I tried out Crimson Shroud on a whim. The concept of using virtual dice rolls in place of computer-generated values seemed like fun. I did a few rounds of tabletop D&D back in the day, and those dice rolls were at least half the fun!
My hunched turned out to be correct, and I really enjoy Crimson Shroud. I wouldn't say I actually beat it yet, but I have reached an ending, which was probably the worst possible one as nothing really positive happened. In fact, quite the opposite happened and everyone died!
Crimson Shroud is a grassroots RPG about a group of adventurers seeking the Crimson Shroud. All dialogue is text based, characters are represented as game pieces, and there is virtually no animation to speak of. When a character attacks or receives damage, their piece leans forward or gets bumped around.
The dice-rolling aspect is reminiscent of D&D, using dice with varying amounts of sides and colors. Bonus dice can be earned in various ways and can be used to boost attack power or hit probability. Again, I really like the dice-rolling, but I should say I also felt a bit deceived. Dice rolls are not used to create a character. In the early going, dice rolls are hardly used at all! I was shocked! It wasn't until more abilities that require dice rolls were unlocked that they become more of a regular routine. Even then, though, they are used less frequently than I like, but maybe that's for the better, pacing-wise.
Despite the lack of animation, the visuals hold up. The graphics are sharp and the landscape is just deep enough to justify 3D. Most of my attention during battle is spent scouting different weapon strengths and attribute modifiers, so rarely am I ever focused on the actual battle.
Bottom line is that Crimson Shroud, through it's text dialogue and tabletop RPG elements, does deliver the intended experience, albeit a lighter version. As I said, I think there's more for me to do in the game, and an absolute final analysis would be unfair.
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