Blacksmith Legends, the tried of the demo
Blacksmith Legends
How nice must it be to wake up one morning and find yourself a letter written by your parents in which, at any moment, we find ourselves masters of the workshop managed up to then by our father? A few pennies in your pocket and a building that has just the bare minimum to start the job and here we are becoming the new blacksmiths of a small medieval village: from these premises begins Blacksmith Legends, a management RPG on which a single developer is working and which, in the little seen, it turned out to be a pleasant pastime.It is still a rather immature game, especially in the models, and it probably won't be the revolution of the genre but if you want a fun experience to spend time with every when, then you should keep an eye on it. The launch date has not yet been announced, so there is a lot of room for VM Gaming to improve its project. You don't need to be a management veteran to get carried away with Blacksmith Legends but if you want to try the demo you must be familiar with English, as there is currently no Italian localization. We tried the demo for about an hour, at the end of which you can still interact with the game but it will no longer present any kind of progression, and we are ready to tell you about it in detail.
The Way of the Blacksmith
The hammer is there, the anvil too and the warehouse has enough materials: that's enough for us to take the long road that will lead us to become the most esteemed, or hated, blacksmiths in the kingdom. Yes, because apparently in the course of the game we will be able to either side with our king or try to dethrone him - as we do not know but it is an interesting prospect. Guided for most of the time by the tutorial, we discovered step by step what Blacksmith Legends consists of: our main concern is, as the title suggests, to make a name for ourselves and the only way to do it is to fulfill the orders of the inhabitants by having care especially to manage the money at our disposal. The game is in real time but you can pause (or speed up) at any time as needed. At first our possibilities are quite limited in terms of what we can build, as we level up, complete assignments and forge, we will become more and more capable. There are three factors to consider when organizing the work: morale, processing speed and the quality of the creations.
Morale is the pivot around which the other two aspects revolve. Having it below 100% will affect the general trend, affecting the times and the final result. Exceeding twelve basic working hours will lower morale, causing a ripple effect. During the trial we found more than enough daily time available but we do not exclude the presence in the future of tasks to be completed within a certain limit, which could therefore force us to work overtime while trying to balance.
Blacksmith Legends: morale, processing speed and quality of the creations are vital aspects The game itself is very intuitive. Clicking on the character opens the production window in which the objects we will learn to build will be gradually inserted (upon payment after having unlocked them): divided by tier based on the complexity of the processing, it has a limited space which however can be managed at will, removing and inserting the required objects with a couple of mouse clicks. Each process requires materials of a specific type and in precise quantities: to fill the warehouse we just need to open the map and start the extraction of minerals or the felling of trees, being careful to stop production when we have the right amount of material. trip to our workshop. Forgetting it means running out of savings immediately, it is not an aspect to be underestimated.
In addition to the production window there is also the screen dedicated to the character: here we can keep under control the percentages of morale, speed and quality, manage working hours, see the active upgrades of our blacksmith and finally administer the so-called "weekly plans": these are paid upgrades, with in-game currency, which will improve the character. Also in this case, take care of how much you are spending and for what, considering whether it is appropriate to temporarily stop spending to resume it when finances are more stable. As always, in the end, money is the most important element because it is thanks to it that we can run the business and improve our own workshop. It is in fact possible to furnish it, thus increasing factors such as processing speed, morale or even fame itself, but also to expand it. This option was not applicable in the demo, so we don't know what it actually leads to; however, considering the presence of a tab dedicated to the staff, continuing with the game we will be able to hire helpers to make the workshop more productive.
Blacksmith Legends: each character will have different needs to satisfy A Speaking of hiring, Blacksmith Legends offers another mechanic: combat. It will not be the blacksmith who takes the field himself, rather entrusting the work to mercenaries paid for the purpose. By hanging out in the tavern we will be able to find, in addition to weekly rewards, even characters to hire to send them on exploration in search of materials or places from which to obtain treasures. Let's take the direct example of the Cave of Spiders where our brave Terrick ran into: after examining it, we were free to choose whether to face the fight or wait another moment based on the strength level of the enemies who resided there. It was an equal fight, therefore affordable.
Everything happens automatically and, again, in real time, but we are allowed random interventions when very short QTEs appear on the screen - attack, defense , care and what we could define alert, useful to avoid that some enemies can steal money from us. Winning a battle will give our hero and us some interesting loot experience; the defeat still grants experience but no loot, and the hero will remain out of action for three days. A single clash, which is also part of the tutorial, is not enough to verify the functionality of this mechanic, however the fact that the QTEs appear without warning and in random points on the screen forces us to always keep our attention alive in order not to lose any disadvantages.
Blacksmith Legends: as simple as it is, the combat is not to be underestimated As for the missions, they update every time we complete one, or we can find something interesting at the tavern having a chat with the innkeeper. Sometimes it will be the clients themselves who unlock new construction possibilities by entrusting us with a mission and although the requests so far have been good or bad similar to each other, there have been a couple of variations on the theme such as the increase of key points of the village such as the agriculture, or the need to create a rather interesting clientele.
The sale is in turn an important element in the gameplay of Blacksmith Legends as it not only allows us to create a solid base of trusted customers but, of course, it makes us earn. Most of the functions are still under development, so we have dedicated ourselves to the local market where it is possible to put our creations on sale while also responding to the demand of citizens: the need for certain objects changes from time to time and some of them allow higher revenue, it is up to us to balance spending in terms of resources and money with what we would get in return. Once the merchandise is put on the market, the game will automatically search for a buyer and based on our charisma it will also be possible to bargain on the price to bring home more money than the basic value - which will be determined mainly by the quality of the product.
To be still in development, Blacksmith Legends already shows the basics of a game perhaps not innovative but pleasant and suitable for both management veterans and those who want to take their first steps. We will see how it will evolve in the future, what role we will have in a possible dethronement of the sovereign and how far the developer will want to go with any content not yet announced.
Blacksmith Legends: the map of the territory Blacksmith Legends is still an immature game especially from an aesthetic point of view and many mechanics were excluded from the demo: this does not mean that it has proven capable of laying the foundations for a light experience, challenging depending on the level of difficulty with which you approach it. , suitable for both veterans and newbies and in general without particular pretensions. The combination of the management aspect with that, more subtle, of the RPG through the management of heroes and fights opens up an interesting future for a game that, however, we remember, is in development by only one person. If you are passionate or even just interested in the genre it is worth dedicating that hour and a little more to the demo to get an idea of what it could potentially become.
