Solasta or not, its authenticity is unquestionable, and Tactical Adventures' RPG is the most faithful virtual representation of the D&D rule set since Neverwinter Nights. Armor classes, spell preparation, and scowling at bad dice rolls bring back fond and sometimes painful memories of BioWare's early games. Fifth Edition rules form the backbone of this sprawling RPG, filled with massive, puzzle-like dungeons and challenging tactical combat. Even though it suffers from clumsy and derivative storytelling, it's a decent first effort from a small French studio.

In its story, you control four adventurers recruited as deputies to the Council, an organization representing the various factions of the Kingdom of Solasta. Initially sent to investigate a border fort on the frontier of the Badlands (think Mordor, but in the west, not the east), they eventually stumble upon an ancient artifact known as the Magister's Crown. But that crown is incomplete, missing several magical gems that would be powerful enough to open the rift between worlds. Imagine what your party will be doing for the next 40 hours or so.

I'll discuss the story problems later, but first I'd like to focus on what Solasta does best: making the strict D&D rules easy to understand; as someone who found "Baldur's Gate" quite intimidating, I appreciate how well "Solasta" teaches. The first few hours of "Crown of the Magister" serve as a soft tutorial, skillfully introducing the 5th edition rules, from time-honored mechanics such as spell selection and rest nuances to 5e-specific rules such as advantage and disadvantage rolls. I always knew what was happening and why, whether in search or in combat.

Helpfully, the ruleset is organized in a way that "Solasta" is familiar with. Combat, for example, borrows both the battlefield representation and certain mechanics from Firaxis' "X-COM". By default, characters move and take one action or dash and spend an action to move further. Solasta also has an overwatch equivalent, which allows the user to schedule actions to be triggered when an enemy moves within range. This is especially useful for characters who specialize in melee combat to avoid wasting actions.

Combat is where you will spend the most time in Solasta, and naturally it is also where the game is most robust. With its strict D&D rule set, one cannot expect the wild creativity of more recent CRPGs like "Divinity": nevertheless, the battles in Solasta are challenging and satisfying. You'll grin when a fighter's great sword plunges into an orc's face, and you'll wince when an orc's axe flies through the air, narrowly missing the wizard. Spells are colorful in their own right, ranging from explosive elemental spells like Fire Ball and Lightning Bolt to hilarious spells like Hydrus Lauter, which paralyzes the enemy's diaphragm more effectively than an episode of Task Master.

On the tactical side, you will be outnumbered in most battles, so maximizing your actions and making good use of both your party's skills and environment will be critical to victory. Many of these are familiar, such as getting the rogue behind the enemy for a sneak attack or densifying the enemy so that the wizard can incinerate them with AoE spells. But there are also more clever strategies. Fighters equipped with shields can block attacks on their companions. In fact, chance rolls are a major component of solasta combat. An assaulting spellcaster can quickly call up a shield to deflect an attack, while a paladin can burn a spell slot to smite the enemy and inflict additional damage.

Beyond these mechanics lies a broader, more unusual system of bringing the environment into play. For example, enemies can be smashed by pushing a conveniently placed rock off a ledge or knocking a chandelier off a ceiling. Light is a particularly important element. Fighting in the dark adds a visibility disadvantage to combat rolls, so it is important to use torches and spells to illuminate caves and dungeons. Therefore, it is important to use torches and spells to illuminate caves and dungeons. This makes for exciting story-like combat, with clever tricks and dodging at the last minute.

Speaking of dungeons, Solasta's dungeons are vast mazes of shadows that are fun to explore. While the campaign opens up more in the later stages, Solasta is a fairly linear RPG, revolving around key locations that take several hours to explore. Some dungeons are puzzle-heavy, with a lot of time spent traversing platforms and navigating portals. There are also dungeons that offer more freedom. A prime example is the Dark Castle, which is where Solasta really comes into its own. This vast fortress is home to powerful necromancers and guarded by undead of all kinds. You can fight your way through the front gates, but you can also sneak in through secret entrances or talk your way past the apprentices guarding the castle's outer corridors.

Elsewhere, you'll explore ancient libraries, glittering monasteries filled with translucent specters, and blasted volcanic landscapes; Solasta is a reasonably good-looking RPG, but many NPCs seem to have dragged their character creators in reverse, with fake beards and wig-like hairstyles. Dwarves especially struggle to maintain facial hair, with braids and rings seemingly dragging beards off their chins.

Nevertheless, the character creators themselves are impressive. Solasta is a true party RPG. While I chose to play with pre-designed characters to maximize the potential for a balanced experience, the game encourages you to create your own personal quartet of heroes. There are five races and six classes to choose from, but you can also choose the background of your characters, each with several "personality flags" such as kind, cynical, or greedy. These flags affect the character's reactions and important choices during dialogue. For example, a character with pragmatism traits may be more likely to get out of a situation through discussion, while a character who is violent by nature will always prefer a fight.

Differences in personality emerge through a sophisticated dialogue system that allows any of the four party members to respond to the NPC. Most responses are formal, but there are some important decisions that can determine whether a quest ends in conversation or bloodshed. While the effectiveness of this system is diminished by the conversation itself, it is fun to watch characters react according to the personalities you have created.

Solasta's writing is not terrible, but it is often corny and the unusual syntax prevents the conversation from flowing as it should, and the characters' reactions to new information and situations always seem slightly off. The script is further ruined by the voice acting. Almost all of the characters sound wrong, either because the acting itself falls flat or because the chosen voice sounds odd coming from that person's mouth. One of the actresses who voiced two of my party characters sounded almost exactly like Mrs. Rabbit in "Peppa Pig," and the moment I realized this, I couldn't take anything they said seriously.

With a better script and more charismatic acting, the background and personality system would have been something of a distinguishing feature. Without them, "Solasta" does not have much to differentiate it from other fantasy CRPGs. The story has been done a thousand times over. There are a few intriguing ideas, such as a quirky twist on the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale and a main antagonist who can disguise himself as anyone. But again, these ideas are ruined by the script and voice acting.

On the other hand, the few side quests are rudimentary and clearly tacked on. This is especially true of the recently added character side quests, which offer more personal stories about party members. There are few hints of character history in the first 20 hours, and suddenly these stories appear all at once.

There are also a few smaller features that I appreciate, such as the Scavengers Guild. This group of professional looters will go into dungeons after the monsters are gone and collect weapons and pieces of armor to sell. This is a nice quality-of-life feature because it saves me from having to return to Caer Clyften with a dozen short swords on my back every time I clear a dungeon.

A major addition not yet discussed is Solasta's Dungeon Maker, which, as the name implies, allows you to create your own tile-based caves, catacombs, and castles for your party to explore. It's a sophisticated, easy-to-use tool. Using the drag-and-drop feature, a basic room layout can be completed in a matter of minutes, but with enough depth and precision to create more detailed dungeons. However, it is not something you would purchase specifically for Solasta.

Ultimately, what kept me interested in Solasta was the desire to see what was around the next corner. It may not be the most original or glitteringly written RPG, but there is enough variety in the dungeons to keep you intrigued, and the variety of enemies keeps the combat interesting throughout most of the campaign. The game also does D&D right while providing a gentle entry path for newcomers, which in itself is no mean feat.