Now Playing: A Legionary’s Life

It's good to be reminded from time to time that a game doesn't have to be an expensive and complex super-production to be addictive and immersive. I've been experiencing such a case in the last few days with A Legionary's Life, an indie game that (unfortunately) only recently came to my attention, even though it was in Early Access for several months before it was officially released last September. Legionary's Life is essentially a... text-based RPG created by a single person, but in the last 2 days it has managed to ensnare me more severely than AAA RPGs with the most expansive dev teams and astronomical budgets.

The main idea behind the game is extremely simple and catchy. The player is a Legionary during the Second Punic War, from the Iberian Campaign of 218 BC to the final victory at Zama in 202 BC under the leadership of Pontius Cornelius Scipio (the subsequent "Africanus") , and later in the Second Macedonian War until the final Roman victory at Cynoscephalae in 197 BC. We participate in battles and various other random combat-related events, with the outcome of each occasion being influenced by our stats and equipment. So, depending on our stats, we can fight furiously during each game session or play it safe to survive, earn medals and promotions in the Legion or stay at the bottom of the hierarchy until the end, finish the game by returning home as a veteran or literally die in the first battle of the game.

The narrative is told in simple descriptive text (plus the rare picture once in a while), with the options presented to us having different chances of success depending on our stats, and varying outcomes. The battles are just as simple on the surface, though the final system is slightly more complex: static images where we have a series of movement options (attack, shield hit, feint or rest), with our stats being compared to the corresponding stats of each opponent (and the status of the Stamina meter) to determine the probability of success.

As part of the Legionnaire's Life, we spend a considerable part of each campaign in our Legion camp, where we train and socialize with our fellow soldiers (and our superiors), increasing our stats and our reputation with the Soldiers, the Centurion and the Proconsul. Our performance on the battlefield as well as our reputation are key elements in securing promotions, with the player being able to reach the rank of Centurion himself (or, if he manages to make it to the finale unscathed with good enough stats, be elected Consul).

It's made clear from the start by the game's creator himself that almost no one can behave like an invincible god from the first playthrough. At the end of each session (when we die, or if we hopefully make it to the finale) our score is accumulated according to our feats, our rank and how many enemies we've taken out, and we can use this score in our next playthrough to start with better stats or equipment.

This is one aspect of the addiction the game offers: the push for new games in which we can have better initial stats and fight better and better, engage in skirmishes that we were too weak to complete in our initial playthrough, unlock special random events that are only available to the highest ranks, and eventually make it back to Rome as a decorated veteran. The other aspect is the wondrous historical accuracy in the narrative's rendering: both the developments of events, the battlefields and battle tactics, and the names of the commanders of each troop are all 100% faithful to the historical sources, lending an essence of a history lesson beyond the awesome immersion of stepping right into the skin of the role of a Roman soldier.

Given the broader circumstances surrounding the title and what it offers, literally the only negative I can objectively accuse it of is the occasionally annoyingly relentless RNG during battles. We can have a 90% chance of success on our hits for three consecutive attacks, and miss on all three, while correspondingly the opponent scores 3 easy hits out of nowhere and destroying our health, and thus a seemingly easy matchup ends up with our lives hanging by a thread.

But, if that was the case with titles like XCOM, then we can forgive Alessandro Roberti's one-man project. Had it been released back in the late 80s-early 90s, A Legionary's Life could easily be considered a cult classic today like Centurion: Defender of Rome (though clearly more historically accurate than that). It was released in 2019 though, so all we can do is appreciate the fact that such simple but addictive games can be released in this day and age, and fight for the greatness of Rome.

A Legionary's Life is available for just €7 on Steam and GoG. A demo is also available on Steam for those who want to get a taste of the gameplay.