NEED TO KNOWWhat is it? An immersive RPG with an emphasis on private note-taking.Launch date: Mar 5, 2026Expect to pay: $20/£17Developer: Hannah and Joseph GamesPublisher: Hannah and Joseph GamesReviewed on: Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX, RTX 5090 (laptop computer), 64GB RAMSteam Deck: PlayableLink: Official siteBanquet for Fools’ opening drops me straight in on the deep finish, a blood-soaked battle for survival in opposition to festival-goers gone mad whereas I am surrounded by piles of corpses, given a mild kiss by… I am not even positive what that kindly outsized bird-person was, really, after which shoved three centuries into the longer term with out apology or rationalization. After creating my very own questing celebration full of individuals and expertise that largely reject acquainted RPG stereotypes, I am plunged right into a memorably distinctive land full of its personal imaginative little phrases (“Topa-din!” is a typical greeting), and a surprisingly detailed social construction that I have not bought a hope of greedy but.It is about now I realise that “attempting to uncover why everybody within the close by Din Varens settlement have gone lacking” and one thing about “reaching a lighthouse” is not as particular as I usually like my RPGs to be. Nonetheless, I suppose it could be unreasonable for a quest-giver to provide me and my celebration of random pub-going guards with particulars about an unexplained thriller. No downside, I will examine my quest log.There is not one.Article continues under
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There is not a dialog historical past tab both. Or a “Go right here” marker on the map. There’s a notes part, nevertheless it’s utterly empty. As a result of I have not typed any notes in it but. Myself. With my very own fingers.
(Picture credit score: Hannah and Joseph Video games)This freeform journey not solely expects however calls for my lively participation; if I need to bear in mind the situation of someplace on the regional map I’ve to kind it in myself. If I need to create a personalized magical spell then I will have to call it after which draw its icon by hand. What little data I’m given to maintain is discovered on elaborate scrolls and hand drawn items of paper I have to hold shut by if I need to refer again to them later, the worth and that means of those sketchy scribbles and meandering passages left for me to decipher.Clear paths are uncommon and signposts much more so, leaving success (and survival) largely in my very own palms.It is a daunting prospect, however one which shortly encourages a slower, extra attentive mindset. I’ve no alternative however to grow to be totally invested on this society and the individuals inside it. I can not assist however discover how a lot they fear about their upcoming peppura harvest as I move by, and I even bear in mind what time of day the guard captain I need to speak to stands by the entrance gate. I come to understand the work of every settlement’s wandering ghost-repelling chanter, as a result of I am not going to get very far with out their assist.My travels throughout this barely settled land comply with an analogous tempo, giving me the selection of both strolling to wherever I have to go, with each route taken a aware resolution, or rowing there by boat, which is not all that completely different when it comes to the time and thought required. The largest comfort the sport’s ready to supply is a community of boat companies, although the geography of the panorama means not each boatsman can take me to each port, and the fare is at occasions steep sufficient to make me suppose twice.Hold updated with crucial tales and the perfect offers, as picked by the PC Gamer workforce.
(Picture credit score: Hannah and Joseph Video games)This friction transforms journey itself into an occasion, even when I’ve already discovered each treasure and killed each bandit within the space. Clear paths are uncommon and signposts much more so, leaving success (and survival) largely in my very own palms. It actually does really feel like I am alone within the wilderness—and this problem and isolation heightens the strain of any occasions I bump into whereas I am on the market.A pleasant group with succesful guards and a heat campfire are greater than the promise of a quest, they seem to be a welcome reprieve from the tough panorama. A easy group of enemies turns into a nerve-jangling menace once I’m removed from dwelling and my restorative meals provides spoiled a day earlier. Dropping a complete individual’s weight in meals by a disinterested harvest god’s shrine is a nervous act of piety as an alternative of a easy task-ending transaction given how a lot time I needed to spend organising, sourcing, after which carrying all of it to them.Fight on this largely untamed land is completed in a uniquely participating real-time with pause-ish manner, mixing tactical instructions with the necessity to hold an lively eye on my opponents. As with every little thing else, I am anticipated to pay shut consideration and take a proactive strategy if I need to get something executed. I study to concentrate on the outsized abomination somewhat than the limitless underlings, for instance, or to take out poison-spitting monsters earlier than less-vicious options. Dodging is an lively potential right here, one thing I manually set off myself once I see an incoming sword swing. The energy and success of highly effective rally assaults hinges on me stopping a QTE-like marker at precisely the best second.
