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Game
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Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings
Developer Palindrome Interactive
Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings is a rogue-like strategy video game developed and published by Palindrome Interactive together with Amplifier Studios and THQ Nordic. It was released on Steam on March 4, 2025. The game is based on the 1995 Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying fantasy franchise. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
210 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 21, 2026 · last updated Oct 22, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
71
Fresh
132 positive · 55 negative
95% range 64–77%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 132 | 55 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
248 of 320 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
71% recommend · 133 yes, 55 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 188 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (372 of 495 positive).
Players praise the game's faithful adaptation of the Legend of the Five Rings setting and lore. [1][2][3] Many reviewers enjoy the auto-battler gameplay but note it can become repetitive. [4][5][6] Some players criticize the game for bugs, poor optimization, and unbalanced progression. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
Wanted to like it, but couldn't. - Visual bugs with tooltips, heroes, enemies, UI elements. If the very first tooltip of the sparse tutorial remains open for the whole fight instead of closing when it should, that's a bad first impression of the game - With an Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and an RX 7900 XTX GPU, I shouldn't even notice that the game is running, but instead it turns my GPU into a leaf blower (this is /after/ …
- [1]
The game isn't great, but it isn't bad. It's just agressively mediocre. The high points are the amazing voice acting and dialogues (the story itself is pretty basic, but alright). This being the first digital game in the amazing L5R setting is also a plus. Otherwise the game is concentrated jank; great ideas with extremely subpar delivery; questionable UE5 choice for the engine and scuffed style and optimisation. I …
- [2]
Shadowveil is: * RPG-ish at the high (meta-progression) level: build your characters, build your roster, choose who to take on a run, target quests you want to complete, get meta-progression upgrades * Slay the Spire-ish at the mid level: choose your path based on what rewards you want or what fight looks easier, choose who gets which ability cards (you find per run) or equipment (you find per run) * Autobattler at …
- [3]
First off let me start with saying if you are an old school fan of Legend of The Five Rings, you will be absolutely geeking the ♥♥♥♥ out as you play this. They captured the vibe and artwork of L5R PERFECTLY. The devs clearly did their homework. If you have never heard of L5R but are into samurai and dark fantasy then ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are you in for a treat. Just finished ch 8. Excellent game. If you are like me and you …
- [4]
Fun auto battler with some annoying quirks. PROS: -I really enjoyed building combo decks -There are a bunch of neat bonuses/trees when leveling up your buffs -Story kept me somewhat entertained CONS: -Short Campaign (took me around 18 hours to beat the game, and I was taking my time) -Leveling up your troops feels unsatisfying. They need to get more ability points from leveling -I HATED how repetitive the boss …
Summarised from 34 of the 210 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
71% of the 188 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings. The complaint that keeps coming up: repetitive boss fights that revive multiple times. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Reviewers noted, that one of the advantages of the game is that it does not assume familiarity with the original universe. Others highlighted that "The RPG elements had surprising depth", that the fans of the original franchise would enjoy the game and that the game has high replayability.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 210 · most liked firstWanted to like it, but couldn't. - Visual bugs with tooltips, heroes, enemies, UI elements. If the very first tooltip of the sparse tutorial remains open for the whole fight instead of closing when it should, that's a bad first impression of the game - With an Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU and an RX 7900 XTX GPU, I shouldn't even notice that the game is running, but instead it turns my GPU into a leaf blower (this is /after/ the 1.0.1 release, which improved performance) - Loading times are too long,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve been a longtime fan of the L5R CCG, having played since the Imperial edition, so I was thrilled to see a new project set in Rokugan. Unfortunately, while the game does a decent job capturing the lore and atmosphere, it falters in nearly every aspect of its gameplay. Meta Progression • I finished the story with barely having spent barracks’ meta currency, because most upgrades are detrimental rather than helpful. • Unlocking abilities at the emissary diluted my better ability options,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Chapter 1: Boss died, revived himself. Chapter 2: Boss died, revived himself again. Chapter 3. Boss died, revived himself once again. Chapter 4: You bet'cha. Boss died, revived himself again. Chapter 5: If you haven't gotten bored and still expecting something new, Boss died and revived himself again. Chapter 6-9: Boss died and revived himself again. There, I saved you 60 hours worth of gameplay.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately the font is too small with no scaling so the game is unplayable for me. Anyone playing on a TV, not close to a monitor, or anyone with vision issues or anyone who simply wants a comfortable time reading a game with a lot of text should not waste their money.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is really fun but the more you play it the worse it gets. The progression of this game forces you to (complete chap 1) then (complete chap 1 -> 2) then (1 -> 2 -> 3). There is very little actual substance to the game play because by the end of the game you have played the same thing the majority of the time. Also the "final" boss is the same boss for 4 chapters in a row mean to beat the game you fight him 10 times but you have to split it up into 4 different runs. You have a great…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game isn't great, but it isn't bad. It's just agressively mediocre. The high points are the amazing voice acting and dialogues (the story itself is pretty basic, but alright). This being the first digital game in the amazing L5R setting is also a plus. Otherwise the game is concentrated jank; great ideas with extremely subpar delivery; questionable UE5 choice for the engine and scuffed style and optimisation. I had an OK time and following the characters and story was fun, but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a run down nostalgia lane, this game is largely a miss. It features a very narrow cast of beloved characters from L5R in a not particularly interesting or nuanced world famous for its intrigue and politics. For a roguelite game with a million cards to draw inspiration from (or even just mechanics), it misses both on a functional and nostalgia level because the someone decided that an autobattler was a good idea. However, where other roguelites have shined through development of story,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is not great. The main gameplay loop is overly simple, and