Only a few decades after defeating the Sorak menace, dark winds stir once again in the world of Solasta. On the mana-rich island of Neokos, the enigmatic sorceress Shadwyn prepares to unleash a tide of corruption across the land. In Solasta II, a family of heroes will gather their party and venture forth to bravely confront Shadwyn and her legions of stone soldiers.
Solasta II is a turn-based tactical RPG based on Wizards of the Coast’s SRD 5E ruleset. Even in its pre-alpha state, the demo is a substantial improvement over its predecessor, Solasta: Crown of the Magister. France-based developer Tactical Adventures has pulled out all the stops, sparing no expense to fully realize their artistic vision for this chapter in the world of Solasta. And last week, I had a chance to sit down with an early release of the upcoming demo for Solsta II.
The preview introduced our adventurers as they arrived in the village of Tor Wen. This enchanting and serene fishing village is built atop the ruins of an ancient elvish city. Towering statues of its former kings are carved into the cliffs, their stone bodies now draped in moss and flushes of wildflowers. There’s an excellent sense of history and scale in Tor Wen, and the sprawling map is seamless, with no loading screens separating the heights of the town from the coastal dungeons below.
Our party has come to fulfill a promise to visit an old friend, the furry-footed halfling Ellie Sharpreef. We find her standing on a levitating rock, gazing over the ocean. Ellie spills the tea, informing us about missing villagers and the town’s perennial dragon problem. As a band of level threes, there’s not much we can do about an oyster-thieving dragon, so they agree to look for the missing villager, Jabori.
From the bustling town center atop the cliffs, I guided my party to an elevator near the gigantic stone head of one of the long-dead elven rulers. After descending to the bottom of the cliffs, our heroes made their way onto the sandy coast, where they were promptly attacked by acid-spitting crabs.
Combat in Solasta II feels familiar but refined. The most obvious change is the stylized UI. Solasta II uses the same interface structures as Solasta: Crown of the Magister but adds intuitive submenus to reduce visual clutter. Fights have all the staples one could hope for in a 5E D&D adventure, and a few extra spells and abilities tailor-made for the Neokos setting. Combat was fast and fluid, in part from the animation system that separates spells into different stages. Casting magic attacks will have the incantation animation play after the spell is selected, and will finish once the target of the spell is confirmed.
“Combat in Solasta II feels familiar but refined.”
Pathfinding has been improved, too. Movement is still grid-based, but characters are no longer limited to eight directions of movement; instead, they use a floating point system to reach their destination more organically. The battlegrounds they’ll be fighting across are more dynamic than the previous game, as well. There are more destructible ledges, ambush points, high grounds and shadows, making each encounter feel spontaneous and natural.
After crushing the crustaceans, it was time to venture into a seaside cave in search of Jabori. He was being held captive by a pride of dragon-worshipping kobolds! My gnomish rogue Daisy used the new stealth mechanics to sneak past the guards and steal some of their treasured dragon scales—which we later returned as tokens of friendship.
Stealth is a powerful tool in Solasta II. Characters can enter a ‘cautious’ mode to maneuver into ambush positions. Each character is surrounded by a circular waveform, a representation of the noise they’re making, which changes based on stealth skills and the type of armor they’re wearing. My rogue, Daisy, was lightweight and nimble, so moving her into position for a sneak attack should have been effortless–but I forgot to separate her from the party. It was the clanging platemail of her dwarven brother, who was following three feet behind her, that alerted the cultists. She was slaughtered immediately.
I ended up losing that battle a few times. One of the interesting gameplay changes is that when one party member dies, it’s game over, making a well-rounded party composition essential. This preview came with a pre-built party, but in the full Solasta II build, players can craft all four characters however they choose. But if you’re building a team with some D&D campfire romance in mind—don’t be gross; our new party is made up entirely of siblings.
“This preview came with a pre-built party, but in the full Solasta II build, players can craft all four characters however they choose.”
Family will be a central theme, making each character’s survival crucial to completing the campaign. The pre-built party was frequently bickering and jabbing at each other—sometimes playful, sometimes not—but it was always entertaining. One of the returning features of the series is the shared dialogue system. When speaking with NPCs, each party member can chime in with responses based on their unique personalities and stats, supporting the narrative’s goal of not having a singular main character.
My journey through Tor Wen was quintessential D&D—a fantastical adventure with a charismatic party, high stakes, and just the right amount of levity. It’s unclear how far into development it is, but Solasta II will be moving to Steam Early Access sometime this year. If you’d like to try out the demo it releases February 24th during Steam Next Fest. I, for one, can’t wait to dive back into the land of Neokos–as a quartet of dwarves named after the Renaissance masters. Don’t steal my idea.
