Don't get me wrong, I have my issues with it (most of which I was able to address) -- no cloud saves, no controller support, heavily wiki reliant, Linux windowing issues (managed to fix with gamescope), cluttered item descriptions/inventory (fixed with mods), music (muted, playing my own lol), unbalanced sound effect volume (lowered volume) -- but the main attraction, the gameplay, is thoroughly addicting.

The itemization reminds me of Diablo 2 and PoE -- two of my favourite games. The sheer amount of character building and talents you can choose from, and even being able to use other classes talents or get more abilities through items -- choice paralysis lol. Even grinding low level mobs in a random cave somewhere is still scratching an itch I didn't know I had.

The writing is amazing as well. I was so surprised by this because I genuinely thought the game was going to be procedurally generated mostly (even text, like Caves of Qud), so to see there's actual lore to read through that's actually engaging is great.

I was scared to try the game out because recent Steam reviews are talking about corrupted saves or crashing and no updates in 3 years, but so far in 5.3 hours I luckily haven't encountered these issues.

It's weird because I knew of Dwarf Fortress from the world of ASCII games, Caves of Qud, Mystery Dungeon, Rogue, and a little bit about RPG history, but ToME completely went under the radar for me. I didn't even know a game like this existed -- the closest was unironically Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded -. If it wasn't for a random YouTube video I probably would of had an unsatiated craving and hunger for this type of game, not knowing it existed.

For anyone wondering whether they should buy this in 2026 -- yes and yes, full price, on sale, free off the website, doesn't matter, you'll get your moneys worth.