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(Picture credit score: Hannah and Joseph Video games)The top outcome is a bit more Baldur’s Gate: Darkish Alliance than plain outdated Baldur’s Gate. Management, motion, and response is extra direct—extra private, even. Assaults naturally comply with the arc or thrust of the weapon in hand; an axe swing connecting with every little thing alongside its path, regardless that this “characteristic” is refreshingly frequent sense somewhat than a proper potential. Assaults could be prevented just by being far-off sufficient to not get hit—not out of vary, when it comes to stats or particular measurements, however past the seen tip of a sword. It is busy, however not chaotic. A slow-filling bar determines the area between my actions, and this reserved tempo offers me time to keep watch over my celebration members and manually swap between them if I have to tactically deploy a selected talent or spell, somewhat than depart their extremely customisable AI to the job.I care extra about my little celebration as a result of I can really feel their battle for survival by means of the tough, by-any-means nature of the choices out there to me.The actions I unlock over time add worthwhile tactical capabilities somewhat than simply one other numerically potent assault on a listing. My celebration will stay longer if I believe to order a burly character to pin down a powerful monster, permitting their allies to get in a free hit or two. Alternatively, I may have somebody cost straight right into a huddled group of enemies, scattering them and dispelling no matter bonuses they achieve from sticking collectively.The simple nature of many strikes—I am as prone to kick an enemy down as I’m to unleash a flowery spell—offers fight a scrappy, improvised really feel that underlines the “making do out within the wilds” side of the sport. I care extra about my little celebration as a result of I can really feel their battle for survival by means of the tough, by-any-means nature of the choices out there to me. Since many enemies do not respawn, hours value of tense, brutal battles out within the wilderness ultimately result in a sport’s value of comparatively secure mountaineering paths—however, as with every little thing else in Banquet for Fools, provided that I am ready to take the time.
(Picture credit score: Hannah and Joseph Video games)It’s at all times an effort, and there are occasions when Banquet for Fools crosses the road into irritating exhaustion. Being instructed by NPCs that the one individual/monster/focal point I believe I have to concentrate on is someplace “on the mountainside” or “in a marsh” with out even a lot as a obscure compass route to intention for can unravel into an aggravating waste of time. The sport’s strict day/night time system means it is doable to be in precisely the best place on the flawed time. The reply to an obtuse puzzle may very well be inside some prolonged scroll I discovered hours earlier and forgot about, or skimmed over an elaborately inked element in.One uncounted, uncommented-upon minor monster out of dozens already slaughtered idling away in a forgotten nook of 1 map has, on no less than one event, been the distinction between a profitable clear and a quest left mysteriously in limbo for hours. One other may solely be cleared after casting one very particular spell realized in a wholly unrelated location on a bunch of frightened kids I occurred to bump into on a random island, revealing the monster hiding amongst them.But even in these moments, Banquet for Fools retains me coming again for extra. I’ve cursed when a promising lead’s gone nowhere, angrily reloaded after trekking too deep into harmful territory unprepared, and scribbled bizarre fragments of notes about fairy-sayings in a grump, and pushed on anyway. All the sport appears like one massive personalised secret to unravel, with each stumble one thing I can repair, and each failed battle one thing to return to later.Not every little thing in Banquet for Fools is essential in my quest in direction of the sport’s a number of endings. However by making me tread and retread its paths and scattered islands till native names grow to be acquainted, and the sight of tillers working the fields appears like coming dwelling, merely present inside this place turns into its personal reward. Life’s arduous out right here, however I would not change it for the world.
