If you think about the different periods through time, which one do you think would be the most exciting and challenging to try and start a life in? Would it be when WWI was starting? Maybe it would be in the Wild West? Or maybe, you would want to try your luck in Japan. But if we were to think about the excitement of it all, we would also need to look at which would be the most challenging. Maybe, the prehistoric times or even life out on the sea? When you think about all of history, we can find our favorites and discuss what would truly be the challenges of them all. But if you could go back to medieval times, which we can all agree is both exciting and challenging in its own right, what do you think you would become or what would your dynasty become? It is interesting when you start to think about it. But does the developer, Spectral Games, show us what it’s like to live the life and make our settlement? Let’s find out with Medieval Dynaasty New Settlement for the Quest 3.
Medieval Dynasty New Settlement is an exhilarating VR Spin-off game that seamlessly blends sandbox, role-playing, simulation, and exploration. Set against the backdrop of a meticulously crafted medieval landscape, the player is tasked with the monumental challenge of founding and nurturing a thriving settlement and then starting their dynasty.
Now, before you go in trying to claim your land and build a place you can call home, there are a few things that you should know. First, you will want some space. You will be chopping down trees, collecting, battling, and of course, trying to survive whatever else may come your way. So make sure you have some arm room and that way everything around you should be safe. Second, make sure those Touch Plus controllers and your headset are charged. You don’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere and have something that could kill you and come near you with no way of protecting yourself, now do you? Third, time. You will need time to explore and embrace all that there is to offer. Fourth, I am not going to spoil anything. So I will only be showing footage from the early parts of the game. You want to be surprised when you discover a new land, people, and other inhabitants that there may be, don’t you? And finally, have some fun. With all that said, let’s continue…
When you first start the game, you have some choices. Jump in and play, Options, Encyclopedia, and Credits. I would suggest going into settings first. Here you can select if you will be playing by sitting or standing, language, blood, tutorials, and even auto-save. Unless you want to stand, feel free to change it to sitting. I went with blood and vibrations on, everything for tutorials, and auto-save turned on. I turned on auto-save in the settings, so I don’t have to remember to manually save. That way, I don’t have to repeat an action if I make a mistake. For the movement type, I went with the old reliable of smooth turning and turned off any vignette. But feel free to adjust the settings however you may like now, or later on as you can change them at any time.
The next thing you may want to do is indulge in some learning opportunities by reading the Encyclopedia. This will give you some helpful information, such as drinking, death, crafting, sleeping, parenthood, and even talking. Yes, before you even start you can read some fantastic pieces of information that will help you in the ways of the land. To open your backpack, simply reach over your shoulder and use the Grip button. Your backpack will then appear right in front of you. On your wrist, you will see the different levels for your statistics such as hunger and thirst. It’s important to pay attention to these as it can be survival or death.
Now, that I was ready to begin, I was presented with a few more choices. One is do I want the adventure or play in the sandbox? With the adventure, the map is an open world with narrative limitations, recipes, and plans are unlocked gradually throughout your progress, and with the sandbox, there are no restrictions, recipes are available from the beginning, and the ability to adjust gameplay intensity according to personal preferences. Once I chose the adventure, I was given a choice of what I wanted my voice and hands selection to be. There is a sample of each one and depending on how you are feeling, you may want to make it your own. Then, comes the three choices of the game difficulty. If you want to enjoy the story, go with Friendly, if you want a balanced game of story and challenges, select Balance, and if you want the enjoyment of the challenges, select Challenging. For either choice, I am sure you will enjoy, but I wanted to go with the story and my purpose of the land, so I went with friendly. Then, you have the choice of how many minutes per day, days in the season, auto-save, and auto-save intervals. Then the final question of would you like to play through the tutorials? Being new to this land, I went with the show me the money path. I mean, I want to know if some angry animal who is not happy with their life choices decides to take it out on me and show how I can survive versus not. Of course, while the loading screen is, well, loading, I received the best tip. Raw meat can be cooked over a campfire as long as I have a sharpened stick to skewer them. But the tutorial serves it purpose from learning how to move to learning how to sleep.
But being a traveler, you will come to your first village, Wolfill Villag. This is where your tasks start. The first one is to meet and talk to the Mayor. Don’t forget to collect materials as you never know when you may need them. Also, check out your Dynasty Book. It contains your map, recipes, quests, and more. The Dynasty Book is a valuable resource in the game. It contains your map, recipes, quests, and more. This book contains your map and the ingredients you need to make items such as weapons and even structures like your house as well as contains your tasks and quests for you to complete. Interacting with villagers is pretty simple, just wave your hand like you are saying hello. Some villagers will have something short to say, but some will ask you questions for you to answer.
Of course, this is your dynasty, so if you want to try to find someone to love you can and maybe start a family. If you want to just travel around from section to section, you can (and yes, there is fast travel), if you want to hunt, you can. It’s really up to you. But once you start to get used to where you live and the villagers get used to you being around, the neighborly thing to do is wave to whomever, talk with everyone you can, and you never know what kind of quest you will end up on and where it can take you.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. One of the things I loved about this game was just the little details of the wood to just seeing rocks on the ground. Walking around and seeing the simplicity of the world around me. Things are simple and not too overbearing to go out of the way to have this over-sense of realism. If you enjoy this genre, you are in for some fun, and is part of what kept me engaged. With the sound, this is the other part I loved. Just the relaxing music like if you were going to a Renaissance festival and being pulled back to this era helped balance out my engagement.
There are a few things that I would love to see added to the game. First, more fast travel. Yes, I understand that part of the fun is seeing things that you may not have noticed before or brand new to the section that you are in. But it would be nice as an option that where there is a new quest that is on the other side of the map, to look at the map and just be transported there. Second, online co-op and multiplayer. This is not more of a perfect opportunity to have co-op or even online multiplayer where players can help others with their quests and be able to have real conversations. And finally, more quests and more places to discover in the future. It would be fun to have things such as the plague infect some people and then those people want to get you. There are so many ways this world can take us and I am here for the ride.
Medieval Dynasty: New Settlement offers an engaging experience for players looking to build their own settlements and establish a flourishing dynasty. True to its roots, the game focuses on delivering rich gameplay mechanics without overreaching. Through its controls and progressive challenges, it successfully caters to both newcomers and seasoned gamers seeking a fulfilling medieval adventure. In life, we encounter people who have stories to tell. While we may not be able to relate to every chapter of their story, there will be chapters that resonate with each of us if we take the time to listen and allow them to tell their story.
Medieval Dynasty: New Settlement is out now for the Quest 2, 3, & Pro on the Meta Store. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Spectral Games, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, join their Discord, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Unitl next time, I have more quests to go on.
