We have a few ‘shopping’ management games, but Saleblazers might be my favorite. It’s not just about managing a shop but also about surviving in a hostile world and building a business empire.
In this week’s episode of Scar Tries, I will be sharing my impressions on this impressive title by Airstrafe Interactive. It has been in Early Access for a while now, but I only found the time to try it out recently. I have been sick the past few weeks, so this took much longer to write up than I wanted.
Saleblazers is unique as open-world RPGs go and is one of the few multiplayer titles I enjoy playing. It might look like a hodgepodge of different parts slapped together like a Frankenstein monster, but it is surprisingly well put together. I was surprised when, when starting Saleblazers for the first time, I was introduced to some pretty good voice acting and a large campus. Saleblazers sees players take on a gigantic shopkeeping franchise set on a vast island, and the tutorial feels like taking an entry exam on campus. I had fun going through the exam areas, learning how to fight and stock a shop to rake in that delicious gold. I was not expecting the opening to be so solid, and it sets Saleblazers apart from its mass siblings.
So many open-world crafting games are on the market, but having a concrete gameplay loop and narrative makes Saleblazers stand out. Things quickly go to hell when a rogue cabal of the company takes over and massacres many of the employees! My character flailed about trying to defend himself but was eventually booted from the floating campus and sent to the gigantic island to die. Rescued by a typical ‘old dude mentor’ character, you start about surviving in the inhospitable biomes of Saleblazers, learning to do a business while managing your hunger and thirst.
From this point, the game plays out as you might expect from the genre. Craft many items to survive better, carry out quests, and explore the map. Most of the gameplay is standard. Movement and combat feel decent, and the survival mechanics are challenging while not too onerous. I found that you need to eat and drink quite often, and I got caught up in how fast the hunger and thirst meter drained a couple of times.
The shopkeeping part of the game is the central niche, of course, and all the items you pick up can be transferred to bolster your budding new business. The system is in-depth, and with full co-op support, you can imagine how cool this is when playing with multiple people. You can run your shop with friends, each managing different aspects, and even compete with other player-run shops.
I jumped into a few random games, and despite not being much of a fan of multiplayer games, this was one of my better experiences. Servers can be modified with difficulty settings and modifiers to reduce frustration, so you can keep your belongings after death or prevent your shop from being attacked by monsters. Players tend to be more helpful than in other multiplayer survival games, so I wouldn’t worry about being griefed like you would in DayZ, for instance.
While I have not played as many Saleblazers as I would like, this will give you a taste of my experience with the game. It is still receiving chunky updates with plenty of new content and, ultimately, is a damn solid crafting game in an ocean saturated with the genre. It could do with more optimization, as even on my higher-end laptop, I had big frame drops with settings at medium. For $30, this is a solid Early Access experience so far.
