PAX West 2023 marked a change to the way that Reedpop handles PAX West. Last year, PAX West took place in a single building while the Seattle Convention Center – Summit building was under construction. This year, PAX West took place between the two buildings requiring attendees to travel between the two convention centers; for many, this was not an issue but for those who were movement-impaired, going over two blocks made the hike back and forth exhausting. This made going back and forth to meetings a bit of a headache. This was only exasperated further by the one convention center being split in half due to Nintendo holding an invite-only event.

Thankfully, we had the opportunity to sit down for a while while previewing Serenity Forge’s Long Gone Days & Roman Sands for a bit. Before meeting with Serenity Forge, I had not heard of either of these two titles so experiencing the games blindly left a different impression than if I had watched trailers or read about them. Long Gone Days is the story of a sniper who joins a special mission at the last minute. In Roman Sands RE: Build, the player is trapped in a paradise where something has gone horribly wrong; in order to survive, the player must complete the tasks of the residents and uncover the mystery of what is going on.

Long Gone Days

Long Gone Days is an Indie RPG where you step into the shoes of a military sniper and join a tactical unit infiltrating Poland and taking out high-interest targets. The demo at PAX West was primarily focused on world-building with very little combat. Long Gone Days has previously been released on PC in 2018. The Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation version is set to release on October 10th.

So, the demo itself was way too slow for the general PAX West attendees. The demo required a lot of reading with very little action. Additionally, the demo was only on one station so those who wanted to play it would have to wait a good bit of time. Honestly, with a lack of voice acting and a lot of text, some RPG fans will enjoy it, but we could see more choosing to watch a playthrough on YouTube than playing through the game. The story premises seemed interesting, but there is definitely a high hurdle to jump over.

Game’s Key Features

• Communication is Key: As Long Gone Days is set in the real world, you’ll encounter several language barriers. Recruit interpreters in order to communicate with others.

• Keep Morale High: Choose dialogue options wisely as they impact your party members’ Morale, affecting how they perform during battles. While doing so, keep in mind every character has different personality traits and motivations.

• Sniper Mode: Long Gone Days has two battle systems. Using Rourke’s rifle, spot your enemies and take down your targets.

• No Random Encounters: Long Gone Days features front-view turn-based battles with body-targeting system, and every battle is directly related to the plot.

Roman Sands

With Roman Sands, the player must uncover the mystery befallen paradise. While searching for how they got on the island, the player can interact with the different residents and complete a variety of varying tasks. The game’s demo has an interesting horror thriller vibe without any jump scares. As you complete the tasks, you learn more about the residents and strengthen your bond with them helping you with your investigation. Sadly, our demo was cut short due to another member of the press showing up, but the game looks like it could be a good suspenseful visual novel thriller.

At the moment, Roman Sands does not have an official release date.

Developer description

Washed up on the shores of a timeless luxury retreat, you find yourself acquainted with its unhinged inhabitants. They await the day that the Sun will swallow the world. You are obligated to serve their whims. There’s more to this place than meets the eye. Can you uncover your exit?

Both of these titles can appeal to gamers who like a deep story over action titles. Out of the two titles, Roman Sands looks like it might be the most enjoyable with the suspense of something lurking in the background. Long Gone Days could be interesting to some who want to uncover a government conspiracy and see how their actions impact the overarching story.