Small Saga review: a short, story-heavy RPG that's light on challenge

Well, I think this is probably the first and only time I've ever heard British documentarian Adam Curtis appear as an ominous backing sample in an RPG boss battle theme, but in many ways, I hope it's not the last. Forget the operatic choral chants of Final Fantasy bosses. The new rallying cry against peak villainy is now some no-nonsense British commentary about the state of human extinction. It works surprisingly, well, and Small Saga is a game shot through with these kinds of Britishisms, set in the parks, streets and underbelly of modern-day London. Only this isn't an RPG about humans, but the rodents that live beneath their feet - the mice, rats, squirrels and moles who have developed a kind of proto-medieval society of their own built from the trash and discarded objects they've scavenged from under our noses. In this world, humans are terrifying 'gods', supermarkets with their shelves of seeds and grain are called 'Heaven', and your main mode of transportation is a pigeon with a wicker basket. It's a fascinating world solo developer Darya Noghani has created here, and it would be a thrilling turn-based RPG, too - if only its battles didn't completely cheese it when it comes to providing any sense of challenge. Read more