iOS, PC/Mac •
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a true RPG on my iPad. Sure, there are a ton of games with RPG elements in them–Pathfinder Adventures immediately come to mind–but nothing with the joy of building your characters from scratch and watching them level up while working your way through a well-told story. Thus, I’m pretty excited for West of Loathing. Not only is it a “real” RPG, but it offers a graphic style that sets it apart from anything else I’ve seen on the App Store.
West of Loathing is an RPG set in the Old West, but what will grab you right away is the game’s art style. Or should I say, lack of art style? Characters are stick figures and everything is in a hand-drawn, “hey, I’m glad the artist from Dream Quest got another gig” style. It sounds terrible, but actually feels unique and it’s great fun to see what the developers can do with the limited graphics.
It’s being sold as a “comedy RPG” which is kind of scary because the last game that promised hilarity was Knights of Pen & Paper 2, which confused humor with bashing you over the head with references. Fear not, dear reader, as the comedy in West of Loathing is closer to the Thimbleweed Park or classic point-and-click adventure games from the 90’s and less “Here’s a thing you like, isn’t’ that cool” which, despite the popularity of Ready Player One, sucks.
- A sprawling open world: Traverse snake-infested gulches, punch skeletons wearing cowboy hats, grapple with demon cows, and investigate a wide variety of disgusting spittoons — nearly 100 unique locations to explore!
- A goofy spin on good ol’ RPG gameplay: Charm your way out of trouble as a silver-tongued Snake Oiler, plumb the refried mysteries of the cosmos as a wise and subtle Beanslinger, or let your fists do the talking as a fierce Cow Puncher.
- A “colorful” cast of stick-figure characters: Interact with dozens of NPCs and hundreds of enemies — some of whom are good, many of whom are bad, and a few of whom are ugly.
- A gag around every corner: Wordplay and dad jokes abound — along with at least one drunken horse, more than 50 hats, and liberal use of the Oxford comma.
West of Loathing is coming to PC/Mac soon, but should be heading to iOS shortly thereafter. We should have a review up right around the time it launches, so keep your eyes peeled.
It’s made by Assymetric, interesting.
I played KoL (Kingdom of Loathing) their flagship game daily for like 5 or 6 years and finally was able to break the addiction about 2 years ago.
Ditto, I remember the days of meat farming as a Disco Bandit fondly, but once I got into scripting the game for optimal runs I had to quit or dedicate my life to it.
I quit.