Sovereign Syndicate

This is a high-quality detective game, and the investigation is conducted not only by the characters but also by the player, since only the player can piece together the clues from their three different stories told from three different perspectives, to figure things out before the game reveals them (or doesn’t reveal them at all). The main characters are very vivid, distinctive, and are a stark contrast to each other, which is why Syndicate also works really well as a role-playing game, since you’re not playing your typical "zero to hero" character you've created yourself, but as characters who already have their own backstories, priorities, and beliefs set for you, and you can influence their development to a certain extent. All of this blends perfectly with an interesting and unusual steampunk setting featuring elements of fantasy, along with well-written text: dialogues with other characters, commentary of the main characters’ personality aspects, and flavorful descriptions. All in all, the game is amazing - it’s as close to reading a good book as it gets.

A fun point and click adventure. There is no combat, it is all skill checks. Instead of dice it is your base stat + the number on the tarot card you draw. The devs did a great job making each of the characters not only feel unique, but make their interactions with the same NPCs feel different. For achievement hunters, not all of the achievements are straight forward (like the ones you get for beating each chapter). The game is not currently voice acted (except a singing scene), though the devs have said in the discussions here on steam that they plan to add VA to the game.

This is a decent narrative RPG set in a Victorian version of London with magic and steampunk elements woven throughout. The writing style is very dry and it tends to take a long time to move the story forward. It's is ultimately an interesting story when taken as a whole. The pacing is wrong footed by the regularly shifting perspective between the four protagonists. Particularly In the early chapters, anytime the story builds a sense of momentum you're switched to another character and all the momentum is bled out. Combined with the dry writing style, this makes the opening act of the game difficult sit through. Exploration is okay, there are no terrible or standout locations. all three characters explore the same spaces and you need to explore them multiple times while talking/interacting with everyone/everything to avoid missing side quests, secret objectives, ETC... Some things to note about the mechanics: (1) The tarot card system is just the normal dice role mechanic in a card format. (2) It's the style of narrative RPG where a failed skill check is a different outcome, not a necessarily a bad outcome. (3) The game auto saves at the start of every conversation if you do lik…

I really like the game so far. It is well written and the world is intriguing. I just wish the text would be more readable one the Steamdeck. Would be willing to chip in a few bucks for a DLC that makes it responsive to the screen size.

I really like the idea of this game. Of the fantasy characters, the disco like personalities talking to you, the 4 humours based stats and the tarot card based skill test system. But the execution is bad. The pacing is terrible. You're dropped into a huge area with very poor guidance. It needed to edit the areas down, remove unnecessary side characters and make the plot more impactful and faster paced. Really disappointing.

Excellent dialog-heavy rpg where choices really do matter. Plus I can play it with just a mouse and occasionally 3 keyboard keys. This is not an action game that relies upon your reflexes and manual dexterity. It is moreso a dialog and skill roll check game wrapped up into a Choose Your Own Adventure novel with choices galore. I'm really enjoying this game.