Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon Review

Shortly after release we already have a review to publish for Rampant Games’ indie dungeon crawler, the humorous Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon, coming from the folks at RPGWatch, who offer us two equally in-depth different perspectives on the title. Both of the takes offered are extremely positive, with the final score awarded being 5/5, and some positive comparisons to titles such as Wizardry 8 and Quest for Glory.

One innovation in the game which I really enjoyed was the use of Drama Stars and I don’t mean Patrick Stewart. There are 3 multi-pointed stars at the top of the screen which slowly fill up with three colourful layers (bronze, silver and gold) as you win fights, or complete simple tasks. These in turn offer you bonuses you can use in the game. There are four possible rewards at each level, for a total of 12. For example, one allows you to restore a character’s .nergy’ which may have been depleted through fighting, or spell casting. At the third tier, it will restore this energy for all the characters. It’s a simple and elegant system, but with a twist. If you save and quit the game, you have the option next time to ‘˜Continue’ your previous game from where you saved and your stars will be intact. However, if you save, lose a fight and then reload; all your stars will be lost. This encourages players to avoid the save/reload cycle. There is risk/reward involved, but I liked it and used it.

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It’s often helpful to consider previous games which are similar when trying to determine if this is a game for you. There aren’t many turn-based, old school RPGs being made anymore, but while it doesn’t have its depth, richness, or tedious never-ending combat, the closest game I could compare it with would be Wizardry 8. If you enjoyed that game, I think you’ll like this one.