Campaign Ends: June 5th
Platform: Windows, macOS, Nintendo Switch (with Switch 2 a possibility), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Sharpen your weapons and raise a flagon of mead; a new tactical RPG combining the gameplay of Final Fantasy Tactics with the aesthetics of Dark Souls, The Witcher, and Hellboy is marching a blood-soaked path from Spain to your gaming system. Quickfire Games presents Prelude Dark Pain, a stylish debut title perfect for connoisseurs of the grimdark genre, heavy metal, and really long beards.
Chaos awaits in the land of Statera, where the tyrannical Order of the Ashen Crusade runs a campaign of fear and torment; not content with merely oppressing the poor citizens, their actions have been tearing holes in the veil, allowing horrific creatures to run free. The Lord of Pain surely approves! You’ll play as Soren, a former warrior and berserker now living as a blacksmith, and recruit a team of rebels to rise up and save reality from the Order. Sigh. Soren’s peaceful retirement has been rudely cut short, as life once again pushes him onto the battlefield. Let’s hope it’ll all be worth it!
Gather a crew of over twenty allies, including a cross-wielding mage with a striking golden mask, a powerful (and jolly) fighter who may be related to God of War‘s Kratos, and a red-bearded gentleman last seen eating a rat in the game’s trailer. Not gourmet! Characters belong to one of eight classes and can develop two talent trees and many unique skills. Expect to recruit even more heroes once you get your hands on Prelude Dark Pain‘s free DLC packs, which will be released shortly after the main game.
Prelude Dark Pain promises a lengthy campaign of over 30 hours, along with plenty of side content. Your choices will affect how the story plays out and who you can recruit; depending on your decisions, you may even miss out on some characters! Battles will have you compose a team of five for some classic turn-based violence set on stylish isometric grids like in Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre (perhaps with just a wee bit more blood). Then, between story missions, you can relax at your base and do some crafting, take part in sidequests to expand the narrative and recruit more allies, and send out individual heroes to spy on enemies, liberate villages, and look for vital resources. They’ll miss out on combat for a bit, but you never know what sort of goodies they’ll find on their own!
The whole aesthetic of Prelude Dark Pain reminds me of a heavy metal album cover come to life. In fact, I’m listening to a selection of symphonic metal (along with the game’s OST samples) while writing this article and staring at screenshots, and it sure makes for a nice accompaniment! The soundtrack will feature Kumi Tanioka (of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles fame) as its main composer, along with Spain’s Isaac Montes. Together, their talents create a dark and epic soundtrack with tunes that can be described as rousing, mysterious, and even melancholy; I particularly enjoyed the choir vocals and ambient clanging sounds in the trailer track (check out some of the samples on the campaign page). Meanwhile, the graphics feature stunning comic book-like visuals inspired heavily by Hellboy‘s Mike Mignola and Darkest Dungeon. Save some pennies for the physical (and digital) artbook rewards!
Prelude Dark Pain reached its initial funding target in just twelve short hours; thankfully, exciting (and perhaps a bit threatening) stretch goals remain, in addition to those already met, like the improved world map filled with hidden battles and extra events. Others include two large quests with new heroes to recruit and a dreaded Souls-like mode for hardcore players only.
Grimdark aesthetics and the isometric, turn-based strategy genre are a match made in Hell, and I mean this as the highest compliment. Prelude Dark Pain combines its influences to give us something unique and stylish, and Spanish studio Quickfire Games look to have a sure success on their hands. The developers are aiming for an Early Access launch in spring 2026, with the final version in summer 2027. In the meantime, they are targeting July 2025 for a backers-only demo version. Prepare your weapons and dishevel your beard (or perhaps your friend’s beard); it’s time to smash the Order!
Disclaimer: While it’s possible some of us at RPGFan may be backers of the games mentioned in these articles, this does not influence our coverage or our featured game choices. We make our selections simply based on the active campaigns we feel our readers might find interesting, and we are not given special access or perks by the developers.
tl;dr: We think these games show potential and want to share them with you.
