The Adventurers Demo – An Epic Hardcore Throwback RPG for Retro Game Purists

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For me, there are two types of retro games. The first kind is a nostalgic look at older games through modern tech. This means, they have the arty style of the past but generally dial up the resolution, detail, frame rate, and controls for a modern audience. They give us the sense of the past but with modern creature comforts that we’re so used to. The second kind is for the purists. It’s when a developer jumps into a DeLorean, travels back in time to 1989, and creates a game on the tech available then. The game unfortunately gets accidentally buried in the E.T. cartridge landfills (look it up) and doesn’t resurface until modern times!

The Adventurers is the latter type of retro game. Hardcore commitment to a bygone era. Recently I got to preview the game made by Eternal Vigilance Entertainment in their demo which is available to play on Steam. So, is The Adventurers the Master of Orion of modern RPGs? Or perhaps it belongs back in the landfill with E.T. Read on to find out. Let’s get into it!

Premise/Storyline

The story feels pulled straight from an old Tolkien book. In fact, booting up the game gave me little goosebumps as I instantly recalled the very first time I played The Hobbit on the Spectrum way back in the 80s (yes, I’m old!). The simple graphics and large reams of text were glorious features of our past.

The story goes something like this: You play as a rag-tag group of warriors, wandering through medieval lands tinged with magic and mystical elements. The lands between towns are filled with enemies waiting to pounce or guarding hidden treasures. You must make a name for yourself, completing quests, slaying monsters, and leveling up your party. All while learning more and more about the fantastical world you’re exploring.

The demo only gives you a small peek into this world as, every time you load up, you’re on a timer. You can replay as many times as you like but you’ll only get to take on maybe two quests and travel between a couple of different towns, giving you a tantalizing slice of what to expect!

Visuals

There’s no nice way to put this. This is one fugly game! It looks like we’re back in the Amiga or early PC days. I remember playing games like this back when, under the hood, I had an EGA graphics card and thought I was the bee’s knees! This is little more than blobs on the screen but that doesn’t make it bad. It forces you to use your imagination similar to playing D&D, it becomes all about the story. Luckily the writing and the on-screen text are both clear and worth your time. The fantasy setting allows for adventure and whimsy and will appeal to all us old-school gamers out there.

Audio

I mentioned how hardcore retro this game was. However, they have cheated a little in the sound department and the game is all the better for it. This has fully voiced narration throughout, and the music is orchestral and quite amazing. Every battle feels like Qui Gon versus Darth Maul with the rising orchestra swelling in the background.

The narrator too really sells the story as it plays out and sitting back and listening to what he has to say during every chance encounter never gets old. I loved this stuff. Although the purist in me is hoping that the full game might have more audio options. Yes, you can already switch off narration, but I’d also love to see the music swapped out for some cruddy 8-bit jank, for authenticity's sake only!

Gameplay

You start by selecting your party. You can choose to start with one, two, or three in your party (pick three, you have been warned). The classes offered in the demo are down to three. You’ll get a mix of warriors, thieves, and archers in your selection. The selection is random and auto-generated but you can re-roll your stats as many times as you want until you get close to what you desire.

I opted for my three guys to have high stats in strength and stamina but I was also completely useless at this game so what do I know! Once you begin, it’s wise to visit the nearest town. There, you can pick up paying quests in the Town Hall, hire mercs (extra party members) from the Inn, buy/sell goods, and upgrade your gear with the Blacksmith (this seems closed off for the demo though).

Once out in the world, you travel across the map towards whatever quest you’ve accepted (marked on your map). Along the way, you’ll have to set up camp and rest when low on stamina. There is a chance you’ll be attacked when resting but this only happened once to me throughout multiple playthroughs. Along your journey, you’ll come across random chance encounters. Some are straight-up fights, others are merchants or hidden loot. When it comes down to a fight scenario, you can choose to flee although it doesn’t always work or you can stand your ground and fight!

The fighting is turn-based and, on a grid (think X-COM). Each character has in general two types of attacks that deal varying amounts of damage, a move option, a defend option, and a special option. There will be more combat options in the full game.

Positioning is key especially when ranged combat is involved. Spreading out attacks and keeping all your members alive while whittling down the enemy quickly is paramount to survival. Also, and I can’t stress this enough…the combat is hard as nails!! Every battle for me was a 60/40 toss-up over who would win (60 being the enemy as victor, not me). I died more times than I would in a Dark Souls game which made me want to come back for more each and every time!

There was also a healthy variety of enemies to face even in the demo. Through my many defeats and occasional victory, I fought everything from humans, spiders, fire wisps, goblins, skeletons, and even weird harpy-looking things that annihilated me with a bombardment of fireballs.

The main menu screen shows a budget Gandalf in your party and hopefully, the full game will have a broader range of character skills to choose from. Certainly, magic spells would be a welcome addition to my arsenal as any combat against ranged attackers was almost futile in this demo version. Or maybe I’m just crap at combat! Either could be the case!

Performance on Deck

To put it simply…don’t even worry about it! This game could run on a potato with an iron deficiency! It is primarily a mouse-only game so using a combination of the track pads and touchscreen is the best way to play. As it’s turn-based, there is no need for quick reaction times, and you can go at your own pace. A great game to play on low power curled up on the sofa during the winter months.

Final Thoughts

I had a great time with The Adventurers demo. The retro style suits me but may be off-putting to some. I enjoyed the hard-as-nails combat as it really got me hooked and made me come back again and again for more punishment. Like fighting Radahn in Elden Ring, all the defeats made the victory feel even sweeter! I was grinning ear to ear, the first time I completed a quest to clear out a goblin cave and felt like I was swaggering back into town to collect my reward (maybe I actually was swaggering…with the Microsoft Paint style graphics, it’s hard to know!).

There was a lot teased about the full game in this demo too. Closed-off menus, buying/upgrading gear, leveling up party members, a larger map, and even more combat options. This left me wanting more and I’m eager to try out the full game when it launches later this year. To be honest, it reminded me very loosely of the great adventure experience I had with Dragon’s Dogma 2. Like that game, I want the chance to bond with my party and level them up over many many adventures!

The Adventurers despite its awful-looking veneer, won me over very quickly. For old retro enthusiasts or turned-based combat lovers, it’s a no-brainer. Why not check out the demo for yourself on Steam today, sure what have you got to lose?

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