Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom

As a title that doesn’t quite fall inline with the typical KEMCO release, Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom is a relatively solid entry into their ever-growing catalog.

This isn’t a huge game you invest all your brain juice in; it’s a chance for JRPG nuts like myself to take it easy but still get that dopamine hit. There isn’t a lot to it, but everything there is appropriately presented and works as you expect it to.

I certainly don't mind a somewhat easy game, but I need a bit of challenge to hold my attention. After several hours, I think I've seen enough of Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom for the time being. Perhaps it improves, but it should've put its best foot forward much earlier. The battles are so simple that the efforts at depth are lost, making crafting less necessary and rewarding.

Definitely the best game to date I’ve played from Rideon, and one that I feel does have a lot of good merits to it: with all that said, you may want to wait for a sale on this one, due to the simple gameplay loop, yet if you’re a fan of these kinds of games and don’t mind the repetitiveness and steep price, then you’ll find a satisfying mix of RPG action and town management here.

Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom isn't going to turn heads or win awards, and it's not quite to the same standard of refinement as Rideon's tactics JRPGs tend to be. With that being said, it offers an enjoyable, pleasant and pleasing way of spending time in-between meatier fare, and the efficient and bubbly approach makes it very easy to pick up and play.

Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom on Xbox is an interesting take on a KEMCO game. It’s more of a management sim than a straight-up RPG, with you having to balance your jaunts to dungeons against the needs of the town for blacksmithed goods. There is a depth that is quite pleasing, but the whole premise seems to be to grind - while there’s fun to be had, it is very repetitive.

Your enjoyment with Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom will vary according to how much mileage you get out of its gameplay loop until it begins to become tedious. Before that sinks in, it's a great RPG but afterwards, you'll gladly come back to it just every once in a while.

I enjoyed Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom almost as much as I enjoyed Marenian Tavern Story. KEMCO and Rideon’s take on the JRPG-business simulator hybrid is still very fun, just like it was a few years ago.