Banquet for Fools

Banquet for Fools is an open-world, party-based adventure set on the island of Invimona. The deities have shunned the Vollings, who have turned to paganism to survive. After one lord establishes a settlement to farm a lucrative spice that grows only on the island’s hillsides, he leaves to defend his fields from a jealous neighbor. He then learns that everyone at one of his farm holds has vanished, and sends four guards across the island to investigate.

The island of Invimona

You explore with four generated companions whose stats shape their dialogue choices with NPCs and one another as they bond during the journey. A pack-boro accompanies the party, carrying a boat and extra items; together, you can hike and portage along Invimona’s rivers and sea. Towns offer clues and unique items, while farmers, scribes, artisans and Gadaars may ask for the guards’ help.

The island has been settled for five years, and grave robbers have flocked there. Keeping them from being sent to Exile Island is a constant challenge. The game has no auto-compass or quest log; many requests and quests arrive in scrolls, and navigating the island is part of completing them.

Combat

Combat uses a brawl-style, beat-’em-up system. When your action bar fills, you can open the combat dome to pause the game and choose an action or target. You control one guard at a time while the others act on their own, attacking, defending, kicking, charging and pinning. You can change the leader at any time or bring in a support guard for combo attacks.

Critical attacks weaken heavily defended enemies for your companions’ follow-up strikes. As you unlock Rally attacks during combat, the party can also combine its attacks into simultaneous strikes.

Skills and advancement

Equip your four companions with skills suited to the challenges ahead. They can specialize in favored weapons, armor, pagan spells, animal binding, music and rogue abilities, then improve through experience or training bought from people around the island. Frequently used skills receive bonuses as they level up.

When a character has enough XP, they can level up their skills and gain a stat point. You can distribute three points among any skills, with bonus points available for skills used frequently since the previous level-up.

Pagan powers

The Vollings’ ancient deities still listen through their likenesses in stone and may answer those they deem worthy. You can seek intercessions at ancient and newly erected statues across the island. These grant the ability to make custom holy items for favored characters, in exchange for a donation and a quest; as you advance, you can strengthen intercessions and their powers. The gods are petty and competitive, so which statues you choose matters.

Pagan spells draw on three skills: Fauna, Vines and Spores, each with its own specialties and uses in the world. You learn effects from different Vol trees, then make custom spells by taking birch and etching a rune in blood to bind it to the world. More powerful variants become available as you grow in power.

Songs and stealth

You can buy songs with different situations in which they trigger automatically, as well as different potency levels. Songs can play at the start of a battle, after an enemy falls or when companions are low on health, among other triggers. You can memorize a limited number at once, so their power and timing can be matched to your playstyle and party.

The party can steal items from shops, but stolen goods can no longer be purchased there, and getting caught is a risk. Guards and merchants follow patrols and sleep schedules, creating opportunities to watch for a change of guard. Crimes add a bounty, and village Vollings respond accordingly; you can pay off a local bounty by yelling “bribe.”

Supplies and guard duties

A field kit lets the party replenish supplies while away from shops. It can make three categories of ammunition: arrows from wood and arrowheads found in wildlife, rivi-wraps from noxious and volatile foliage in crevices, and explosive elyxir globes. To make the globes, you convert amphoras of alcohol used as healing items; the globes can have various added effects.

As a guard, you can choose whether to kill or stun opponents. Killing is less risky, but nearby keepers may resurrect the dead as ghosts. Stunned enemies remain unconscious for 24 hours. If they are bandits or grave robbers, you can report them for coins, though each turn-in adds to Exile Island’s population. Stunned criminals recover after a while, so you must reach a fort or village and ask another guard to send a wagon to collect your purse.

Your characters must witness a crime, or have proof of it, before assaulting someone; otherwise, they may be treated as the ones committing the crime. Farmsteads and holdings belonging to Houses from Minorev have settled the island under the Pavura’s rule, and their residents may need help with various problems. Your relationship with each town is tracked separately, and a reeve’s commendation can bring rewards.