Terra Randoma - Review

Saving saves

Let me tell you the story of Oleander the Tempest, a ruthless yet skilled master of the arts of combat and magic alike. He heard of a legend. A legend that spoke about an ancient evil, sleeping in deep caverns, dreaming of the destruction it unleashes onto the world only to sink into a slumber again afterwards. To find these caverns, one must collect five pieces of a tablet, each clutched in the hand of a lord. Every one of them expects Oleander to earn their respect and solve dangerous quests, master difficult dungeons and in return earn one piece of the most important tablet. So Oleander set out to become the greatest hero of all time. On day 9 he got stung by a bee. On day 10 he died. The end. 

So, what is written above actually happened in my first attempt to play through Terra Randoma. I simply forgot to save and when I died, everything was lost. Had I chosen the Hero mode, I would have respawned in the nearest town, having lost some gold and xp but, alas, I chose Wayfarer mode, where you can save everytime and everywhere - but you have to do it! The lore I recited is the actual ingame story and gives your otherwise completely randomized world some sort of needed structure, although I don't praise its originality. The ability to randomize your world and every quest in it comes with the price of being just vague enough to make sense. 

The passionate Widow

If you made it alive into the first town, you'll be greeted with the most usual stuff. A store, a tavern and the town's lord. In the tavern you'll meet somebody who almost always gives you some sort of quest. Quests not only reward xp and gold but also some very precious reputation. The latter is needed if you want to get the chance to get a difficult mission from the town's lord and to ultimately get one of his tablet shards. Repeat this until you can find and beat the final boss. I find this part of the game, namely the writing and story-telling, to be the weakest. 

I'm an avid lover of roguelikes hence I know that, while not forgetting some outstanding exceptions, story is most often not what makes you play again and again. Since Terra Randoma is labeled as RPG as well, I still have to look at the Roleplaying part. Quests suffer the Daggerfall syndrom in a way that they are always randomized, putting different places and people together. Go there, kill this, go there, save this person. You don't actually have a personality as none of the NPCs have unless you'd call an adjective a fleshed out character. So, while all of this sounds bad, or at least not very convincing to play Terra Randoma, I still stuck with it. Why? Because the gameplay is where this piece of random tabletop dungeon simulator really shines. 

Heros are made, not born

As said earlier, starting classes only give you a pair of two feet to stand on so you can walk into your first battles. If you want to run, you might have to think about it for a second. Which stat do I want to bolster and what is the best complementary equipment? Increasing strength increase your HP but Stamina as well. It is needed to perform a multitude of actions and, if you're running out of it, chances are you're standing still in a fight without a chance to hit back. It also increases your Food, because, yes, you also have a hunger meter that depletes with many actions. But what about Dexterity? Increasing Defence and therefor increasing the chance to avoid hits sounds good, right? By now you know what I'm talking about.

There are loads of skills, like Two-Handed Weapons, Intimidation, Ranged Combat and Alchemy to just name some of them. Each of these further build and create your very own and unique playstyle. Every 5 points in them reward you with a special bonus like gaining speed whilst only using heavy armor or a 50% chance that your lockpick won't break on chests. All of these are pretty common rpg stuff but it is enough to keep the actual gameplay interesting. Throughout your journeys, you'll not only have random encounters with multiple and different enemies but also find curious and special events. I have to admit though that they usually all lead to some sort of combat engagment - which is great!

Combat is pure and simple fun. While you move, the enemy moves as well. All attacks happen simultaneously as do spells. You can still peek into your backpack and drink a potion, of which there are quite many. Not only can you cure poison or reagain health but also transform into a bat or a bear, make yourself invisible or immune to certain negative events and debuffs. Terra Randoma shines most when you forget how basic the storytelling is whilst leveling up your character. The game feels punishing sometimes but not unfair. I learned from early mistakes I made like I rather bought additional potions before I went on my journey instead of hoarding all the coin. There is no use for it when you get killed by a giant bee anyway. 

Also, towns will very often have positive or negative events which will influence your visit. Sometimes food will be overflowing and you can stock up very cheap. Coming back later you might be greeted by an epidemic, making shops paying very much for potions - but not selling any in return. These random events make your journey a bit more interesting but challenging as well. I actually died outside of a town once because I wasn't able to pay a potion in their shop. 

If you find the overworld harsh, wait until you make your way into the dungeons. Enemies in bigger numbers roam the caverns whilst traps make it even more easy for you to die. In return you find more chests, bigger and better equipment and other useful loot. These are real challenges that, once overcome, really show how good or bad your character build functions and were by far the most fun part for me in the game.

Final Words

So, Terra Randoma is a very enjoyable game that focuses on character building, combat and the players ability to learn and adapt. Personally I might enjoy it even more if there was a pure dungeon mode, without any need of finishing many of these rather mundane quests. As much as I enjoy to help a widow in need, I find it hard to find value in said quest if the combat is the only thing that mattered in the first place anyways. Maybe implementing a dungeon mode is too much to ask for so, for now, I stick to make my way into combat as fast as possible.