Recently released, Sengi Games, together with Team 17, bring their new title, The Serpent Rogue, to all devices. The indie developer Sengi Games was founded in 2018, hailing from Ukraine. Their first title, The Serpent Rogue, brings an interesting new type of game. So, how is the Sengi Games entry title? Find out in our review of The Serpent Rogue.
Story: Interesting premise but lacks a fleshed-out story
Set in a world of medieval fantasy, The Serpent Rogue will see our protagonist taking on a plague sweeping the area. Mastering the art of alchemy, taming the beasts of the land, and helping the citizens. You will protect the realm from impending doom as a plague contaminates everything.
In the Sengi Games release, you’ll find some light storytelling elements. For example, offing a bit of conversation with a couple of the NPCs, while most will have generic dialogue. However, much of the storytelling that will build the world within The Serpent Rogue will be done through lore that the player can find as they explore the world. Unfortunately, this limits what players will discover regarding storytelling in The Serpent Rogue.
Gameplay: Crafting is king but can become plodding
Even with a light story, the gameplay in The Serpent Rogue will do much to make up for that deficit. The first task will have the player explore the various areas surrounding the starting area. Next, gather Herbs, and recruit or defeat the multiple animals, monsters, and humans you’ll encounter. By doing so, you’ll be able to learn to make more potions, food, items, and weapons to assist you as you seek to pure the plague from the lands.
Starting, the player will have to learn what each of the different materials does by researching them with your laboratory. This process can be time-consuming. Having to research each material will require you to go out and gather the necessary amount, which in some cases will need several runs into these areas. With the research done, the player will be able to start using the different materials in crafting.
Crafting can be pretty deep in The Serpent Rogue. You’ll be able to find recipes dotted throughout the game. Additionally, the player will also be able to experiment with materials to learn recipes independently. Unlocking further research into materials will also allow potion contracts to unlock for the protagonist to make money, which will be crucial. Here money the player can earn will be used to buy the items necessary to purge the plague.
The team at Sengi Games has done something creative with The Serpent Rogue focusing away from combat. Instead, the game centers its attention on crafting. Here crafting is where the player will spend most of their time building their character. Learning more recipes will give the player more abilities like changing form, damaging enemies, and curing ailments. But, this creative change does have its drawbacks. Between the various needed steps to have the right items to do the job, the player will spend much of their time running back and forth.
Unfortunately, by focusing on crafting, players may find that the combat system in The Serpent Rogue lacks with the team at Sengi games choosing to embrace crafting over combat with The Serpent Rogue. With this choice getting into fights can feel clunky and lead to mishaps during a battle with enemies.
The gameplay of The Serpent Rogue can become tedious over time, with some materials requiring many runs back and forth to have a meaningful amount necessary to craft. This tediousness can slow down progression, at times to a halt. There is little guidance, so during our review of The Serpent Rogue, we would feel a little lost looking around at all that can be done and not knowing where to start. With the gameplay design of the Sengi Games title, players may find the tedious natures of material research and crafting time-consuming.
Graphic/Audio: A beautiful world and fantastic soundtrack
In the first few minutes of the game, The Serpent Rogue will treat the player to a beautifully haunting overlook of land taken over by a plague as they arrive in the horse-drawn carriage. Using the isometric perspective, the team at Sengi Games will offer stunning player visuals that the player will enjoy as they explore the different areas for ingredients. Unfortunately, there were some graphical issues as we played The Serpent Rogue.
Highlighting the various NPCs or monsters will bring up an information page. Still, it often will be stuck there, and the player will not have any other interactivity with the buttons until the information page is closed. There are also times when you cure a skeleton, and it will remain as a skeleton. Hopefully, the devs at Sengi Games will fix these issues with time by adding updates.
The audio in The Serpent Rogue is fantastic, offering background music that will make you feel like you are in a medieval fantasy. We also got the soundtrack with The Serpent Rogue, containing 17 tracks from the artist Light Return from the game. These tracks are great and perfect for The Serpent Rouge and any Dungeons and Dragons session with your friends.
Conclusion: While clunky and tedious, The Serpent Rogue is worth a try
The Serpent Rogue, the entry release by Sengi Games, delivers a clever twist pushing the idea of crafting to the forefront of the gameplay. Letting the player go out and experiment with materials, potions, and items while solving the plague in the land. But unfortunately, The Serpent Rogue is slightly tedious with clunky combat and some slight bugs. So, It may be best to wait until future updates to smooth out some of the rougher edges.
If you’re interested in picking up The Serpent Rogue after reading our review and supporting the small development team in Ukraine. The Sengi Games title is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series X|S, and Steam for $19.99. You can learn more about the Ukrainian dev team Sengi Games if interested. You can check out their development website.
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