Small Saga

This game, while lovely on the surface, has a storyline with some terrifying implications. Halfway into the game, you arrive at a fascist state of gray squirrels where squirrels of color and LGBTQ squirrels are oppressed. The dictator on the throne says he just loves dominating over people, I mean squirrels. And it is revealed later, now a little spoiler warning here, that the original gray squirrel settlers in the past massacred innocent squirrels of color and brought their peaceful country to utter ruin. Today's fascist state of gray squirrels, no matter how glorious it may seem, is just a sorry mockery of this ancient nation of squirrels of color. Now our heroic rodents raid the fascist state to take down the gray squirrels. At one point, the dictator asks the heroes, "Do I have to be punished for the sins of my ancestors?" The dev's answer is a resounding yes. The dictator dies a horrible, painful death. The squirrels of color seize the assets and take over the whole country afterwards.

What makes this storyline terrifying is the way the dev presents the gray squirrels. From top to bottom, the gray squirrels are depicted as cardboard villains with no redeeming quality, who the dev implies deserve not only revenge genocide but also to be tortured in the process. There is no "Gray squirrels are squirrels too" moment. If you are a gray squirrel, you are a fascist and you must die. Doesn't this rhetoric sound familiar to you.

It's a shame because this really is a lovely game otherwise. The setting is interesting, the graphics are charming, nice music, etc. It's just the political messaging is so ominous and in-your-face, that it actually kills a chunk of the fun. If you sympathize with the oppressed rebel squirrels, you won't have any problem probably. But if you are more likely to be classified as a gray squirrel yourself, you'll feel uncomfortable playing these parts of the game. 

I really, really hope you make a Small Saga 2, a dlc or a New Game+. Its sad that the fights are limited, that the game end when you are at max power. That this beautiful games ends in general. Would love MORE! xD

Played this on Steam and it is genuinely one of the best games I have played in a very long time. The writing was fantastic.

I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering it. Just one warning: it's very easy so anyone looking for a challenging combat-focused RPG, this game is not that. The narrative and world makes up for that by a long shot.

I originally paid for this game back on Kickstarter years ago when it was first announced, and despite that I ended up waiting 5 months before I got around to playing it, due to my fears of "ok but I don't like RPGs, so how can this game be any good?"

Goddamn.  I remember now why I immediately threw money at this game after finishing the demo.  Absolutely incredible.  I even picked the exact right tier, Deluxe Edition, which includes the music that I've added into my playlist because I love it so much. :3 (getting an NPC of my own in would be awkward, especially given there's only one fox in the story and... well.)

Also, the phrase "uwu softboi" hit me like a sack of bricks, but like, wrapped in a lemon (in that good "pan-galactic gargleblaster" way???)  The idea of a Redwall-esque medieval style rodent society going onside alongside modern-day humans is so delightful tbh, and the juxtaposition between the two just makes for one of the most interesting "parallel rodent society" stories I've seen yet.

Today, I bought and finished Small Saga (on Steam, sorry; had I known the game was here, I would've bought it here). Upon that completion, I decided to buy the accompanying DLC to chuck a tip at the dev for having crafted such a beautiful, epic, and incredible adventure. It's about eight hours long and it's packed to the brim with incredible characterisation and exciting plot beats that other games struggle to even come close to. The turn-based combat isn't anything special but it's well executed but that's not what you're here for; you're here for the fantastic story.

I'm still amazed that the setting is just the gutters of a regular, non-magical Earth populated by talking rodents who've taken to medieval societies and yet the story accomplishes being a fantastic epic in its own right. The mundane becomes otherworldly, divine and demonic alike, and the presentation is immaculate. I heartily recommend this game to everyone. It's a real treat amongst indie titles.

Thanks Darya. As everyone has said, this is a wonderful and charming game. In the beginning, it was just a rpg. In the end, it was a beautiful, impactful journey. I hope creating the game was as much as a compelling experience as it was for me playing it.

Blown away by the game!

I'm not much of a gamer, but I watch a bunch of LPs, but partway through watching I had to get it. Played through it in a couple of days, just finished it now, and just... wow. 

You have a knack for telling story and character though game mechanics which I've not seen before. I enjoyed the story but the characters were amazing.

The battle mechanics are great too! They feel really tight and tuned in.

Loved it.

This was an incredible time, just about every part of this game charmed my pants off. Great work and thank you so much for this wonderful story! A blessed way to start 2024 <3

I recently bought Small Saga on Steam, but it feels like such a perfect Nintendo Switch game to me... it may be worthwhile to port. Love your work ^^

You are an amazing developer working with such a limited engine, keep up the good work man

This is my Game of the Year. 

I just wanted more lol. 

6 years is a long time to make a thing for sure. I just beat the game. Like a good sad, I'm sad that it's over. Wonderful work.

