Masquerada: Songs and Shadows

Since I've only recently started playing videogames again and have like a decade worth of games to catch up on, I'm mostly playing well-reviewed and well-known titles. However isometric / turn-based / tactical RPGs, the genre that I loved the most in my teens, are somewhat underrepresented in mainstream games, so I had to dig slightly deeper to find new ones. I've picked up Masquerada on Mercer's recommendation (he is voicing the lead here and generally knows his RPG shit) and was pleasantly surprised, considering how extremely underrated the game is.

Both aesthetically and gameplay-wise Masquerada exists somewhere between classic BioWare RPGs and PS1 Final Fantasy titles (all of my favorite games of all time basically). It's set in a Renaissance Europe-like world (with an emphasis on Mediterranean cultures) peppered with various magical abnormalities. All the locations in the game, the creatures and the characters are gorgeously drawn with a heavy art nouveau influence, the art alone would be enough of a selling point for me.. However the games world isn't just a pretty picture: it's actually surprisingly deep and well-developed for a one-of indie title. It was one of the very few RPGs where I've actually bothered to read most of supplementary in-game lore materials, because the world was fascinating and they were well-written. Even if you don't read anything the game does a great job of immersing you in the political, cultural and historical layers of this imaginary land. The choral and baroque soundtrack is also very much on point.

Though the story is relatively short, I've really enjoyed most of the character arcs (Kalden's being especially moving) and the magical-mystery-meets-political-intrigue plot. It reminded me a lot of China Miéville's Bas-Lag series, with community, the tide of history and inequality being strong themes in Masquerada as well.

Gameplay in Masquerada is on the easier side of things and the challenge on the normal setting could have been amped quite a bit (or I should finally start playing isometric RPGs on hard, I don't know). The battles are still interesting and have enough strategic depth, though your arsenal is much more limited than in Baldur's Gate or Divinity. It's basically all about positioning and micro control of the 3-4 magical abilities. Character levelling and equipment is one of the areas where Masquerada fails the most - the only equipment available are the masks that give various ultimate attacks and the engravings for your basic attacks (both change the outcome of the battles or your tactics very little). Character development is all but absent, you basically choose a set of 4 magic abilities and can pump them a bit and reset them completely after every mission.

The game doesn't pretend to be anything but extremely linear. There isn't a single meaningful story choice given to you in an entire runtime. But every game doesn't have to be an open-world all-you-can-choose extravaganza. God knows there's enough of those. Masquerada works great as a thing it's supposed to be - a great original fantasy story with deep worldbuilding, amazing art and occasional fun tactical battles. If you're like me and constantly searching for a new Baldur’s Gate fix, I can wholeheartedly recommend Masquerada.