Solasta 2 preview: It will be recognized in Gate 3 World after Baldur, but more must be done
Blog Andrew Joseph 20 Feb , 2025 0
A few years ago, video games like Solasta II could have been a niche product. Old-fashioned computer RPGs are bound by dice rolls, dungeons and dragon rules, and are often popular among a crowd of gamers. The same one has long-term pauses in Neverwinter Nights. Traditional ideas show that this type of quirk (punishment difficulty, baroque questlines, general threats are all on the mainstream avenue). Or, so we think. Because in 2025 we live in the III gate world after Valdel, it turns out that there is no doubt in this world, and the entire society can absolutely fall in love with a weird Traipse through all these weird systems. Solasta II hopes the lightning can hit twice.
The first Solasta arrived in 2021 and both games brought the same recipe to the table. Like its predecessor, Solasta II, is a round-based tactical RPG that is influenced by the D&D structure, and many of the foundations are immediately visible in the two-hour demonstration I could access. My adventurers party arrived at a rocky cliffside village, and my little dots passed through the town, learning exactly what made citizens sick. A plundered tribe created some problems on the border, and the unexplained tremors were destroying buildings, while all the crew of the lost fishermen were nailed by giant meat-eating crabs. The core plot forked in subtle ways, providing various ways to deal with the crisis. Do you want to slaughter Kobolds in their camp? Or maybe sneak away and convince them to belong to the same cult in a dragon scale they cherish? So you can fix these issues, hoping to get a whole bunch of loot (or at least a few pieces of gold) in the reward.
All of these decisions are reviewed in Gardens’ various skill checks, reviewing your persuasion, perception, historical fluency, and more. A crucial change made by Solasta II is that, as far as I know, it doesn't matter which party member you are currently controlling when you browse these dice rolls. The party is seen as an omnipotent unit, which reduces the annoyance that arises when you end unexpectedly with the low charisma savages at high risk. I also appreciate how to use the button's brushstrokes, players can use their WASD keys to control their groups, thus fully placing a traditional top-down view. It makes it easier to navigate some of the stricter corridors around the map.
The battle is also modified in some intelligent, modern way. Nothing big has changed – you will still roll for initiative and cost spell slots for casting magic missiles. But as someone who occasionally gets lost in D&D portraits, the UI in Solasta II is perfect for it. For example, some of the advanced techniques available to my wizard are presented to me in simple English on my action bar. The same economy as my rogue's reward action. The learning curve in the Baldur gate is steeper and gets stuck in early game mistakes as you are still adapting to the pace. Meanwhile, the Solasta II has made me speed up faster.
Frankly, I think that's my only concern. All the good things about Solasta II are related to smart, keen improvements in quality of life. The demo itself doesn't do much of a difference in what separates itself from other RPGs on the market. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's obvious, especially when it looks unfavorable. One of the phone cards of Baldur's Gate III is how common its interaction is. Each NPC can be connected, making it even more fun in the seemingly infinite dialogue tree. But the part of Solasta I've seen is more secluded. The door wouldn't open, Townsfield didn't talk to me, my party was driven into the narrow streets. The Brilliantness of Desktop Ads Campaigns – Whether you want to cleanse the world or save the world, all the choices are on the table. The basics of Solasta II are lowered, but I hope it has the ability to touch this wonderful feeling inside us when I play the retail version.
