Sands of Salzaar Early Access Reviews
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Now that Han-Squirrel Studio’s sandbox action-RPG Sands of Salzaar has been translated into English, we can check out a couple of early access reviews that praise the game’s surprising depth and fresh ideas while noting that it can be a little rough around the edges. Have a look:
ScreenRant 4/5:
There’s a reason the Sands of Salzaar fanbase put in so much unpaid translation modding work prior to this full release: it’s an inspired and engrossing RPG that delivers a fierce value for its modest price. It makes up for an occasional lack of polish with impressive and entertaining depth, and features an excellent soundtrack that somehow doesn’t wear out its welcome 50 hours in. While the game is narrative-complete, Han-Squirrel Studio’s attentive updates thus far means that more content could well be on the horizon, and a spirited mod community will only grow further with this English translation. Anyone wanting to lose themselves in a new sandbox RPG need look no further: Sands of Salzaar is it.
DarkStation 4/5:
Sands of Salzaar could be considered an unfashionable game because it’s not permadeath roguelike Souls-like with survival and crafting elements. Despite its looks, it’s not a loot-a-thlon either. Instead it’s a fast-paced and personally involving action-RPG that is fresh as a bubbling oasis in middle of the desert that isn’t just a mirage! Mod support and separate multiplayer campaign add to the already addictive experience. All this comes at the price tag of only 13 dollars for some amazing value for money. One could even say that Sands of Salzaar puts many of the bigger titles to shame with its creativity and energy. It may not re-invent computer role-playing games but it shows that there is still kick in the old genre and all it needed was bringing it out to the sun.
There’s also this scoreless PC Gamer preview:
There’s a much bigger emphasis on telling a written story, too. I’m constantly running into bespoke quests that are much more interesting than the bandit-hunting I’m usually relegated to for the first ten hours of any Mount and Blade game. The English translation isn’t great, and the presentation on a whole is extremely janky, but there’s a lot of charm and personality to the world.
During one quest, for example, I had to infiltrate a nearby mine that had been overtaken by a cult of Ifrit worshippers to rescue a consigliere. Turns out, that guy was the one leading the cult all long. Surprise, surprise. In those moments, the dialogue oscillates between hamfisted to borderline incomprehensible, but there’s also this odd earnestness about it all that I find charming. I like that Sands of Salzaar is at least trying to make its world full of interesting sidequests.
