Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Solasta is a love-letter to Dungeons and Dragons, offering the best implementation of the 5E ruleset (via SRD5.1) to-date, period. It may feature a linear, uncomplicated story, but it makes up for it by being lukewarm and a special nod to all D&D veterans. We fell in love with the slick design of UI that can claim to be the best/easiest tutorial of D&D combat out there. Considering the budget and scope, Solasta delivers 100%.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a great entry point for those looking to play a D&D-inspired game. The streamlined ruleset makes everything easy to understand and you don’t even have to spend hours creating your character (unless you really, really like to roll your stats until you get certain values). The only thing that I couldn’t get past are the character models, which look absolutely terrible. However, the dungeons, which are designed both horizontally and vertically, as well as some of the ground locations are beautiful and immersive for a D&D campaign. The voice acting is also top-notch most of time, and the same goes for the soundtrack.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is an authentic D&D experience, with great tactical combat and plenty of deep systems to chow down on.

Solasta is a very good tactical RPG that offers a faithful adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons' fifth edition and a robust and satisfying combat system. It doesn't break new grounds, nor does it really try to, but Solasta succeeds at almost everything it sets up to do. If you love turn-based combat and a classic fantasy adventure there aren't many reasons not to try this game.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is the perfect game for the classic CRPG lovers.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister is one of the best tabletop video game replications that successfully translates many of the famous tabletop mechanics into a video game. It has some problems, but despite its lower budget, lacklustre story and weirdish character models, it is worth your money and time, especially if you are an RPG or tabletop fan.

With its scrupulous respect for the rules of D&D, its obvious love of tabletop role-playing, its very complete character creation sheet and its combat as tactical as it is fun, Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a very ambitious game produced by a team. with modest dimensions. And if this modesty is felt in the lackluster chara design, the linear story or a not always impeccable realization, it is absolutely not the case of the fights, vertical, deep and dense, which constitute the bulk of Solasta, which offers a premium tactical RPG experience, able to delight fans of the genre and why not invite laymen to try it, which should keep them occupied for a good thirty hours.

Excellent tactical turn-based battles with a highly adjustable difficulty level, a wonderfully implemented rule-set and convincing hero personalities.

One of the best attempts at bringing 5th Edition to a video game. Solasta: Crown of the Magister embraces its source material, and rather than replacing harder to translate concepts like lighting it properly modifies them to fit in with an already engaging combat system. Fans of Dungeons & Dragons and tactical RPGs alike will have a lot to be enjoy with Solasta: Crown of the Magister.

Undoubtedly, parts of the mechanics need further explanation and plenty of bugs need addressing. Players who want a shiny coat of polish will not find it here. Regardless, it’s amazing the depth and quality this indie studio has ardently delivered. Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a sure critical hit.

On the whole, Solasta is a solid D&D simulator. Though its narrative is nothing to write home about, and the game can be a tad buggy at times, it has actually made me reconsider playing D&D as it showcases the system’s strengths so effectively. Hopefully Tactical Adventures will add more campaigns to Solasta over time, allowing players to use the same characters in various scenarios, mix them together to create party combos, and just generally become invested in them.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister has a few notable problems, and it starts to stumble the closer you get to the finish line. However, it still manages to offer an engaging and highly customizable experience that will keep you entertained for many hours.

I also dig just how much control Tactical Adventures gives you over Solasta’s rules. You have several ways to deal with encumbrance, levels of attack and damage roll modifiers, and skill check rolls. If you want to play and experience the systems and story but not worry about missing skill checks in conversations, you can do that. You can ditch spell concentration rules. Or you can make the AI more merciless, giving them better tactics in combat.

It's hard to rate Solasta Crown of the Magister, the game benefits from excellent design choices and interesting innovations in the RPG genre, but it also suffers from quite a few limitations that restrict its ambitions, and thus the result. It remains a very interesting game, especially in terms of combat. It should delight all those who are looking for a good turn-based tactical RPG without frills, with a classic campaign worthy of the name. The game will certainly be refined by its developers, and enriched by its community in the future if it meets the success it deserves.

