The Most Obscure RPG Franchise is a Real Hidden GEM!

[@click4gameplay]

Edit: All Soldak games are now on discount on GoG! Links below: 👕Get yourself an awesome T-shirt or a hoodie, in my official merch store: www.bonfire.com/store/click4gameplay/ Depths of Peril on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/CwVtS5y7 Din's Curse on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/nwVtDgWE Drox Operative on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/QwVtDIjo Zombasite on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/RwVtDBHI Din's Legacy on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/hwVtFrVO Drox Operative 2 on GoG (affiliate): cutt.ly/TwVtFvtt Become a KZbin member: kzbin.info/door/jekkqakBWqPu44aExSDxxAjoin Support the channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=2826612 C4G on Twitter: twitter.com/c_4_g C4G on Instagram: instagram.com/c_4_g_/

[@diamondhamster4320]

Drox Operatives 1/2 looks a ghetto cheap lidl knock-off copy of Space Rangers 1 and 2.

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@John_Smith370 Cause he is covering more niche and more underground RPGs as his focus??? Like those retro-reviewers who cover and analyze old games from 80`s, 90`s and 00` ???

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@John_Smith370 TES is not niche or underground SERIES period, mate.

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@John_Smith370 Ok, I get it your are tarded. No point in replying to tarded people who don`t understand the basic concepts of umbrella terms and blanket generes/series.

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@John_Smith370 Well, yes, Gothic is a niche clunky and janky RPG series only mainly popular in 2nd and 3rd world countries like Croatia, Russia and other Slav sh@tholes. As for Skyrim - he never did REVIEW Skyrim - he only covered popular mods and how he would rework the GAMEPLAY of Skyrim.

[@warsmithhonsou5528]

C4G every video: "So anyway, I payed a warrior that focuses on two handed weapons."

[@click4gameplay]

I'm such a basic bitch RPG player, I know, lol.

[@SirBonsley]

It’s a very Chad play style in my opinion

[@jayhouston7054]

@@click4gameplay I feel you, I have a really hard time choosing a range or magic user at least on a first play through in any game. Just pure melee to start!

[@gergokerekes4550]

hey it is simple, it works and what is not to love in holding a big thing and bashing smaller things? that is soo cathartic!

[@HeilSol]

It'd blow my mind if he played a mage.

[@fastsnake]

You really nailed the "obscure RPG" concept! It's crazy that this firm has released 6 games in the last two decades and that they're all good but sitting there idle on Steam, with only a few dozens of reviews.

[@TG-ge1oh]

Please keep these coming. Obscure games are a particular fixation of mine, and most of the games you mention keep going into my to-get list. Now to find someone who does the same for obscure rts games.

[@armelior4610]

a guy named Zade has done a bunch of lesser known RTS, but nothing quite as obscure as this. MandaloreGaming recently reviewed a RTS I had never heard about

[@TG-ge1oh]

@@armelior4610 Really? Thanks a bunch mate! I'm off to check them out. Back in the day I was a huge fan of rts games, and there was this game store where you could rent games on a daily basis. I played a bunch of rts which I never see talked about anymore.

[@SadTown99]

@@TG-ge1ohAll you need is “ Fear & Hunger 2: Termina 😮

[@ktk44man]

I think the algorithm probably hand picked this video for me. Ive played just about every soldak game since i was a kid including kivis underworld. I dont think they are the best or most fleshed out games to exist but for an indie arpg developer his games are so much more unique than many other games in the genre

[@gabrielpadro5589]

Fantastic video! I never knew that was an entire sub-genre of Action RPGs that Soldak Entertainment single-handedly invented. I am especially interested in trying out the Drox Operative games since I have a soft spot for space sims. Thanks a lot for letting me and many other people about these interesting and unique games!

[@jmjoue]

Btw the games are on sale now on GoG. At least on the Canadian store which must be the same as US unless I'm mistaken. Got the Din's games with DLC, Zombasite and the DLC and Drox 2 for about 40$.

[@histhoryk2648]

You should check Sea Dogs Franchise

[@click4gameplay]

I have plans for a similar video, where I play a bunch of Pirate games.

[@gamingtonight1526]

Totally agree that the RPGs are obscure. But I have all the Soldark RPGs, and they all have features that no other RPGs have! Like timed quest to kill a boss. If you don't do it for a while, the boss get stronger! Tell me any RPG with timed quests, let alone bosses that get stronger!

[@Darcnhife]

Hmmm. Age of Wonders 4. But it's a strategy RPG, not an action RPG and not every quest is timed.

