Is The Lantern of the Laughless Saint Worth It?
Launch-day verdict: if you've been starved for a Morrowind-like that isn't a Skyrim retread — and you have a friend to drag along — this is a strong $19.99. If you're wary of Early Access promises and no-frills indie launches, it's a perfectly sane wait.
At $19.99, you're not paying full-game price for a promise. The core loop — walk the island, pull threads, watch the world react — is the actual game, not a slice of it. The risk is content volume and polish, which are exactly what Early Access is for.
What it does well
- The Morrowind itch, scratched. No quest-marker marathons. Direction comes from rumors and the environment. People who actually played it are already comparing it to Morrowind on the r/Morrowind thread.
- Co-op done properly. Not a tacked-on summon — the whole game, main quest included, runs in co-op, online or split-screen. That alone separates it from most single-player RPGs.
- The theater gimmick is memorable. Every life you save or ruin books a phantom into the audience of the underground amphitheater. It's the kind of hook that keeps you talking about the game after you close it.
The honest downsides
- It's Early Access day one. Expect rough edges: balance swings, missing content, quirks. That's the deal, stated clearly on the store page.
- NerveLabs is a small, new team. A pre-launch r/IndieDev thread raised questions about AI art in their marketing. The devs pushed back and the game itself has a distinct, hand-drawn style in its storefront shots — but if that kind of history matters to you, a wait-and-see is fair.
- No console version. If you're console-only, this isn't the one (yet). See the console page.
Price honesty
It's $19.99 right now — the launch-week 10% cut to $17.99 has ended. Early Access prices can rise when games get bigger — several of the best-known indies did exactly that at 1.0. At this price, the "wait for a sale" argument barely applies.
Bottom line
Worth it for the Morrowind-curious and the co-op crowd. If you need reviews and a fuller world before you commit, wishlist it and check back in a month — the launch discount makes the wait cheap either way.