This is genuinely one of the best games I've ever played. It's not just a game, it's a beautiful and tragic piece of art. My chest feels full and I'm genuinely in tears after playing it. Small Saga made me laugh, gasp in horror, cry, just about everything.

This is a pretty spoiler free review, I just want to gush about this game.

The gameplay is not the hardest in the world, but it is very intuitive and has a lot of clever systems working together to allow you to build characters with devastating combos, and it takes a lot of twists from your typical RPG combat that make it very refreshing and rewarding. The environments were fun to explore with tons to find without ever feeling unnecessarily big, and I was rewarded for exploring, whether it be through story or items.

The soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. There's so many intense songs and beautiful melodies that had my heart thumping all the way through. I absolutely think you need to get the soundtrack if you decide to buy this game. It also has a lot of Celtic and Rock influences, which certainly sings to my heart, along with all kinds of orchestral pieces accompanied by a haunting choir.

The art is gorgeous. The pixel art is so incredibly detailed that I just enjoyed looking at everything as I traveled throughout Rodentia. It makes a fine blend between adorably cartoony and gritty realism. There is so much emotion put into all of these little animals, even just by the way they stand. The environments feel vast and enchanting even though they may feel mundane to a human.

Finally, the writing. The writing was the best part of this game. Yes there are a lot of cheesy lines and puns, references to memes, and so on, but there are genuinely funny moments in this game that had me cackling. There is also a lot of tragedy and upset, and plenty of moments of vindication. Probably the strongest part of this game is the political theory. It really puts a mirror up to what we have to experience every day and works perfectly as an allegory. These rodents have me rethinking my own politics and trying to understand why I believe I believe. But this game doesn't waffle in the middle, it chooses what it thinks is right and shows how it can work in practice, and that some people never want to move from the past no matter what you do.

As a little bonus, the queer representation is great. It's not the main point of the game, but just going through the world and finding all kinds of different people from all different experiences and identities genuinely made me so happy. If anything, it just adds to the strength of the characters and their tale.

This may have been a bit of a cheesy (ha) ramble, but I hope this convinces you to at least consider purchasing Small Saga. Support Indie Devs!!

Great for a weekend, full of character and lore and charm. I hope there's a sequel!

ITS SOOOOOO GOOD