roguelike elements shown from an isometric view. The title is the debut project of the Polish studio Unnamable Arts, with people who previously worked on such titles as Metro: Exodus, Arktika.1 and 60 Parsecs!

Plot

The game's story takes us to Selenwald University in 18th-century Europe. Within its walls is a passage to the afterlife, explored by employees of the center in order to gain answers to many of humanity's questions. They uncover secrets that frighten both themselves and priests trying to explain the same phenomena with the help of religion.

The game's plot is dark and presented in a philosophical and thought-provoking style. We meet many characters with tragic pasts and face discoveries from which even the keenest minds descend into madness.

Game mechanics

The entire gameplay is observed from an isometric view. It is possible to fight the enemies you encounter in three ways: in close quarters, at a distance using magic and eliminating them silently. The combat system is dynamic and allows us to make quick attacks and dodge enemy blows. We can supplement our sword lunges by firing a rocket pistol, which inflicts considerable damage but requires a long reload. As for magic, we have a number of spells at our disposal, including the classic fireball or self-guided projectiles. When enchanting, we must be careful: only a precisely aimed shot can damage the enemy, and any mistake can cost us our lives.

Most of our character's abilities depend on the items we acquire. Since the equipment is limited, we must carefully manage it to best match the current build. However, nothing prevents us from avoiding every major threat that we do not want to face. Many places in the game are dark and require us to illuminate them with a lantern. While this is helpful, it attracts the attention of enemies, making it difficult to remain undetected.

The death of our character is an integral part of the game. When the protagonist dies, we do not have the option to load the game, but the actions we have taken have consequences in the next game. Each time we start another approach, the game will generate randomly available locations, making the new experience different from the previous one.

When creating a hero, we choose his class. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, different starter items and a different number of free slots in the inventory. By making the right choices, we are able to earn additional bonuses that strengthen any of the protagonist's statistics.

Technical aspects

Selenwald at the time of its release had an eye-pleasing graphic design, drawing attention to detail and lighting despite the isometric projection convention adopted.