Beast Saga Review Summary

Rich narrative, high freedom: The game boasts a rich and engaging narrative with branching storylines, meaningful choices, and well-developed characters. Many reviewers highlight the high degree of freedom, immersive world, and the sheer volume of content, including main quests, side quests, and hidden elements. The developers are also very responsive and dedicated to fixing bugs and improving the game based on player feedback.

Authentic, unique Wuxia experience: The game successfully blends Wuxia (Chinese martial arts fantasy) themes with unique elements like furry characters, creating a fresh and immersive experience. Reviewers appreciate the authentic martial arts world, the wide array of skills, and the overall feel reminiscent of classic Wuxia stories.

Meaningful, well-designed side quests: The game features well-designed and rewarding side quests that enrich the story and feel integral to the open-world experience. These quests offer multiple solutions, impact the main storyline, and contribute to the game's world-building, making the world feel alive and engaging.

Appealing and well-executed art: The game features an appealing and well-executed art style, with detailed pixel art, hand-crafted assets, and a refreshing aesthetic. The art style contributes to the game's immersive atmosphere and evokes a sense of nostalgia for classic RPGs.

Vast world, non-linear narrative: The game features a vast and interconnected open world with a non-linear narrative structure, offering players a high degree of freedom and choice. The world is rich with distinct sects, hidden forces, and opportunities for exploration.

Poor guidance and unclear objectives: The game suffers from poor guidance, unclear objectives, and a lack of helpful information. Players frequently get lost, struggle to find quest locations, and miss important details due to the absence of clear map markers, tutorials, and dialogue logs. This leads to frustration and a reliance on external guides.

Shallow, unbalanced combat system: Combat is shallow, unbalanced, and relies too heavily on stats. Dynamic level scaling negates player progression, while a lack of tactical options and meaningful character customization makes encounters feel repetitive and unrewarding. Some reviewers also noted the lack of a respec option exacerbates early-game stat allocation mistakes.

Unrewarding and shallow crafting: Crafting is unrewarding and lacks depth. Crafted items are often inferior to those found or purchased, and the system is hindered by limited skill points, unbalanced resource availability, and a lack of meaningful impact on gameplay. Some reviewers found crafting skills to be essentially useless.

Poor inventory organization: The inventory system is poorly organized and lacks essential features. Item categorization is illogical, making it difficult to find specific items, and the absence of sorting options further exacerbates the problem. This leads to frustration and wasted time managing inventory.

Poor map design and navigation: The map design is flawed, with unclear layouts, collision issues, and a lack of useful features. Players frequently get stuck in the environment, struggle to navigate the world, and find the map unhelpful for locating objectives or points of interest. This makes exploration tedious and frustrating.

Extensive character customization options: The game offers extensive character customization through martial arts, skills, and equipment. Players can learn various martial arts from different schools and combine them with internal skills to create unique builds. Matching weapons to martial arts is important for maximizing damage output.

Combat lacks strategic depth: The combat system is turn-based with some real-time elements, often compared to games like "Persona 5 Tactica" or "Baldur's Gate". However, many reviewers find it lacks strategic depth due to simple mechanics and an over-reliance on stat checks. Suggestions include expanding tactical options or simplifying the system.

Encourages open-world exploration: The game features an open-world design that encourages exploration, with a seamless map containing diverse terrains and accessible buildings. However, some reviewers find the accelerated running mechanic tedious and suggest mouse click movement would be more suitable.

Branching narrative, multiple endings: The game features a branching narrative where player decisions impact the story's progression and lead to multiple endings. Some reviewers note that the branching is not always significant, mostly offering different routes to the same points or additional dialogue.

Classic CRPG character stats: Characters have a variety of attributes (Strength, Perception, Dexterity, etc.) that affect their abilities in combat and exploration. The game uses a classic CRPG system of physical shields, magical shields, and health bars.

Getting stuck in environment: Players frequently get stuck in the environment, including caves, markets, and even trees. This issue disrupts gameplay and requires workarounds to resolve. Additionally, character movement feels clunky, and controller support is poor.

Visual glitches on maps: Some players have encountered visual glitches such as black screens during quests, overlapping images on area maps, and completely black maps after updates. These issues detract from the game's visual presentation and can hinder navigation.

Runs well on low-end: The game runs well on low-end hardware and the Steam Deck. This indicates good accessibility and optimization for a range of devices.

Laggy crafting interface: The crafting interface experiences lag when there are a large number of recipes available. This makes crafting a frustrating experience for players.

Freezing during teleport: Teleporting can sometimes cause the game to freeze, interrupting gameplay and potentially leading to lost progress if the game doesn't save frequently.

Wait for updates/full release: Many reviewers recommend waiting for updates and the full release due to the game's incomplete state, numerous bugs, and optimization issues. They express optimism and hope that the developers will continue to improve the game, address the problems, and deliver on its potential. Some reviewers suggest that purchasing the game now is essentially paying to test an unfinished product.

Appeals to Wuxia/furry fans: The game is praised for its Wuxia (martial arts) theme, story, and unique character designs, which appeal to enthusiasts of the genre and those who enjoy furry characters. Some reviewers suggest that Wuxia fans should not be deterred by the animal avatars, while others suggest adding modding support for character customization.

Support the developers: Many reviewers express support for the developers and encourage them to continue their hard work on the game. They give positive reviews to show their support, hoping that the game will sell well and continue to be optimized. Some reviewers acknowledge the challenges of developing indie games and are willing to trust another domestic Early Access game.

Anticipate future content updates: Reviewers are looking forward to future content updates, especially regarding the main story, side quests, and overall expansion of the game world. They anticipate a substantial amount of playtime upon completion and hope that the quality of future updates will match or exceed the initial impressions.

Improve combat/controls: Reviewers suggest improvements to the combat experience, such as optimizing the controls and adding features like auto-battle or skip buttons. Some reviewers also suggest implementing a 3x battle speed to enhance the gameplay experience.

Early Access, awaiting full release: The game is in early access, with the full release expected in 9-12 months. Players acknowledge the limited content and look forward to future updates, bug fixes, and the complete storyline. The current state is considered acceptable for early access.

Martial arts story and setting: The game's story centers on Jiu Si, a protagonist with a special mission in a martial arts world. The game blends martial arts themes with an open-world setting and furry characters, offering a unique experience with potential for future content expansion.

Support for domestic development: Reviewers express support for domestic game development, particularly for CRPGs. They appreciate the studio's efforts in creating a unique game in a genre with limited representation in the domestic market.

Ongoing game optimization: The developers are actively optimizing the game based on player feedback. Examples include adjustments to team-wide shared comprehension, removal of the running stamina bar, and unified level settings.