I’ve been grappling with when I should write this review. How much do you need to see of a game before you can commit to an opinion? It’s a difficult question to answer at the best of times, but I like to remain flexible and take it on a case-by-case basis.
Some games follow the rulebook and stick to the examples set by others, and you can get a measure of these games pretty quickly. However, more original and daring rogues will often take time before they reveal their true selves.
Entering the Caves of Qud
First and foremost, Caves of Qud is a roguelike. In fact, I think it satisfies most peoples’ definition of a traditional turn-based roguelike. It’s a game like they don’t often make these days. This is for many reasons, the main one being that they’re incredibly time consuming and complicated to make. It doesn’t help that they’re rarely profitable.
On the face of it, Freehold’s RPG isn’t much to look at, especially if you judge it by the standards of mainstream gaming. However, the simplistic visuals still contain enough information to clearly convey your environment, and that’s across a myriad of different in-game locations and situations. The stripped-back ASCII-inspired graphics offer just enough detail to keep you immersed in Qud’s many strange locales.
The setting is a clever blend of fantasy and science-fiction. Sometimes it feels like a classic dungeon crawler, as you swipe your sword left and right into slime balls or giant, grumpy tortoises. Yet there are also moments when the technology violently reminds you through shotgun blasts and grenade explosions that this is a completely fresh world for you to discover. Tolkien-reverent fantasy this is not.
Having said that, there is something Tolkien-esque about Caves of Qud. I think this comes thanks to the game’s exceptional writing and the comprehensive world building. There is so much attention to detail in this regard, and like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the depth of the world that has been crafted around the core narrative makes for a greater adventure than the sum of its parts.
Your Cave Story
The atmosphere in Caves of Qud is fantastic. Despite being an open-world adventure filled with procedurally-arranged elements, it still manages to feel like a carefully authored space. As I was exploring ruins on my journeys east and west, I recalled the same feeling of discovery that I enjoyed in the classic turn-based role-playing games of my youth. Except here it’s better, because the RPGs of old were rigid and limited, and in Caves of Qud you’ll be rifling through a chest one minute, and then on the run from a gang of angry baboons hurling stones the next.
A big part of what makes each new attempt so interesting is the depth found in the character creation tools. There are so many different ways that you can make a build, with mutations and high technology to consider. I spent a lot of time playing as different pre-built mutant classes, but when I converted to a tech-knight with a giant sword and a rifle, I started to get a lot further into the game.
You can play in a number of ways. I started off with the pure roguelike mode, but the complexity of the world meant I was making slow progress. I then tweaked it so my character saved at checkpoints, which is a much more forgiving way to play the game and experience more of the world around you. That said, if you get in trouble and bite the dust, going back to nearest village is still somewhat painful.
You can make things even more peaceful, if you prefer. The Wanderer option makes most animals neutral towards you, which will make things somewhat quicker when exploring. Finally, there’s a daily seed for everyone to try once, if you want to get really involved with the community side of things.
Role-playing
Whether you’re a mutant fish-man or a needle-eyed gunslinger in search of adventure, there is potential to really sink into the specifics of your character, whoever that may be.
There are pre-made builds and I think most people will benefit hugely from using these pre-sets, as they’re often built for durability. However, if you want to really mix things up, you can dig into the game’s comprehensive range of character creation options, and build something bespoke to you.
The broad range of options during the creation phase is indicative of the depth you’ll find later on in the game. Indeed, the potential for role-playing vastly different characters in Caves of Qud is strong, and your connection to your character is only reinforced by the UI features that have been added over the course of this year.
When you’re in-game there is always something to look at, and in many of the locations you explore you’ll find people and/or things to talk to, too. Combat frequency varies depending on your difficulty settings, and when you’re in battle, you’ve got an array of options from both items in your inventory and any powers or mutations you have for that character.
There are various special abilities that you can deploy during combat, and the tactical possibilities feel borderline endless when you consider how many different ways you can make a character. This feeling of endless possibility is reinforced further whenever you discover something new or unexpected during play; the number of moving parts ensures plenty of emergent moments.
Qud it be love?
As part of the process of evaluating the game before me, a zoomed out analysis reveals a project of huge scale. We’re talking about a science-fantasy world of epic proportions, filled with interesting detail and presented in a way that promotes exploration and discovery.
The new tutorial and UI enhancements make the game a bit easier to get into, and I think it’s quite remarkable that it works as well as it does on the Steam Deck. The most recent round of improvements do go a long way to helping players get to grips with things. What the tutorial doesn’t do, however, is prepare you for the depth of the experience that awaits beyond the confines of your starting village.
Caves of Qud is a remarkable achievement, and one of the very best contemporary roguelikes out there. Freehold Games has poured years of energy, heart and soul into the project, and it shows in each thoughtfully written item description and every strangely specific genetic mutation. Now, after enjoying it fully in the wake of its departure from Early Access, I can confirm that this is going to be a world that I will return to again and again, and for many more years to come.
Caves of Qud is out now on Steam PC. Live and drink!
