I lean toward humble tropes when I create a character in an RPG or even in D&D. Sure, it is great to be an epic chosen one who will save the world. However, heroes in the real world are everyday people. That is why I always name my character Gary when I play a video game. Gary is a dude who just wants to make it to the end of the work week, get paid, and go home to his family. Therefore, when I saw a Kickstarter campaign for a game with a similar premise, I knew I had to learn more about it. So, without further ado, let’s talk about Peasant.
Peasant‘s Plot
Peasant is a single-player action RPG. It follows the story of a humble farmer who is tired. They are over the abuse from adventurers. The chosen take what they please without caring for those not part of their epic quest. It is time to put an end to those arrogant “heroes.” With a sword in your hand and a bit of sorcery, you will make them pay. The world will see you as a villain. However, in time, you hope your fellow villagers will understand. Ultimately, it is up to you to bring down these sellswords one by one.
Features Unique to Peasant
- Choices matter.
- Explore an open world.
- This world is full of life and exciting places to explore.
- Own a farm.
- Players own land in a fantasy setting; who wouldn’t love that?
- Karma system.
- Players can be peaceful in their mission to bring down the heroes or vengeful and petty.
- Each choice will make gameplay a little different.
- Base building.
- Build a secure fortress to plan your attacks.
- Unique skill trees.
- Choices will impact what skills you have available.
- Pet EVERYTHING.
- You can pet every creature in this game.
- And so much more!
Thoughts on Peasant
I am intrigued by the idea of a lack of destiny within a video game. Peasant claims that players will start out as humble farmers and rise to become some form of villain. However, is that not a form of destiny? That one will rise against tyranny, even if that form of evil is considered a hero. I am unsure of how this will play out. However, if developer Harakka Studio can pull this off, I see this as a contender for Game of the Year.
From what we have seen thus far, Peasant looks like a great title. I can appreciate a world in which my choices heavily weigh on the world around me. One example I found on their website was that if a player chops down every tree they see, the druid skill path will no longer be available. It is these elements that set games apart from others in their genre.
Additionally, if the farming is right in this game, I might just live out my farming fantasies. The first play style that came to mind when learning about this game was obviously barbarian-like kill all the heroes. However, if I can be a chill farmer, I may go that route. Overall, Peasant looks like it will be a blast, and I cannot wait to learn more about it.
Odds & Ends
The Kickstarter for Peasant was successfully funded on August 2, 2024. The studio mentioned on Kickstarter that while they have finished most of the code for this title, they are still in the early art stages. Therefore, there has yet to be a release window. However, they have an active Discord community if you want to get involved there. If you want another RPG to get excited about, I recommend this Wildermyth article. Overall, I look forward to finding more titles to share with you in the future.
