The Iron Oath Early Access Previews
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With The Iron Oath live in early access, now's the time for us to check out some previews in order to learn what this turn-based mercenary RPG has in store for us, and which of its areas still need some work before we can start talking about a full release.
But some jobs mean clomping about a dungeon. Here your gang of four must step from square to square, triggering or dodging traps and ambushes, rooting through bones and rubble and chests for trinkets, and eventually reaching the item in question, or confronting a boss fight. Down here, your health doesn't top up after a fight, and the longer you take the worse things get - every so many turns sets off a random condition, making traps hit harder, nerves more frayed, or misplacing an item. To offset this, you've an NPC at the entrance (actually on staff, but whatever) who sells healing potions, and bandages for treating persistent injuries. You can also rest a limited number of times, burning various incenses that heal and provide bonuses of your choice, like more gold, more XP, or restoring uses of special skills. Short rests, like.
The biggest issue throughout my time with The Iron Oath is the UI. It’s a collection of little annoyances that don’t seem to matter individually, but they pile up over time. For instance, during battles, there’s no easy way to see my characters’ health at a glance as I survey the battle. Their portrait overlays will have a red shadow that represents their general HP loss, or I can hover over them with my cursor to get a full name and health bar — but neither of these are ideal when I’m also trying to suss out all the enemy information and terrain, while also worrying about the remainder of the dungeon. At other times, I accidentally closed out of upgrade screens, and it took me a while to find them again. None of these are deal breakers (especially in an early access game) but they’re bummers nonetheless.
After a few hours of playing The Iron Oath, I found myself with a beefed-up squad of four and several substitutes that are part of my roster. Unfortunately, I hardly cared about any of them. Moreover, I’ve fought countless battles, just repeating the same tactics over and over.
To be fair, there are some interesting concepts here since there’s a wider world to see, more mercs to recruit, and noble houses that are vying for control. But certain limitations (i.e., four-person party) and odd elements (i.e., the timer and unrewarding dungeon runs) led to a dull experience. It is an Early Access game, which means there’s a lot of work to be done. However, at this stage, it’s not something I could recommend.
