Genre: RPG
Developer: High North Studios
Publisher: Raw Fury Games

Back in 2017, "Sonic Mania" showed the potential of "Hi-Bit" to the world: something which plausibly looks like it could have been done on old hardware, but which in fact makes use of modern technology. "Skald" is essentially a "Hi-Bit" Commodore 64 game, and wow does it have a startlingly appealing aesthetic. Like a C64 game, the tile art is basic and lets the imagination run wild-- but many colors are present per tile, and there are ample amounts of animation for the game world's stage and character art. What's more, some of the coolest character portraits in the entire history of the medium are in this title. Even the glorious pixel art menu system is an amalgamation of the old and the new.

A fellow named Romanus Surt composed the music in Skald. He targeted authentic hardware, although something of marginally newer vintage than the C64 "SID" chip: the Yamaha YM2413, which is familiar to Japanese Sega Master System fans. The melodies are dank and dark, lending a huge amount of the game's atmosphere; in fact, the synergy between the music and the game is so tight, that it is almost an unheard of thing in contemporary gaming. Sound effects do a good job of conveying information, especially in combat: blood splatter sound when getting hit? Bad news.

Skald takes place in a three-quarter overhead tiled game world, where each time the player moves, the world and its other denizens cycle one move too. There is an Ultima-style overworld map, on which random battle encounters take place, which bridges the title's different areas. These areas are explored in a manner very similar to, and just as satisfying as, those in the first two "Baldur's Gate" releases. Combat is tactical. A unique twist is that there are two health bars: once the first is depleted, the character starts taking on "wounds", which cripple in different ways.

Subjectively, Skald: Against the Black Priory is this reviewer's perfect game: both graphically and musically, it has all of the stylistic charm of old titles, but with lots of modern flourishes. Progress can be saved at any time outside of combat, and the title's game world is very nearly on par with all-time atmospheric classics such as "Shining in the Darkness". What's more, the H.P. Lovecraft cosmic horror-inspired story is a lot of fun. The title also runs fabulously on the OLED Steam Deck. Speaking more objectively, the game might be too simple or even too easy for younger players who crave abject mechanical complexity, "min-maxing", or brutal difficulty.