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0 After two years in Ealy Access on Steam, Bellwright has come to consoles! Available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, how does this mediaeval-themed open-world survival game fare on the new hardware?
Developed by Donkey Crew, Bellwright is still labelled as Early Access on Steam, and states that the console versions will be updated alongside it as it heads to a 1.0 release. With that said, let’s preview this intriguing-looking title, shall we?
Bellwright, or Bellwrong?
It’s rare for games to come to PS5 whilst still being worked on (updates and DLC notwithstanding), so I was intrigued to see if Bellwright was even in a playable state! The story opens with little more than a text box explaining a little about your situation. Years ago, your family fled the Karvenian uprising. After Prince Vuldar is tragically killed by a stray arrow, King Roan carries out a bloody path of destruction in order to find the one responsible for his sons death. A rebellion is formed, but ultimately betrayed by one of its leaders. Thus, Karvenia becomes an oppressed nation under the rule of its royal family.
After years of living peacefully in Whisterfield, you discover your uncle, your only remaining family, has been murdered. In his hand is a strange sigil, one forged in the kingdom you fled so long ago. Now, it’s time to return to Karvenia, to try and find your uncles killer…
Not the most exciting opening to a game, and one that you’ll miss entirely should you not venture into the codex to read up on the back story. The story does become more engaging as you progress, with you forming a new rebellion to overthrow the tyrannical royal family. There’s little in the way of presentation when it comes to the narrative, and cinematic scenes are practically non-existent. This is a big world, with plenty of lore to uncover, but reading through pages and pages of text doesn’t always make for the most engaging of stories, unfortunately.
Gameplay
Bellwright certainly is ambitious. There’s a blend of RPG progression, combat, crafting, and building your own settlements. It feels familiar to titles such as Medieval Dynasty or Mount & Blade, which should give you a sense of how big this game is!
The main driving point is Renown, which acts as a sort of currency. Your Renown increases as you complete quests, liberate villages, etc. With this, you can recruit more people to your cause. More people means safer, more self-sufficient settlements! Eventually, you’ll have your very own army, and with a big focus on combat and large-scale battles, you’ll need as many warriors as you can get.
Unfortunately, the combat in Bellwright can be pretty rough. If I had to compare it to another title, the fighting system in Kingdom Come: Deliverance would come closest, with its directional-based combat. Blocking is essential as well as keeping an eye on your enemy’s posture. If their sword is to their left, swing at them from your left to land a hit! It’s not overly complex, but it also doesn’t feel particularly great mechanically. There’s a lack of weight behind blows, and hit detection can be inconsistent. Bringing troops with you does have the added benefit of commanding them in battle, so I often found myself letting them run in whilst I stayed behind and picked off enemies with my bow.
Survival of the Fittest
The survival mechanics aren’t the norm in Bellwright. Instead of sating your hunger and thirst, your focus is more on your villager’s needs. Whilst you can consume food to gain temporary buffs, it’s your recruited helpers that will need keeping fed and watered. This is doubly so when winter rolls around, meaning keeping food stored in preparation is something else to take into consideration.
Having settlements full of well-fed, happy villagers is the key to overthrowing the villainous royals. More than simple NPCs, they live and work around schedules, performing tasks assigned to them by the player. Why spend half your play time chopping down trees and gathering resources when you can get your followers to do it for you? Seeing your small camp grow into a bustling village is incredibly rewarding. The micro-managing can be difficult to grasp, though. Setting up supply chains, efficient production, and workforce priorities; it can all get very confusing! Finding that villagers have already gathered and stored certain resources you need is very satisfying, though, and takes away a lot of the monotonous busywork.
That said, it’ll take a good long while to get to this point! Self-sufficiency doesn’t come easy, so be prepared for a bit of a grind as you build up each of your camps. As I said, it is rewarding, and constructing more buildings or making each area look prettier is all part of the enjoyable gameplay loop.
Graphics & Audio
Aesthetically, Bellwright is all over the place. Focusing on the positives first, there are some wonderful environments that feel lived-in just begging to be explored. Roaming the countryside and getting caught in a storm, for example, really makes the world come alive. It can look downright stunning at times, but it’s not all smooth sailing. Graphical glitches are in abundance; things like invisible NPCs, wonky textures, or the entire screen turning blue being the most prominent issues.
Now, whilst a lot of the audio is fine, there are some incredibly obvious AI voiceovers. Not every NPC is subject to this, but using generative AI for voice acting is a big no, in my opinion. Translation errors I can handle (and there is a lot of those), but it’s incredibly jarring to hear these robotic “voices” within the world. Here’s hoping actual humans record these and replace them ASAP! The rather poor, stilted dialogue doesn’t help either, making most conversations feel incredibly unnatural.
Bellwright crashed on me plenty of times, too. Coupled with errors popping up when trying to save, which only resolve when restarting, and Bellwright isn’t quite up to scratch just yet. I’m hopeful Donkey Crew can polish this diamond in the rough, as some of these issues need addressing urgently.
Longevity
Bellwright, for an Early Access title, has a hell of a lot of content! Sure, it’s had two years on PC to get some hefty updates under its belt. But, the amount of content already available is more than enough for a full game. Several mechanics aren’t explained all that well due to its lack of in-depth tutorials, though. Fingers crossed that a more intuitive in-game help system comes in a later update.
The crafting aspect alone can and will take up much of your time. This is a deep system, with a huge skill tree, with a massive amount of items, weapons, and even buildings, to research and unlock. With many recipes requiring several different components, it can get a little bit grindy. Though if you’re far enough into the game, chances are some of your villagers will have harvested a lot of what you need anyway!
Obviously, there’s a lot of polish needed. But, in terms of features and mechanics, there is plenty to keep you occupied. I can see people spending hundreds of hours here!
Final Thoughts
I’m very much looking forward to seeing Bellwright develop. However, there are currently some major issues and AI usage that prevent me from recommending it in its current state. I do think, eventually, this could be a really special game. If you’re willing to overlook the current flaws and want to check it out, the amount of content may surprise you!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this preview.
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