Out in October, The Lonesome Guild is proving to be an engaging action-adventure

There’s an old-fashioned sensibility to The Lonesome Guild that I really like. This isometric action-adventure sees a band of misfits come together in order to battle a darkness that’s taking over the world, and while it’s not quite an RPG, in some ways it reminds me of one. Your characters are key, and over the course of your journey, six misfits will join your quest — all in the name of battling loneliness.

You see, the darkness that’s taking over the world is loneliness itself, spreading like a deadly mist and corrupting anyone it touches. Your own band of misfits are all lonely too, but by coming together they’ve got strength in numbers, and as they get to know each other they’ll grow even stronger. At its roots, then, The Lonesome Guild is a tale about the power of camaraderie. How having people there for us, to support us, can make us stronger.

But saccharine messages aside, The Lonesome Guild is shaping up to be a great deal of fun in its own right. While you might not get new weapons and gear, RPG style, each character in your party does get its own skill tree, allowing them to improve in various ways over time. The world you find yourself in is ripe for exploration, and it’s filled with puzzles to overcome and secrets to uncover. You’ll need to regularly switch between different characters in your party (which you can do at the touch of a button) in order to solve certain puzzles: maybe you’ll need to pull multiple switches all at once, for example. You can also command your party to stay put or follow you, depending on any given situation.

Of course, as an action-adventure game, The Lonesome Guild has its fair share of combat, too. From what I’ve experienced so far, it’s basic but enjoyable. Each character in your party has a standard attack and a charged attack with a cooldown, and you can switch between different characters at will. There’s one unique trick up The Lonesome Guild’s sleeve, however: a ghost that accompanies your party. While the ghost cannot be controlled in combat, it will power up one character at a time, making each hit do a little more damage. In boss fights, your ghost companion will charge up to do a really powerful attack which can do huge amounts of damage.

In between battling and adventuring, you’ll find regular campfires which not only act as checkpoints but also provide an opportunity to build bonds between your party members. They allow you to engage in conversations, enabling you to get to know your party members yourself, too.

It’s the mix of adventuring and puzzle solving that has really impressed me most with The Lonesome Guild, though, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of its beautiful, vibrant world. I won’t have to wait too long, either: The Lonesome Guild is set to launch on 23rd October on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Watch this space for my full review closer to the time.

If you fancy trying out The Lonesome Guild for yourself, there’s a free demo available now on Steam.