If you’re a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast that demands slavish adherence to licensed and familiar content, then Solasta: Crown of the Magister may disappoint you. If, on the other hand, your concept of D&D is more defined by the mechanics of character and party creation and the flow of exploration and combat defined by rolls of the dice, then Solasta will deliver a very authentic experience. It often doesn’t look pretty and it still has a few ugly bugs to iron out, but the inclusion of an excellent level creator and a superlative UI put Solasta: Crown of the Magister in the must-play column for both fans of the Fifth Edition rules and CRPGs in general.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister takes the mantle of the “most” Dungeons & Dragons video game out there, if not quite the best. Though the game has a modular adventure setup that strongly suggests there will be more stories, this one falls too flat for its 40- to 50-hour length. However, the combat system is merely a few tweaks short of perfection, so I’d still be interested in sending my heroes on another adventure in the realm of Solasta.

Even with all its still perfectible aspects, Solasta is wisely crafted when it comes to fights and character building.

A game that will be on the likes of those who love D&D, but that finally misses the shot with a couple of flaws and features that simply are not there. For example its narrative it's too shallow and a multiplayer mode could have been excellent, but this is an indie game. A well rounded indie RPG that isn't as big as most of the big names on the genre.

Crown of the Magister is presented as a new video game in the CRPG style and to achieve a niche in the genre, effectively fulfilling the expectations that they marked with the first impressions.

While the story is almost non-existent and I wish there were more classes and character development option, I recommend Solasta to those looking for a real old-school RPG experience. I’m especially impressed with the use of vertical environments in both exploration and combat, and the way light and darkness were made crucial factors on a battlefield. [08/2021, p.42]

With its extremely faithful rendition of the Dungeons & Dragons 5e ruleset, Solasta: Crown of the Magister is a dream come true for all those D&D fans who also happen to love video games. However, strict adherence to this ruleset is also the game's main flaw, as it results in an overwhelming experience for all those who do not live and breathe Dungeons & Dragons. Those who power through the initial difficulties, though, will find a solid cRPG featuring great tactical combat and amazing depth.

While Solasta: Crown of the Magister suffers from lackluster visual presentation, the tight gameplay and excellent dungeon editor make this a game that fans of the genre won’t want to miss.

It lacks atmosphere and vibrancy, while the world might feel sterile and ungraceful. But with the D&D ruleset as foundation you experience some fresh options in fights as well as during exploration. In the end Solasta delivers decent entertainment.

Overall, Solasta faithfully recreates much of the experience of a fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure with a focus on satisfying combat. It also takes a fresh approach to some of the common tropes, though most of them clearly needed more time and focus to reach their full potential. The game provides an excellent introduction to not only its pen-and-paper counterpart but computer-style role-playing games as well. In the end, Solasta provides a fun, if somewhat short, ride that most will enjoy.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister may become one of my favorite CRPGs ever, though it isn’t there yet. Its adaptation of D&D 5th edition is as impressive as it is incomplete. Its campaign is as mechanically creative as it is narratively uninspired. I had a great time playing through this game, and I look forward to doing so again with a new party composition, but it’s unmistakable that this game is not finished cooking yet.

Solasta's storytelling may not be up to much, but its tactical combat and accessible approach to D&D rules make it worth considering for CRPG fans.

Overall though, in spite of the snags I hit, Tactical Adventures mostly did a really good job with the story and the combat in Solasta. It succeeds in pumping some life into a genre that hasn’t been catching my attention for a while. Some of my points might come across as a bit harsh, but I want to stress that it was still a very good experience most of the time. It might need a little love that it’s almost certain to get post-release, but I can still recommend this game for fans of D&D style RPGs.

Solasta’s tactical battles shine brightly, even in the shadow of a drab and by-the-numbers fantasy story.

The D20 ruleset is carefully recreated and the DM won't let you stray away from the story, but the studio's name isn't Roleplay Adventures after akk : it really is Tactical Adventures and this D&D RPG knows how to challenge players with its combat first and foremost.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister does a good job on presenting a very accurate version of the tabletop version of Dungeons and Dragons in an original setting. A couple of issues here and there won't affect your experience.

A great implementation of the D&D 5th Edition ruleset, Solasta excels at turn-based combat, but falls short at everything else. Dull story, desolate locations, primitive puzzles and one-note side quests are not the hallmarks of an awesome adventure.