[@David_Alvarez77]

Daggerfall has timed quests, but I can't think of too many others.

[@almaelma11]

This company makes such amazing games and I always bring these games up to my friend's when I get the chance. Been a fan for about a decade now and can't wait to see the new Din game coming out!

[@visionaeon]

Marko! It's truly inspiring to see you being consistent with your uploads and how you improve more and more with your content. I can't remember since when I'm subbed to you but it wasn't past Elex and Outward videos (I believe Elex had just released at the time). I must say I appreciate everything you've done so far. I know I rarely comment something, but I'm still here.

[@2HeadedHero]

I've had these on my radar since Ross's Game Dungeon did a vid on one but you've definitely reinforced my desire to play them all! Thanks for sharing

[@layphix]

I played Depths of Peril (2007) when I was kid and I only had the demo, The game is soo good that we played with my best friend days even months with only the demo.

[@SpunkyTheNutcase]

Nice! I reckon this is the first time I've heard anyone talk about Depths of Peril & Din's Curse, bought both of them on release and played them extensively back then.

[@cidfacetious3722]

Don’t feel bad I’ve been playing RPG’s since the early 90s and I’m American and I never heard of any of these games until right now

[@gergokerekes4550]

I love these small studio games, they have their formula, they know their audience and keep making fun for them. more power to them, these might fit my work toughbook just fine.

[@diamondhamster4320]

Too bad Unqiue Gameplay Formulas alone can`t fully sell the game. If only they invested in better graphics (or more stylized graphics) and sound-music design.

[@gergokerekes4550]

@@diamondhamster4320 to me they look like to be selling fine. they have their buyers, upgrading to an expensive engine might just bankrupt them. you do not win by chasing the "cod players" look what became of DA 2 when theydid that.

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@gergokerekes4550 WTF are you on about??? Look at Larian Studios - they kept improving from their mediocre top down ARPGs/CRPGs mixed genre games up to modern amazing masterpieces like Divinity: OG Sin 1 and 2 and now they have most awarded game of the 2023 year under their belt - BG 3.

[@gergokerekes4550]

@@diamondhamster4320 not every studio is like that my man, that is just wishful thinking you are going by the 0.00001%, an outlier.

[@diamondhamster4320]

@@gergokerekes4550 Well, no??? Every studio should thrive to improve step by step, project by project. Look at SuperGiantGames - started small with a solid game that is BASTION and after many trial and tribulations they created many award winning masterpiece HADES.

[@SuperRainbol]

the depths of peril and zombasite games sound just like the game Ross in the Hinterland Game Dungeon episode was asking for

[@fishninja9413]

If I remember this episode correctly, Ross didn't seem to have a too good opinion about Depths of Perli.

[@cirewillen243]

Thanks for the complete review of all Soldak games! Loved it! I remember when I first heard about about Din's Curse. All I had was an old macbook at the time, so it was perfect for my computer capabilities. One thing that Soldak did for Din Curse, and likely all of their games, is they allowed you you customize it through an easy modding system. Want more stat points at level up? Easy. Want to turn off village invasions, that was possible. Want to up the chance of rare loot dropping? Can do. Of course, this was all not necessary, but it was so much fun tinkering with the game. And I enjoyed creating and customizing a multiclass rogue build.

[@rebelwithoutaclue9387]

Man I can’t ever get enough of your content! You really are my favourite! As soon as I see the notification I make a coffee and smoke a joint, sit in my chair and tell the wife and kids to leave me be for half an hour!

[@Jeongmal735]

Commenting so this gets more publicity. Wish the developers had a bigger budget

[@NikitaGal31]

Love your channel, man! Your content - that's what a real hidden gem is!

[@Xix1326]

Kinda reminds me of the Spiderweb Software RPGs (I know, they're turn-based, this is action). No frills but good games.

[@inquerion8867]

Their games are very good. I played some Avadon's and Avernum's. And their more recent titles don't even look bad (for a ultra low budget cRPG).

[@SadTown99]

I think “ Fear & Hunger 2: Termina “ should be on everyones radar for obscure RPG… It’s disturbing/horror elements make it literally one of a kind 🏆

[@LosDirectosdeBred]

Dude... Fear & Hunger is in no ways an obscure game lol

[@junker154]

I have been playing these games for years and tend to revist them. Dins Curse stands tall among them all. It's nice just to play through a town once or twice. Underrated series!

[@MrMucera]

Played all of them and i always felt that Soldak are incredibly underrated. Lots of great ideas and the games are surprisingly fun.

