Recent reviews by STORI3D PAST Productions

Absolutely charming game. The visuals and music are calming & beautiful. The stories that I've encountered so far are compelling -- if linear & clicky. It's a hunt-gather-craft game set across various smallish zones, tied together by a storyline of lost memories, magical powers, & damaged souls. I love it.

This game is flat-out beautiful. Even in very early access, there is so much polish. I love simply watching the townspeople go about their daily lives. I love watching a house go up; a new family move into town by wagon; a kid from one house go over to their friend's house to play; an army of farm-workers descend on ripe wheat field or hemp field to harvest; a fishing boat drifing lazily up a slow-moving river. I love that I have overall control of this but also am a passenger watching it happen.

I can't wait to see what the developers continue to do with this game, because already it feels like they're making something they love. I can't promise you that you will feel $25 is acceptable for a very early access game, but I feel like I'm getting my money's worth just from enjoying the world.

Mesmerizing. Such a breath of fresh air. This is a game that immediately sucks you into the story, plays with nonlinearity in unique and engrossing ways, slowly unfurls its universe in vignettes and scraps and vistas. Heaven's Vault is ultimately a game about loss & recovery, forgetting & remembering. It's going to stick with me for a long time.

An absolute gem. At first it seems like such a simple little time-killer, but it keeps branching out, getting deeper & wider & more interesting. The controls and systems are confusing at first, but once you know who the people are and how to interact with the world, it's just constant fun. I love the fishing mini-game -- it's the best fishing system I've played. I love that there are multiple ways to collect items that you need for upgrades, and so many ways to choose to spend your day. I sometimes wish the time didn't fly so quickly, I do often feel rushed to get stuff done. In a way, I like that the whole town goes on a couple holidays a season; it forces you to take a day off too and just enjoy the game world. Great stuff.

Written Jan 2020:

The game's development basically ended in February 2019, when the entire Medieval Engineers team was either laid off or rolled back into Space Engineers. Keen Software House's & Marek's social media don't mention ME anymore, and it appears increasingly unlikely that the game will ever be finished. If you find it on sale and want a castle builder with pretty graphics -- and your computer can play it without bugs -- then please enjoy it. But 5 years into its development, I can't in good conscious keep recommending it. It appears to have reached its dead end, with an awful lot of potential left unfulfilled. Switching recommendation to negative.

Written June 2015:

Finally, a piece of user-friendly software puts historical recreation right into everyone's grasp! In addition to being a fun sandbox/world-builder, Medieval Engineers is an extremely powerful engine for re-creating history. Even in its early-release Alpha stage, it already offers so much. You can build a town that's only known now in ruins & stories, and then explore it -- house by house, room by room. Attack it, defend it, live in it for a while. Team up with modders to populate your site with whatever art & artefacts & design styles you want. Whatever you wish! The future of gaming is bright with this program.