Legends of Wasteland

Edit: Going to update this as the issues mentioned get resolved/improved.

They were quick to fix the character creation, the eyes, hairstyle and colour now all function correctly and are labeled appropriately, as well as a few bugs and the announcement.

Still some issues with translations(like the Spartan Tactics talent having "No translation found", and the shop window getting chinese text when you are dragging an item.) and some of the talents in the passive tree are rather hard to understand. As an example: "Magic Shield Recharge Spd" versus "Magic Shield Regen Enhance". Testing makes it seem like Speed reduces the cooldown before magic shield begins to recharge, and regen increases how much you regen when it does, but it's not really explained so you just have to try it and see what it does.

There's also passive gems you can add to skills that add things like "Cleave" but adding it has not so far seemed to change the skills I've added it to in any visible way, and there's no explanation of what Cleave does.

The lack of three of the classes(the hybrid ones) not releasing on launch is rather noticable as the passive web has labeled start points for them, and you have to actively choose to navigate the web to them from one of the three primary classes, since you can't currently start as them, which takes roughly 10~ talent points to navigate from one start point to a hybrid start point, so if you want to do an int/dex or int/str build(as an example) you need to invest a chunk of points to navigate over to it. It's like playing Path of Exile, but you can't select Dualist, Templar or Shadow.

I think the biggest issue with the passive web though, is the search function. Even if you search for a specific stat, you'll find that it doesn't highlight all the ones that exist for that stat. An example of this is "Life Steal". Searching it will find you a few nodes that grant lifesteal, but not ones that adjust how Life Steal works like in the Mana Reflux talent that gives skills life steal, instead of just your auto attacks.

It makes it hard to find nodes/know what's available.

Still having fun, it's probably a good fit for someone that enjoys trial and error while theory crafting, but I suspect casual players will probably still struggle due to a lack of solid explanation of many things and poorly worded properties.

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Wish this had a neutral option.

This game was/is not ready for release at all, at least not when it comes to english translation or features. Character creation is bugged and has chinese text for "Eyes" with the arrows to change them, except pressing the arrows does nothing. Eye colour isn't changable even though it has a box to select it, and there's a third box that just says "New Text". They have also chosen to move 3 of the classes that were previously "Locked" in the demo to future content, which actually makes their description a lie as it says it includes 6 classes and reveals they had originally intended to release all 6 on launch. I assume a lot of the issues and pushed-back content were in an effort to meet their release window, rather than taking the time to make a full featured game with proper polish.

Many of the skills in the skill trees are missing translation entries resulting in error messages, wording for many of the skills/passives have problematic wording that doesn't really explain what things do and overall the game just doesn't feel polished for an english audience, especially for a 1.0 release. You can even see the issues on their 1.0 release announcement, where the announcement has the name of a totally unrelated game.

There's a good game under all the issues, but it's hard to say if they will hire someone to do proper translations or just leave it as it is. Seems like there's a lot of potential for build variety, depth of class customization and gear diversity, but it's really hard to navigate.

I imagine this is what most non-native english speaking players encounter with western translations, but seemingly made worse with a poor polish on the UI.

Ultimately, hoping they invest in a proper translator because it's rough despite the gameplay showing promise.

About me

I like odd games. Especially games focused on logic puzzles, stats, character building, theorycrafting, and “number go up” progression.

This game fits that niche very well.

What the game does well

The item stat system is interesting.

The skill tree has enough depth to make progression feel meaningful.

The skill system is solid, even though it could still be expanded and polished.

The story is basically non-existent, but I do not see that as a negative. This game does not need a story. It lives or dies by its systems.

To me, this is the first genuinely good attempt at mixing an ARPG with an idle game. If you enjoy idle games and also like games such as Path of Exile or other ARPGs mainly for their character progression, build crafting, and stat scaling, this game is probably for you.

What the game currently does poorly

There is no proper extensive tutorial, and several mechanics are not explained at all. Personally, I found that interesting because figuring things out became part of the challenge, but this will not work for everyone.

The localization of stats is unfinished. That said, if you have played ARPGs before, most stats can still be deciphered reasonably well. They are not unreadable, just unfinished and sometimes unclear.

The game requires you to spend time understanding it. It does not hold your hand. It does not explain everything. It expects you to experiment, read stats, test mechanics, and learn through failure. For me, that is a positive, but for many players it will be frustrating.

The game also promised six classes and a more polished product than what was delivered at release. That criticism is fair. However, compared to the previous demo, this version is a clear improvement and, for the price, I think it is acceptable. We are talking about roughly 6 €. I live in Germany and pay that for half a loaf of bread at a bakery if I am lucky.

Current progress

I have reached Wasteland Stage 130 and am currently crafting, improving my skill setups, and looking for ways to break the game on my next character.

Conclusion

This is not a polished mainstream ARPG. It is rough, unclear, and unfinished in several areas.

But underneath that, there is a genuinely interesting progression system with real potential. If you like idle games, ARPG character progression, stat scaling, and figuring out mechanics yourself, this game is worth the price.

Very fun idle ARPG where you create PoE type builds to blast.

[Random Gameplay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70CCWeF2dWM