[@KrazyKain]

Great video! I watched Ross' Game Dungeon on Depths of Peril and thought the concept looked fantastic, but the game a bit jank, so its really cool to see they kept at it and refined the formula with later games, I'll definitely have to play Zombacite or the Drox Operative games :D

[@UndercoverNormie]

I'm kind of shocked I've never heard of these at all. It does look like low-budget 2000s Eurojank though. I was surprised the dev is American. Even the website looks like it was made by one person in a couple days. Considering you have the background music from Elex and Risen, I see why you like this. The first game is like if Piranha Bytes made a top-down arpg.

[@wabajabatrektoe]

As a adhd dungeon crawler and rpg lover. Im so happy this video got reccomend to ne. for sure will check out soldeck some games

[@AncientElectronics]

Unfortunitly if your looking for a boxed (small box) physical version only Depths of Peril and Din's Curse had US boxed releases (and they seem to be hard to come by). The only options when buying from the company website is a digital download or a burned CD (no box, manual, ect). I have no idea if any other games were released boxed outside of the US.

[@d_Brian67]

Long-time fan of Soldak games. Co-op is really fun as well.

[@akicauchemar7286]

Love Depths of Peril, used to play the demo as a kid all the time

[@burningsheep4473]

By the way, the Hybrid option was already there in Din's Curse and it's one of the biggest improvements over Depths. They are not necessarily more powerful than base classes, but it allows for a lot of fun experimentation and replayability. Edit: Aside from that I have ended up dying many interesting deaths in Depths of Peril. Once I ran out of money because food prices had gotten out of control and I couldn't get to the solution of the quest on the bottom of a dungeon that was flooded with tons and tons of Champions and Elites. In general the difficulty curve of DoP is pretty broken. Thankfully the companion is pretty powerful, especially with good gear and the constant reviving. Still, DoP is one of the few games where I felt like it was entirely appropriate to just cheese the bosses with broken builds.

[@ShadowOverMe1991]

Not gonna lie, some of these games are very addictive, not to mention some of the cool mechanics that have not seen in any game before.

[@Huckle777]

Lowkey my favorite channel right now. Another banger

[@thermonuclearwarhead]

Actually played quite a bit of Drox. Can't imagine the time it takes to make a video like this. You're gold mate. Also have you played any Spiderweb Software games? Some of the best hand-crafted RPGs ever with an actual cool world and story (imho) if you get over the artstyle and some quirks. I get how it'd be really really hard to make any kind of engaging video on them though.

[@cernunnos_lives]

My new go to for RPGs. You've definitely seen a lot

[@jplayer073]

Huh, cool. I've been playing Drox Operative 1 and 2 for years. Never thought to check what else the developer had made. The Drox ones are great space games, definitely recommend them.

[@NefariousKoel]

I started with Depths Of Peril in the late 2000s but most of my playtime has been Din's Curse. Opposite of you, I couldn't get into the background strategy mechanics of any of these games. I was there for the Diablo-like ARPG-looter and Din's Curse hit the genre's essentials without too much time spent on other things. What made me enjoy it was the very high amount of procedural generation. I'd say it's one of the most randomized out there, and is the closest to a classic procedural roguelike in a Diablo style game. Game options also add a lot of customization for tweaking the gameplay to your liking. For example - you don't like fighting large groups of enemies? You can use the game setup options to shift the spawns to fewer, but more powerful, monsters. All sorts of tweaking available. TL;DR - It's basically a classic roguelike in a Diablo style ARPG system.

[@senditall152]

Never heared of any of these but the ideas seem really cool.

[@jjforcebreaker]

Very interesting! I'll check Din's Legacy and Drox Operative 2 for starters.

[@gangstalkerofgangstalkers]

I love Soldak games. Thanks for the video, I shared the vid in the Soldak Discord.

[@Captain.AmericaV1]

I tried a budget type Souls like called "The Last Oricru" Nothing amazing, but i really enjoyed it.

[@Fang.1]

You've sold me on Depths of Peril. I love the look of it.

[@JspoonG]

Wow Depths of Peril seems to be amazing game!

[@q306005]

I've actually played Drox Operative 2. I had no idea they had made action RPGs before making a space game similar to Starsector.

[@christophersanders7877]

Great video! I love trying new lesser well know ARPGs with loot and deep character customization and a few of these look right up my alley. I have heard of their Drox games before but never took a deeper look into their catalog to see if they made anything else. Seeing all of their games I'm much more interested in actually trying a few of them (mainly Zombasite and Din's Legacy).

