Tales of Maj'Eyal Reviews

One of the best modern roguelikes with lots of distinctively different classes, races, and builds to chose from, lots of unlocks., basically lots of everything.

I'd give it like a solid 7 or 8 out of 10. ToME4 is a fun spin on the traditional roguelike formula. It adds more modern rpg elements like skill trees and character options. Quite fun. The story is cool and I love the lore. Orc campaign is a bit goofy, but it's not a bad thing - some comedy is appreciated. My nitpick lies solely in one of the difficulties. Easier/Normal/Nightmare are fine. Explorer/Adventurer/Roguelike are fine too. But after like, 3000 hours between the steam version and the non-steam version playing on Insane, I have to nitpick. Some classes can't complete Insane, others require such a huge amount of RNG aligning in their favor that it may as well be playing slots except the slots take 6-10 hours to stop spinning. Others seem like they are built to play on Insane. Other classes have been nerfed because they performed too well in Madness, the higher difficulty that doesn't matter because it's never been intended to be finished without mods or cheating. The biggest problem I have with Insane is the one-shot checks. You will at some point during an Insane playthrough turn a corner, walk into an empty room, or Rest and hear the death sound as you take damage in excess of your max HP from a source you couldn't react to (or see, in the case of stealth/invisibility). Unless, of course, your class or race has access to one-shot protection. But a lot of classes and races don't. The problem is of course that you can't predict or prepare for this if you don't have aforementioned one-shot protection, you can only pad your HP with as many powerful shields, defenses and resistances as possible, but sometimes that's just not enough. An enemy will cast Soul Rot in melee range and give 0 time to prepare for the 1,500 blight damage that's coming your way. A stealthed archer will crit you from just far enough away that the arrow never actually appears. The nitpick I have is that after 3,000 hours, after countless experiments and research, I've come to realize I'm just not having fun anymore. Would I recommend this game? Probably, yeah. It's a good game. My one nitpick keeps me from really enjoying it anymore, though. So, go wild. Have fun. Die a lot. Maybe stop the world from exploding, if you can get there. I hope it doesn't get old for you like it did for me.

+ The art is lovely and the lore bits are delightful to have. + Some innovative spins on the rogue formula. + The tileset is lovely. + Classes seem to be nicely thought out and theres an abundance of active skills, more so than other games of the genre. It seems to be to the point where it meshes with the RPG genre. May be a + or a - depending on your appetance for number crunching. + Different campaigns and play modes beyond the normal campaign. *** - Having to unlock classes is a net negative to the experience and the initial roster is very restrictive both in terms of races and classes. Unlocks can be fun in games but that's definitely not how you do it. - The overworld map while a bit of a novel concept as opposed to a dungeon crawler is nice, but it negatively impacts how able you are to figure out which order you have to tackle places in. It's rather overwhelming and it makes it seem as though there are a lot of different environment to be had but dungeons being very short mitigate that a bunch. There still is a lot of variety but it feels overwhelming for not much benefit. The low degree of linearity is confusing and often misleading. - Requires a bunch of meta knowledge as to what dungeons require which type of resistance with little way of knowing ahead of times, and the lore doesn't much help there either. - The spell effects/general art direction often get in the way of readability. - The control scheme is somewhat friendlier to people who've never played a classical roguelike, but for the latter, it's simply less efficient. Search functionalities seem to not exist. Inventory management is tedious. - The pricetag. It's still a sizeable purchase when you include DLCs, for a game of the genre. - Difficulty wise, not the most difficult roguelike out there, but it's the worst kind of difficulty: poorly telegraphed and ultra bursty damage spikes. TL:DR: Lovely little title there, but ultimately kind of hard to recommend where nethack forks and DCSS exist and are free. Genuinely think DCSS is the better roguelike. Worth giving a go if you're looking to experience more roguelikes, otherwise probably just pass.

No doubt about it. The best roguelike I've played. It's not necessarily permadeath - you can get extra lives or play in a mode with infinite lives, which is my preference tbh. Great lore and story, class writing, lots of skills and items to learn and use. I'd recommend installing these mods, which enhance the game for me: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2395209373

Tales of aaaand I'm dead. 10/10 dying has never been more fun. 30 hours later, still dying, still having fun.

This game shows why graphics is not important when design a game.

if youre a fan of roguelike dungeon looters, this is a no-skip. dlc add stuff that is thematically and mechanically enjoyable also. great game.

Amazing roguelike, absolutely worthy of your attention. Class design is great, itemisation is high variance enough to not be that samey without leaving you with no useful drops, the game can be as challenging as you make it & even the hardest difficulties are doable with a healthy amount of luck & skill.

WOW. I dont know how to adresss my feelings on games like this without exploding with joy. Games like this come once in a lifetime, as they slide between the cracks of titans with bullshit titles and no content. THIS GAME DELIVERS. buy yourself a copy, buy one for your friend, and buy another for her dipshit fiance. You begin play with an expansive and still exciting group of class, race and stat contributions that feel massively significant, and there is an entire world of content to uncover and explore. ive barely started and this game has gotten me excited to experience new content and lore in a place that doesnt judge your enjoyment. Ive sat for blocks of time just making random characters, and though they dont last long I have no regrets because the tailor made experience has a natural way of building. give developers and studios like this a chance. buy this game even if you wont play it. It has an endless amount of heart and compassion that money will never buy.

