The "hardcore" tag on an rpg must just mean an rpg done right, by devs that get it.

This gem was clearly made by seasoned rpg fans, that understand perfectly what roleplay and actually living in that world is about.

I can say a lot of good things about this game, but the most important one is that when the developers say you can play the game in different ways, they absolutely mean that. I'm a big RPG fan, but sometimes we have to be honest with ourselves: picking between classes is sometimes just a mechanical choice. It only changes combat or a few scenes. When it comes to the narrative, your character creation choices don't truly matter - I can beat Oblivion as any class and have a pretty similar experience story-wise.

In Age of Decadence, the game you play changes drastically from the very beginning, as soon as you select your class. The first game I played was as a Soldier. The intro happened: an assassin enters your room. I beat and killed him thanks to my strength, and reported to a nearby station. My game from then on was focused around being a legionnaire and fighting off invaders and such.

Next time I played, though, I picked a Merchant. It was out of curiosity, but from the very beginning things were different. I couldn't kill the assassin, I had to talk him down. I had nothing to do with the legions, either. This time, I was reporting to the Guild of Merchants, and the backstabbing intrigue there. I don't think I ever picked up a weapon for this entire playthrough, it was all speech checks and decisions.

And that's the part I cherish the most about this game. Sure, the visuals are a little dated, and the game difficulty is tuned high. But the narrative these developers have written? The sheer amount of player freedom? You can legitimately roleplay in this game, and that's an amazing experience any RPG fan owes it to themselves to have.

Welcome to Fallout Rome, a post apocalyptic RPG with a little touch of magic. It has some of the best writing I've ever experienced in a game, and one of the best stories. The sense of mystery early on is palpable: what happened to this world? What brought low such a great civilization? The way the true history devolved slowly into myths, the feeling that you're missing key details, and -- above all -- the unavoidable sense that there's something *dangerous* that happened, that is still out there.

The general gameplay systems are enjoyable, keeping in mind that this is an indie game -- not some AAA behemoth. The various ending possibilities are fascinating and feel very organic. If you enjoyed Fallout 1 or 2, you'll like this. If you like RPG where actions do have consequences, you'll like this. If you like games with high replayability that encourage you to try different character builds (loremasters/assassin/thief/guard/noble) to see a different perspective on events, you'll love this!