[@dnoordink]

I've 100% Drox Operative, it was great. Still have DO 2 on my wishlist, I'll probably pick it up soon..

[@sylvan429]

Soldak was actually really popular with linux gamers, was one of the few arpg series that had native linux ports. Nowadays everything works on Linux, but back in the day Depths of Peril was peak Linux arpg gaming 😂

[@internetDEV_01]

This is incredible and real gaming content, thank you man

[@richardgrayson432]

Came across dins curse by accident some years ago and love it.

[@axm4643]

Love your videos! I've binged so many of them. I Wonder if you are ever gonna focus on rpgs for Android. Most of the good ones got delisted but you can still find them on internet.

[@gunnstash]

I love this dev and have all the games. Drox Operative 2 is a personal favorite.

[@garrick3727]

Never heard of these games, and I almost exclusively focus on RPGs. They all look good. I'm not a huge ARPG fan because they tend to be shallow, but throw in some strategy elements and the game might keep my attention. Some of my favorite games of all time are the Spellforce series, which combine RPG and RTS elements. I just like the "epic" feel of leading armies/heroes into battle and being able to participate directly (having your own character rather than being "god"). So something like Zombasite is probably ideal for me.

[@Miki90Mar]

Loved the reference to Angry Joe

[@theshadowcult]

I missed the the zombie one, but the rest were all great. Its awesome you covered them, thanks for the video!

[@nebeskocarstvo2953]

Idc how it looks i only know that tomorrow i will play it. Thank you for uploading video i would never find it out

[@TheWyrmofIron]

I like the Soldak games but the scaling can feel so tight that if you've played 3 hours you already know what the next 300 feel like.

[@deputyswine]

Thanks for bringing these gems some spotlight! Depths of perils reminds me of a mix of civilization and an aarpg lol I think you should check out starsector, it is a deep roleplaying space game that reminds me ALOT of drox. Has a very steep learning curve, has a lot of mechanics to learn, skill points, gear and abilities to learn. Also HUGE multi solar system game map.

[@Hagelnot]

Its honest looks underneath the surface like this that made me subscribe to you. Great job and excellent video! I'll likely try one of these games out myself.

[@LudoTechWorld]

I never thought to suggest Drox Operative for some reason (probably because I mainly heard you talked about Fantasy RPG), but since you're not against this kind of settings (and if you didn't already covered it), I very strongly suggest Space Rangers HD: A War Apart. It's an open world RPG in space with strategy elements, and you will have a different experience each time you start a new game. It's from 2013 and it receives an insane amount of love from the developers since it still getting regular updates (once or twice a year) to this day.

[@jimmyredd]

Those cover arts have strong 2009 Xbox Live Indie Games vibes.

[@MaitreMechant]

wow, reminds me a bit of Spiderweb Software in terms of dedication as an incredibly small and obscure studio

[@kubexiu]

Dont You think that fighting with two enemies with sword and a little help of magic is hundred times more emotional and interesting, than fighting with hundreds of enemies with all of that stupid buffs and crazy spells which covers all the screen and we cant see anything on it?

[@KimAlmighty1]

Dink Smallwood is a old free game that was quiet good, for its time.

[@mekal177]

thank you for this video i played depths of peril many years ago and completely forgot about it i had no idea soldak made other games and am now super excited to try them out

[@PaStef37]

I remember Din's Curse from back in the day... Wasn't it a browser game first? Almost sure... The Drox games are very in depth, full arpg but in space which is refreshing, sci-fi fans are treated!

[@valitsemllaluokanavahyvaks3556]

Starsector is way better

[@DmytroBogdan]

Grim Dawn has reputation system with different factions which opens up their shops. That is the closest mechanic I can think of. All those games desperately need a remaster

[@valitsemllaluokanavahyvaks3556]

Combat of Depth of peril looks like WC3 combat xdd. And the Drox Operative looks like a early version of Starsector.

[@ODCrab]

I played a lot of Depths of Peril. I don't usually recommend it it because of the jank and it's pretty ugly imo. And despite the world feeling very alive I didn't think there was much depth to the clan aspect. I liked finding artifacts and bringing them back home fore buffs though. I think that kind of thing would have worked great in Din's Curse too, making improvements to the town. The itemization and enemy variety really made the game for me. I got Din's curse and the expansion much later, when Legacy was about to release. Gameplay was better but the lack of clans and adventuring npc's made the world less alive. It was just a more interesting Diablo rogue like thing. I liked how an elite monster could lead an army from the depths to attack the town. Like it doesn't fake the diablo premise. Still I didn't play nearly as much as DoP. Never heard of zombasite. Looks like it has what I felt was missing from Din's curse. But Din's legacy looks like the definitive version so far.