Tales of Maj’Eyal (commonly abbreviated as ToME), developed by Nicolas Casalini (also known by his handle "DarkGod"), is a deep and highly complex roguelike RPG that has quietly become one of the most robust and well-respected titles in its genre. Released on Steam in 2012, ToME is an evolution of classic roguelikes like NetHack and Angband, but it stands apart by modernizing many of the core mechanics while retaining the strategic depth, brutal difficulty, and procedural variety that define the genre. This is a game built by a developer who clearly loves and understands the roguelike form, and it shows in almost every meticulously crafted system. At its core, Tales of Maj’Eyal is a turn-based, grid-based dungeon crawler where you explore a sprawling fantasy world, battle a wide variety of enemies, collect loot, and develop a character from a broad array of races and classes. What makes the game so immediately striking is its sheer depth of customization. Upon starting a new game, you're presented with dozens of potential class and race combinations—many of which are locked behind achievements, creating a natural sense of progression even across failed runs. From arcane spellcasters and brawling berserkers to time-warping chronomancers and corruption-wielding demons, the class diversity is staggering, and each plays with completely different mechanics and synergies. This diversity ensures no two characters feel the same, and successful play often depends on deeply understanding your chosen class’s strengths and weaknesses. The gameplay loop of ToME is built around exploring randomly generated zones, gaining experience, leveling up, and carefully allocating skill points into a wide selection of abilities. Combat is turn-based, but everything happens on a grid in real time from the player’s perspective, meaning that every action you take—movement, spellcasting, attacking—is a decision with significant weight. Enemies follow the same rules you do, and misjudging a cooldown or failing to anticipate a status effect can lead to a sudden, permanent death. The game doesn't hold your hand, but it doesn't cheat either. It gives players the tools to succeed—if they're willing to learn. The permadeath mechanic is at the heart of the roguelike experience, and Tales of Maj’Eyal offers a few variants to accommodate different player preferences. You can play in classic roguelike mode, where death is final, or in adventure mode, which grants a few extra lives per run, or even exploration mode, which removes permadeath entirely. This flexibility is one of the game’s strongest design choices, as it opens up the experience to more casual players while still retaining the high stakes that genre purists demand. That said, even in less punishing modes, the game retains a razor-sharp edge; you’re often outnumbered, outgunned, or vulnerable to traps and unseen threats, and careless play will always be punished. The world of Eyal is surprisingly rich in lore, with a complex history, factions, and a range of cultures that feel distinct. Dialogue, flavor text, and narrative events are everywhere, giving life to what could otherwise be a purely mechanical experience. What’s especially notable is how the lore is integrated into the game systems. Certain quests have multiple outcomes, some zones are accessible only through specific choices, and a character’s race or class can affect how NPCs react. These layers add replayability and world-building that go beyond what most roguelikes offer. It may not be a fully voiced or cinematic experience, but ToME manages to craft a world that feels lived-in and rewarding to explore. Graphically, Tales of Maj’Eyal is utilitarian. The game features a top-down perspective with tile-based visuals that are clean but far from flashy. While its graphical presentation won’t win any awards, it serves the purpose of clarity—every enemy, terrain type, and spell effect is visually distinct, which is critical in a game where understanding your surroundings is key to survival. That said, mod support and custom tilesets can enhance the experience for those who want something a little more stylish. The user interface, though dense at first, is one of the most functional and informative in the genre. Tooltips provide clear explanations, ability descriptions are rich with detail, and the game logs every action, status effect, and combat event for those who want to dig deep into the numbers. One of the most impressive aspects of ToME is how moddable and expandable it is. The game features full Steam Workshop support, and the community has created everything from quality-of-life tweaks to entirely new campaigns and classes. The game’s own engine, T-Engine4, is open to use and modification, giving rise to ambitious mods and user-made content. This openness has extended the game’s life significantly and ensures there’s always something new for returning players to explore. The base game itself is free, with a paid donation version that unlocks some additional cosmetic content and developer support, making it an unusually generous offering in today’s market. Music and sound design are minimal but effective. Ambient music sets the tone for exploration and tension, while sound cues give critical feedback during combat. You’re not going to hear fully orchestrated scores or Hollywood-quality effects, but what's here supports the experience without being intrusive. More importantly, the audio cues often serve gameplay purposes—letting you know when a spell lands, when a trap is triggered, or when a special ability activates. Like the visuals, the sound is built around function rather than flair. Ultimately, Tales of Maj’Eyal is a masterpiece of design in the modern roguelike space. It provides the tools, the systems, and the complexity to support hundreds of hours of play, and it respects the player’s intelligence throughout. Every run teaches you something. Every class offers a new challenge. And the game continues to be updated and expanded more than a decade after its release, with new content, balance changes, and community input helping to shape its future. It’s not flashy, but it’s profound—and deeply addictive. For anyone even remotely interested in roguelikes, turn-based tactics, or rich character-building systems, Tales of Maj’Eyal is an essential experience. It can be brutal, overwhelming, and occasionally opaque, but the depth of strategy and sense of discovery it offers are unmatched. In a world of disposable games and surface-level design, ToME stands as a towering example of how passion, community, and thoughtful mechanics can result in something truly timeless. Rating: 9/10