Game:

Scarmonde (2024)

Duration: 0:00

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Scarmonde is an Indie, Party Based, Retro RPG Dungeon Crawler that feels like an improved, dungeon focused take on the original Final Fantasy!

An Improved Take on Final Fantasy 1?
Yep.
Just like the old, classic Final Fantasy, in Scarmonde, you select and name a party of 4, choosing which class you want for each party slot.
Unlike that old, dated JRPG, here you have a big roster of 12 character classes to select from at the start; as opposed to the Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, Red Mage, Black Mage, or White Mage of FF1; 12 is much better than 6!
The 12 classes here are markedly different, as there are lots of skills to learn for each class in Scarmonde, with each class having their own skill list of abilities.
Some of the classes have build in resistances too, like the Shadowkin take less darkness damage, and are much harder to knockout, silence, curse, or poison; nice!
This is in addition to the passive tree all classes share, and the fun way your characters learn new abilities here.

In Scarmonde, you use found Magic Orbs to learn abilities, deciding on which character and which ability you need at the moment.
This is very unlike FF1, where you simply grind around outside each town to afford all the gear and spells you want.
In Scarmonde, your ability choices are more limited, and thus more impactful.
Though, you can still grind for character exp, lvl, loot and gold if you want, as the town shops sell better and better stuff as you get better and better, as they won’t sell their better stuff to green recruits; you gotta earn the right to get access to good stuff!

The Dungeons of Scarmonde:
Like FF1, (all the early Final Fantasy games really,) Scarmonde is dungeon focused.
So, before you descend into the mega dungeon, hit the shops around town!
Just like old school Final Fantasy; the first thing to do is equip your party! You start with no gear here!
Then when you’re ready, wander the dungeons, have random encounters, explore the dungeon lvls, find treasure, and lvl up the party as you grind down monsters; the good stuff.
Scarmonde is also much nicer to the player than old FF 1, as you can save in the dungeons here; FF 1 classic would NEVER!
In classic FF1, you truck your busted up party back to town to the inn to rest and heal, and if an ogre gets you a few steps from elf town, well, that’s how it goes!

Another thing: unlike old school FF 1, if you all attack 1 target, once it dies, your party will swap to another target automatically; very nice of the game, as old FF1 does not do that!
A warning: debuffs have a real bite in Scarmonde.
Poison is nasty here, dealing 1/10 of your hp a turn; not 1 hp per step; so cure that poison!
While being cursed take 25% of your mp a turn and makes your spells cost double! Ouch!

Another handy little tip: bows deal additional damage to flyers; nice to know!
So, Scarmonde has all these impactful and meaningful changes to the FF1 formula that make it feel just so much better to play.

Controller Support is present, as is good old mouse and keyboard.
I found gamepad felt best here, as it best captures the retro nostalgia feeling of playing a sort of improved take on Final Fantasy 1, so that is what I used in the above video.

April 2025 Update: Random Dungeon Mode added!
Enter the door east of the inn
Note: cannot have entered the central stair; The Depths
Warning once you’re in; you’re in!
Buy gear at town and learn some abilities first before you go in!
Warning: you do not heal or restore mp before lvls!
You can save at the start of each lvl, and can load when you die.
The chest rewards change every time; excellent

Scarmonde is an Indie, Party Based, Retro RPG Dungeon Crawler that feels like an improved, dungeon focused take on the original Final Fantasy, and is easily well worth a wishlist and a watch.
Watch?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2769210/Scarmonde/
#Scarmonde #DungeonCrawler #FF1