The first-person turn-based PC RPG Frayed Knights from indie developer Rampant Games has finally been released, and can be purchased here, where there is also a new demo available (see the video above). RPGWatch has posted a very positive review(in which Frayed Knights is the described as the game the reviewer has been waiting for since Wizardry 8), and there are also detailed and informative previews at both Gamebanshee and RPGCodex. Since I have nothing more to report at this early stage I thought I'd throw in the developer's official bullet points about the content of the full version:

• 30+ hours of gameplay.

• Challenging, turn-based combat in a game that plays at your pace.

• A unique "Drama Star" system that rewards the player for playing through tough situations instead of reloading and replaying.

• A spell named, "Power Word: Defenestrate."

• Over a hundred base spells, most with several upgraded variants.

• An innovative trap-disarming / lockpicking system using character skills and items to disable a device one component at a time.

• Over 80 feats to customize your party as they progress through the game.

• A detailed, "stats-heavy" rules system... which you are free to ignore if you choose.

• Nearly 200 different items to be used and abused by your characters.

• A "Quarterstaff of Nad-Whacking."

• Sixteen "dungeons" (interior adventuring areas), five outdoor areas, one village, an alternate dimension, and some green dude's one-room hovel.

• A thick 69-page PDF manual. For those who want more than just the tutorials.

Phew, that's a description which includes just about everything a true old school RPG fan could possibly want (...with the possible exception of a code wheel).

Really happy to see the drama star system. Good idea :)

SOMEONE TELL DAVE

@Tim_the_Corsair: Indeed, a Quick Look of this could be a lot of fun...

This seems like something I will most certainly capitalize on.... once it gets on steam/goes on sale. That's not any sort of detraction from the game's quality or anything, but I've already spent far too much money on dumb impulse purchases this month to spend another $20 on a game that even seems like it was made for me. I look forward to your impressions, as the one thing that that trailer doesn't endear me with is its attempts at "humor".

@ArbitraryWater: Well, playing through the demo (which basically consists of the game's first dungeon) to completion should give you a good impression of the overall gameplay since it includes both progressively more complex combat scenarios, lockpicking, levelling up and quite a bit of party banter, which I personally found to be chuckleworthy in an inoffensive way.

Leaving your own personal situation aside, when it comes to the somewhat unnerving "I'll get it when it comes to Steam/is on sale" attitude which I see a lot of these days I would simply urge anyone who considers buying Frayed Knights at any point in the future - and, crucially, also sees themselves as wanting to support the further development of games like FK - to pay the full regular price and not wait specifically for a possible inclusion on Steam. For some indie developers those extreme download service-driven sales can be good business under the right circumstances, but I'd be willing to bet that this particular product is simply way too niche to be the subject of a sudden surge in impulse purchases. A comparable example from the same subgenre would be the very well-received Knights of the Chalice, which has never been on sale - nor been included on any download services, for that matter - since its release in 2009.

@Egge: Oh, I'm fully aware of how my financial behavior is to the detriment of the indie-RPG scene. However, as far as I can tell from their website, they are the same development team who made Eschalon (not entirely clear on that part, as they seem to also be host to plenty of other indie RPGs, so maybe not), which is on steam. That, and the presence of that Avadon game suggest initially, at least to me, that this game will make its way to steam at some point. If not? Maybe later. I am downloading the demo though.