Sands of Salzaar (Chinese: 部落与弯刀; pinyin: Bùluò yǔ wān dāo; trans.: Tribe and Scimitar) is a 2021 fantasy strategy action role-playing game for Microsoft Windows and iOS. It was developed by Chinese indie video game company Han-Squirrel Studio, and published by Hong Kong company XD. The player controls a customized character to battle, recruit troops, manage a fief, and explore dungeons. The game was launched as an Early Access on January 3, 2020 and fully released on December 16, 2021.
| Sands of Salzaar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Han-Squirrel Studio |
| Publisher(s) | XD |
| Composer(s) | Chan Tang |
| Engine | Unity[1] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | December 16, 2021 |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The game is set in the fictional realm of Salzaar, a region marred by war after the collapse of great empire with a fantasy blend of pre-modern Turkic,Chinese, Mongolian, and Arabic culture. Each area has settlements in which five major factions vie for control. The player may choose one among eight base classes, or create their own, and pick a side or start their own faction. The game features both story-driven campaign and sandbox mode. Sands of Salzaar has been described as a mix of Mount & Blade, Diablo, League of Legends and Dynasty Warriors.[2][3][4]
Gameplay
editThe game is open-ended with a variety of quests and a focus on large crowd combat with a focus on troop recruitment. The game has two main modes: story and open-world, and has a variety of classes including Berserker, Jackal, Knight Errant, Sentinel, Shaman, Spirit Witch, Spiritmancer and Sultan. Each class pursues their own exclusive quests and skill trees. A variety of equipment is available for the player, while each level-up adds a skill point that can be used to get new skills. The world map is separated into six areas with different biomes: desert, canyon, uplands, snow, and swamp.
Combat in Sands of Salzaar offers a unique mix of ideas. The player brings an army or the enemy army approaches around the battlefield with an instanced map. Each squad moves at different speeds and strong emphasis on troops gathering and strategy commanding the player's army.
Reception
editThe game's RPG approach and isometric view usually brings comparisons to the Diablo series[3] and games like it: the progression, the equipment, the mouse and keyboard oriented controls, the character's set of skills on the bottom part of the screen.
It drew comparisons to the war strategy RPG series Mount & Blade[5] and the isometric strategy-oriented gameplay of League of Legends,[4][6]
References
edit- ^ B., Todd (Sep 28, 2020). "Sands of Salzaar strategy support in principle". Linux Game Consortium. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ Messner, Steven (October 1, 2020). "Sands of Salzaar is like a Chinese fantasy Mount and Blade, and it's just as janky too". PCGamer. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Gassner, Mitch (January 3, 2022). "Not So MMO: Sands of Salzaar Review". MMORPG. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Vega, Sin (December 20, 2020). "The best game you missed in January 2020: Sands Of Salzaar". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
Troops? Well yeah, obviously you need an army. Thanks to its damage system and semi-automated, MOBA-ish combat.
- ^ Vega, Sin (2022-01-13). "Sands Of Salzaar review: a sparkling, but occasionally muddy action RPG gem". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
This means that where Mount & Blade's combat is about your own prowess, Salzaar is about delighting in your character's power.
- ^ Sporen, Michael (2022-02-11). "REVIEW | Sands of Salzaar". LifeisXbox. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
The battles are something that I really enjoyed while playing Sands of Salzaar. Since you unlock abilities for your character while playing the game it turns the game into some sort of League of Legends battle system.