What exactly is Kromlech?
Kromlech isn’t just another generic RPG trying to ride the wave of Souls-like popularity. It is an ambitious project from the Ostrava-based studio Perun Creative, the developers who earned their reputation with the gritty survival hit Hobo: Tough Life. This time, however, the creators have ventured into entirely different waters, investing approximately 100 million CZK from their own resources—a respectable sum for the Czech indie scene.
The game entered Steam Early Access on March 5, 2026, making it clear from the first moment that its DNA is built on inspiration from early 2000s classics. If you grew up on games like Gothic or Severance: Blade of Darkness, you will feel right at home. But this isn’t just nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake; Kromlech expands these foundations with modern rogue-lite mechanics and unique ideas that push the game into the present day.
It is important to note that Perun Creative operates without an external publisher, giving them absolute creative freedom. This independence is palpable in the gameplay—the game doesn’t pander to mainstream audiences and follows its own very thorny path. For “tryharders” looking for a real challenge and depth, this is the news they have been waiting for.
Story and Atmosphere
Forget elves, dwarves, and other clichés associated with Tolkien’s legacy. Kromlech places you in a raw environment inspired by Celtic Iron Age culture (specifically the La Tène and Hallstatt periods). This choice of setting is virtually unique in the gaming world and gives the game an unmistakable visual and atmospheric character, sitting somewhere between Conan the Barbarian and the grittiness of Gothic.
Playing as a lone adventurer named Cronach, you set out into the land of Gwern in its final days. The world around you is saturated with raw energy, where steel has weight and magic is unpredictable and treacherous. The protagonist is no moral savior; they are a character defined by how they influence the collapsing world around them.
The atmosphere is built through a hand-crafted environment featuring a high degree of reactivity. Every corner of Gwern tells its own story of decay and survival. This “dirty” and uncompromising presentation of the world is one of the biggest draws, keeping you at the monitor even when the game punishes you with its difficulty.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The heart of the entire game is the innovative RTL (Right – Torso – Left) combat system. Forget mindless button-mashing; here you must actively monitor which part of the enemy’s body is armored and where their weak spots are. Every encounter is a tactical puzzle where you must precisely choose the direction of your attack to break through defenses. For players used to the precise combat of Gothic 1, this is a return to functional hardcore design.
Another pillar is the fascinating Crisis System. At regular intervals, Crises occur in the world—major events that change the landscape. If you don’t resolve them in time, they leave permanent marks on the world called World Scars, which permanently increase the danger of future expeditions. This system creates constant pressure and forces you into difficult decisions: do you try to save everyone, or focus only on the most essential threats?
RPG progression is surprisingly deep, offering much more than just stat increases. You customize your character using warpaints, inscribing runes of power into equipment, or earning epithets. Epithets are a fantastic mechanic—heroic names earned through your actions that aren’t just cosmetic, but actually change your renown and the world’s reaction to you, similar to the cult classic Morrowind.
Final Verdict
Reviewing a game in Early Access is always tricky, but in the case of Kromlech, my 9/10 verdict is a clear signal that the fundamentals are built incredibly strong. I am not judging the current technical state, which has flaws like FPS drops on 8GB VRAM cards or occasional unfair balancing. I am judging the design vision, which is bold and in many ways revolutionary.
Perun Creative has created a game for a specific audience—those who aren’t afraid of failure and want their decisions to have real weight in the world. If the developers spend the planned 12 months in Early Access polishing optimization and fine-tuning the difficulty curve, we will be looking at the absolute top of the genre in 2027. Even now, however, Kromlech is an experience that no fan of dark RPGs should miss.
FAQ
Q: Does Kromlech run on 8GB VRAM graphics cards?
A: Currently not reliably. The developers have confirmed a specific bug for these cards causing sudden FPS drops, but a patch is on the way.
Q: Is Kromlech a typical Souls-like RPG?
A: Only partially. While it shares high difficulty and death penalties, it offers more RPG layers like the Crisis System, deep world reactivity, and a different game flow thanks to rogue-lite elements.
Q: Does the game include Czech localization?
A: Yes, Czech subtitles have been available since the first day of the Early Access release.
Q: How long will the Early Access phase last?
A: Perun Creative plans for the game to remain in Early Access for approximately 12 months, during which they will add content and tune mechanics.
Q: Why is the score so high when Steam reviews are mixed?
A: The 9/10 score reflects the quality of the game mechanics and the overall project’s potential. Mixed reviews are mainly due to technical issues and initial difficulty, which the developers are actively addressing.
