Death stalks every move in this Soulsian text-based RPG. Players navigate a barren landscape where each step risks oblivion, demanding fierce yet careful combat against minor foes, routine canteen refills, and reliance on a compass for direction. Weapons turn up along the way, wear out on rugged hides, and get tossed aside, while bodily upgrades come from bargaining with a mystic through offerings of eyes, teeth, and flesh.
Morality faces constant trials as the path unfolds events tied to its sequel. The restart screen defines grit, pushing players to press on amid diabolic rituals, heavy loads, stern orders, and grim admiral warnings. Hardcore RPG fans who relish punishing lessons from repeated deaths will find their match here.
Death awaits. Their humanity makes them strong.
The Ensign is the pre-sequel to the critically acclaimed text-based RPG, A Dark Room.
The Ensign is a Soulsian adventure. Traverse a desolate world. Each step threatens death. And with each death, lessons are learned: fight with both ferocity and caution against even the weakest enemies, refill your canteen regularly, and trust in your compass to find the way.
Your morality will be tested throughout this journey as the events that lead to A Dark Room are revealed to you the further you get.
Slate Magazine
Weapons are found, run down against tough hides, and then discarded. You upgrade your bodily capabilities by appeasing a mystic, and offering them eyes, teeth, and flesh. The definition of the word “grit” greets you when restarting, encouraging you to bite down even harder on the bit. It’s a game of diabolic rituals, of juggling the encumbrance of a fated journey, of imperative commands and intimidating forewarning; “Death awaits” croaks your pathetic admiral each time you embark, and he’s always right.
It’s no use denying it: The Ensign is every bit a Souls game as a text-based adventure could ever hope to be.