Thank you.

Great work! You absolutely inspire me to finish my game as well :) !

There will be at some point a version demo for play?

This is a really charming game that I found really hard to put down!! I was one of the backers of this project when it launched on kickstarter and im so glad to see how far its come. I love the world and characters in this game, the story is really engaging and really gets me at times. Also the music fuckinnn SLAPSSSSSS. The boss fights were really cool, the fight in Vininium is my favorite.

I really hope we get to see a Small Saga 2 or whatever else in the future, I'm here for your work Darya!!

IT'S FINAILLY OUT OMGGG

OH MY GOD THIS TURNED OUT SOOOO GOOOOD! I love the worldbuilding, the characters, the story, the graphics, the music, and how everything is so adorable and so serious at the same time.

Backed the Kickstarter and played the game all the way through last night! Lemme tell you, it was well worth the four year wait. Overall, I think it was an excellent experience, though I did have some minor gameplay quibbles. I saw on Steam that you'd be doing some updates for the game later, so I hope you'll consider some of these.

One thing that bugged me was how there was no way to see what anyone's abilities did outside of battle. Like, when you unlock a new ability for someone via story progression instead of unlocking it in the skill tree, it'd be nice to have some way outside of battle to see what they do, especially since battles aren't really something you can just reliably or easily get into due to the nature of the game. Maybe some kind of alternate tab or page in the Skills submenu?

Also, (trying to be as vague as possible here for spoilers) there's one notable ability that allows for a bit of freeform creativity, right? Due to the aforementioned scarcity of battles combined with how late you can get this ability, it'd be nice if there was a way to test out the various outcomes of it without needing to be in a battle, like some kind of training dummy or maybe a stage to jam on.

Finally, while I appreciate the breezy feel of the game's difficulty, perhaps some harder difficulty options could be a nice addition for any future playthroughs.

And I just want to clarify, these are pretty much nitpicks. I'd still highly recommend this game to my friends. I even gave my Steam key of the game to a friend of mine since I don't use Steam and she seems to be enjoying it so far!

I'm looking forward to whatever else you have planned for Small Saga in the future. Maybe some kind of additional post-game or New Game +? Thanks again for this incredible experience!

I binged the game, and I can't help but fall in love with this world and want more. How much more can we know? Will there be DLC or a sequel? My goodness!

I've been playing for a few hours now and I'm having an absolute blast with it!  

Blew through it earlier today including most of the side stuff and my biggest gripe is only that I wish the game was at least twice as long. Absolutely loved it.

yay it's released!

Just finished the main story, and I gotta say, it was really nice!

I have been lurking around here for about 2 years, and it was very much worth the wait.

release day, its out :D

this game is on speedrun dot com, to anyone reading this

https://smallsaga.com/

Release Date 16th of November 2023!

Can't wait till then :-))

Looks good

Just live streamed the demo on my Twitch. It ended on a huge cliff hanger but was a beautiful example of what the game was like. Art is well done, sound track was awesome. One small nit picks but won't get into those because they are so small but will explain if dev wants to know. 

Will defiantly be keeping an eye open for the full release or even a beta or alpha testing. 

One of the most captivating demos I've played in a long time and the full game is coming out in only a month! The pixel art is gorgeous and I love the semi-3D style. The heartfelt moments really got me and I couldn't keep the grin off my face the rest of the time! The concept is really great too, took me back to being a kid watching Secret of NIMH. Great to see an RPG with a unique setting rather than the standard medieval fantasy stuff.

Will definitely be playing the full game on the 16th! 5/5

I've been with this game for over YEAR now and it's nice to see how far it's come even if it's just a demo still

Amazing! It's nice to finally see an RPG with some creative and original character designs that really stand out. The environments are enriching. I can't wait to see more!

Excited to see a bigger release of this, whenever that comes. Loved the art and the music, and the 'battle' at the end of the first chapter was very tense.

wow... very beautiful and emotional... cant wait!

I enjoyed the demo a huge amount and was genuinly angry when it ended. I really really liked the writing and the presentation. And that bagpipe song was fantastic. It reminded me a bit of the Zeboyd games

I haven't tried it yet, but I like the aesthetic. Good job :)

Very fun demo! You had me sucked in from the very start. Excellent pacing, writing, music and artwork.

One of my favourite games that i've played so far. Nice battle system, aswell as the Graphic and the music. In my opinion the Demo should have ended after the Cat fight so that you know how the new Weapon is played. Overall i recommend playing this game. I made a video if someone is interested. 

As soon as this comes out I'm buying  a new laptop just to play it I swear.

WOW spot on...! 

The trailer and the actual play are different in a good way. I really like the graphics and sound that make good use of the look and feel like Megadrive.

 It's like an adventure game with a little bit of battle rather than a role-playing game, but it's not bad.