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Something weird this way comes with The Hand of Merlin, blending together elements of Arthurian legends mixed in with plenty of cosmic horror in a turn-based tactical RPG.

"The Hand of Merlin is a turn-based rogue-lite RPG in which Arthurian legend clashes with cosmic horror. Recruit a company of up to three mortal heroes and guide them in spirit on a desperate journey from Albion to Jerusalem. Explore a richly-imagined medieval setting on the brink of apocalypse. Trade with merchants, improve your heroes and unearth ancient relics. Search for the lost fragments of your soul, scattered across the multiverse - and save as many worlds as you can."

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Some of what to expect from it includes:

  • A Roguelike Experience - Carve a path across the lands of Albion, Marca Hispanica and Al-Andalus. Will you take a dangerous route, risking life and limb in pursuit of a legendary relic? Or will you choose a safer path? Plan and prepare. Negotiate, barter, fight. Tackle challenges. Suffer losses. Recruit new Heroes. Earn Gold, Supplies and Renown. Be careful: your choices are permanent, as is death. But don't tarry - evil never rests.
  • Tactical Turn-Based Combat - Master the tactics of squad-based and turn-based combat to conquer both human and demonic foes. Your enemies will be tough and ruthless; make use of high ground and cover, set up ambushes and coordinated attacks, harness synergies between different Hero classes and skills.
  • Non-Linear Narrative - Enjoy a compelling story inspired by Arthurian legend, the Matter of France, and the history of Al-Andalus - with an unusual twist. Make choices in interactive encounters that change every time you play. Written by Jonas Kyratzes (The Talos Principle, Serious Sam 4) and Verena Kyratzes (The Lands of Dream, Serious Sam 4).
  • Dynamic Leveling - Use Renown to level up your Heroes, and choose between a randomized set of new skills or improved attributes. But choose wisely! Select skills with great synergy and balance your party for the road ahead.
  • Equipment Upgrades - Seek out towns to improve your arms and armor, or stumble upon hermit artisans in the wild. With every day that passes, the world plunges deeper into darkness, and you will need all the equipment gold can buy.
  • Alternate Dimensions - As you jump from one parallel dimension to the next, history is reshaped. Different kings rule the land, changing the encounters, characters, and events. No two worlds are ever quite the same, and each journey will be unique. And should your heroes fall, remember: defeat is not the end, only a new beginning.

Developed by Room-C Games, with help from Croteam and publisher Versus Evil the developer posted on the Steam forum to confirm Linux:

Hey, so yeah, i got news to share on this front.
Fresh from the oven: the game is can be played on Windows, Linux and Mac. :)

In a further post, they confirmed this is a native Linux build with Vulkan rendering and going by previous posts it seems this is thanks to a bunch of previous work Croteam did on their Vulkan support which was pulled in.

You can follow The Hand of Merlin on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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5 comments

Arehandoro Mar 16, 2021
Very promising!
Purple Library Guy Mar 16, 2021
"The Matter of France", huh? Someone has some knowledge of medieval lit. Gives me a good feeling.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 16 March 2021 at 7:00 pm UTC
sudoer Mar 16, 2021
It's damn Croteam, let's hope they will return to their good days of exceptional Linux & Vulkan support that they lost with Serious Sam 4. (and bring native Linux support to SS4 ofc...)
beko Mar 17, 2021
Quoting: Purple Library Guy"The Matter of France", huh? Someone has some knowledge of medieval lit. Gives me a good feeling.
Seeing a plated meatshield holding a kite shield like a purse killed that feeling again
RossBC Mar 18, 2021
There is a demo up on steam at the moment, no linux exec but if you change it to proton it runs very well.
Bite sized skirmish maps, enemy seems to usualy have equal or +1 force to your own so around 4.


Last edited by RossBC on 18 March 2021 at 6:15 am UTC
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