[@nullcypher]

these games are basically if you played one of their games you've played them all. they aren't that different from each other.

[@robdielemans9189]

I've bought and played most of Soldak's stock, apart from Zombasite (wasn't interested in the theme) and kivi. All of these games are easily moddable, my current favourite is Drox 2, it's basically Diablo 2 in space with diplomacy and some research. Nice to see an overview of this company, thanks for making this.

[@Szederp]

I wanted to thank you for this upload. Indeed this is a great game and nobody I know (including myself) have heard of it or other games of Soldak.

[@felisasininus1784]

This is a great video with highly valuable information, thank you.

[@v1ct0rmf]

Try GENEFORGE!!! Recently finished 1 and playing 2. Loved it.

[@hisvin]

and Avernum

[@jordanlapointe4690]

Hello! Game suggestion for you: I'd love to see you try out the new(ish) Wizardry remaster(s).

[@MsSmellybob]

depths of peril was absolutely amazing!

[@M.R.B.T_7890]

I’d love to see let it die in this series

[@wamenslot]

I know those games from a long time and i own them all, its simple mechanic that works for me. Another series that looks like Din's is a game called Fate. There are 4 games of the Fate series and i think someone that was part of Diablo 1 or 2 worked in these games and later in Torchlight.

[@beebomcgroober9316]

I've never heard of any of these, although I'm interested in the Drox operative games because they look like an early Steam game I enjoyed called "S.P.A.Z." Space Pirates and Zombies.

[@diamondhamster4320]

Suggestion: Wars and Warriors: Joan of Arc - a mix between 3rd Person ARPG and a Strategy game???

[@Moumszk]

i loved Depths of Peril and Din's Curse when i was a child. PD: i have an installer for Kivi's underworld. If you want, I can upload it.

[@MrSwordstroker]

Have you heard of Exiled Kingdoms? I was pleasantly surprised and I would consider myself an RPG snob.

[@Darcnhife]

I had a great laugh at 14:40 these games look swell, I'll pick up a good few, but I especially want to try Zombasite.

[@tremorstudio9766]

Nice video! Btw, do you know a very obscure game, with top down view, about an island being destroyed by a plague? This game is probably before 2000’s and is kinda gore

[@Dermetsu]

The hack n slash games aren't for me, but I enjoyed the Drox Operative games.

[@GloriousGrunt]

Nice finds, Din's curse feels like Warcraft 3 meets Runescape to me 😎🤙

[@funasylumstudio]

Do these old games still generate revenue for their devs when you buy them nowadays?

[@j.d.v.2782]

Drox Operative is amazing!!

[@Fsynergy]

looks like this company also has the piranha bytes syndrome of making the same game over and over again

[@Elintasokas]

Yeah, you can go 20 years forward, and they'll still make the same thing without any of the jank fixed.

[@realmchat6665]

I played the Drox Operative games, they are pretty original and pretty great.

[@Duzon1602]

very few people talk about Captain Claw

[@1luarluar1]

those look like very original games...I just would have like a sprite based game like Baldur's game

[@Niar_Production_Official]

One of the BIGGEST mistake EVER is stopping Ascaron in creating Sacred 3 (bur REAL Sacred 3, not the trash we have now) WE WANT ASCARON BACK! SACRED MUST LIVE! ANCARIA AWAITS!

[@xpmon]

Never heard of these games or played them, but I own depth of peril, dins curse and zombastic on GOG 😬. Likely bought it on a sale.

[@hisvin]

I know almost all these games and I've done a good number of demos for them. I ended up buying a few, but never played them. Strange behavour...

[@StefanHighlights-InquisitorOvh]

Man, no Sacred Gold? :O

[@rabidrivas]

Besides Drox Operative, any games here we can/should skip if we play the other ones?

[@scott3805]

I have all the rpg games mentioned except for Kivi's Underworld that I just found on abandonware site

[@CaptainPerfect]

They are not abandoneware though?

[@click4gameplay]

It's not that hard to find Kivi's Underworld, but I couldn't get it to run properly at all. Only this game from Soldak seems to be abandoned, for whatever reason.

[@skinscalp222]

how do these studios even pay their electricity bill with meager sales like that, let alone paying their employees.

[@Elintasokas]

It's probably one guy making the games.

[@kikinekoonam]

the elex 2 song :)))