many of the upgrades are actually detrimental to you early on in the game. For example, you are given 2 "Political Capital", one of the many meta currencies that exist in the game, early on. IF YOU BUY ANY OF THE UPGRADES THAT COST 2 POLITICAL CAPITAL before buying the quest board, which costs 1 political capital, you will be soft-locked out of getting any more political capital unless you pick an RNG reward for "+1 Political…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The initial idea of the game is awesome, the game itself is lacking. ------------------------------------------------------- Balance: Both for units and gear, it's overall terrible. For units , you want healer(s), tank and ranged dps, everything that is not one of those three is useless. So some of the more interesting charachters are undesirable , as you don't want them and when you have them you should avoid getting abilities/items for them as there are other priorities. The priorities on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wanna know a bit more about the depths of the Shadowlands? Then check out this Dev Deep Dive with Game Director Filip, who shares some insight into the Shadowlands and the corrupting taint spreading from Jigoku 👇 store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #shadowveil #l5r #gamedev #shadowlands
neutral · AI labelView post →Most fans of L5R have waited 25 years for a video game in the setting. This is not the game we wanted. For some reason they decided to make this a brain-dead auto-battler with little depth and no replayability. The added rougelite elements somehow make it even worse because there are zero meaningful choices or consequences. The target audience for this game are mostly used to sitting down for a 45 minute card game or having a samurai drama roleplaying session. The dev team is completely out of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have to admit - I bought this because the screen show made it look like a turn based combat in the Legends of the Five Rings world, which I was excited about - as I love me some turn based games, and I have fond memories playing in a L5R campaign years ago. I made a mistake. The game is NOT a turn based combat game. It's more a tactical auto-battler. I was a little salty at first, but intrigued enough to keep playing. I ended up getting hooked. One thing I'd recommend - get political…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun auto battler with some annoying quirks. PROS: -I really enjoyed building combo decks -There are a bunch of neat bonuses/trees when leveling up your buffs -Story kept me somewhat entertained CONS: -Short Campaign (took me around 18 hours to beat the game, and I was taking my time) -Leveling up your troops feels unsatisfying. They need to get more ability points from leveling -I HATED how repetitive the boss battles are. Why do they escape 3 billion times.. Why can't I kill them and fight a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the game had a strong start it stumbles into the second stage of your rogue like adventure where you are blocked by a boss that has a terribly overturned first phase. The upgrades you get in the main hub fail to be impactful and the level grind is beyond tedious having to do multiple runs with ease only to be blocked by that boss. The nature of the idle battle means you can't do much to actually work towards victory. Even with excellent drops and high level units there is not much you can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its finally time to say, Shadowveil is now available for purchase! 2 years of hard times is now out as my full real official game. Its been an absolut blast! #Launch #L5R #Gamedev #Indiedev #Indie #HolyItActuallyHappend
positive · AI labelView post →I really tried to like this game. But there is only so many times i can do the exact same quest only to be told; "We'll get them next time, let's retreat for now." Repetitive in the worst way, and a tremendous lack of variety in a setting that is just screaming for someone to make a good game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR I finished the game. I loved the concept and the execution was 'okay'. Game gets easy after a few chapters, you'll need to active all of the additional difficulty mods as soon as they are available. Story was good, Game is a tiny bit buggy, didn't ruin it for me though. I only unlocked all the cards and saw a lot of the synergies right at the end of the campaign/story...90% of my play time the only synergy I invested in was "heal a tanky taunter", this made reruns feel repetitive and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have you added a game to your wishlist today? If not, could we suggest wishlisting Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings? 👇 store.steampowered.com/app/2536960/... #WishlistWednesday
neutral · AI labelView post →Game was extremely promising on release but played as if it was early access - bugs galore, constant crashes, content falls off hard / not a lot of variety etc. A few bug fix patches later then they disappear into the sunset. I'd recommend against buying.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Demo Stability Update! 🔧 New Shadowveil Demo released! The new demo now has all the full version's improvements to stability and optimization.✨ Progress made in the new demo carries over into the full game! 💾✅ Check the patch notes here: store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #shadowveil #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Tune in right now to see Raptor stream Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings! Link: www.youtube.com/live/NUUR4cY... #indiegame #indiedev #livestream #samurai #roguelite
neutral · AI labelView post →The first update to Shadowveil is here, and we'd like to share the list of changes we've implemented since the demo went live. Lots of things added, fixed, updated or optimized. Take a look at the patch notes for the Steam Next Fest Update: store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #gamedev #l5r
neutral · AI labelView post →Thanks for adding a fps cap setting, this is what got me to finish the story. Devs seem to listen and care about the game, so I will give it a thumbs up. As for the game itself. The strategy is there, there is fairly good depth. Item and skill systems are great. However, I do think the meta-progression is way too powerful and trivialises the entire game after a while. I also wish there was a downside to having as many units as possible, it becomes tedious to place out 10units+2banners+2decoys…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Need more L5R games in the world. Its a simple auto battler, but it's fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shared some thoughts about the first couple of days of Shadowveil, remember to leave a review about the game so we can continue far into the future! #Gamedev #Indie #AmazingCommunity
positive · AI labelView post →This Friday, I'll interview Filip from Palindrom Interactive about their game: @shadowveil-l5r.bsky.social Topics: - Why develop Shadowveil? - The nuances of #StrategyGames. - What are the expectations for their game? - Is Skövde a #GameDev Mecca? - Wanna make games? Play games! See you on Friday?
neutral · AI labelView post →Curious about the deckbuilding element in Shadowveil? Check out this Dev Deep Dive with Game Director Filip, who provides insight into the different types of cards and how to use them to gain an advantage in the Shadowlands! store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #gamedev #samurai #deckbuilding
neutral · AI labelView post →Its a bit surreal seeing the first impressions from streamers, laughing and having a good time, when you have toiled at the game for so long, it is really something amazing #Shadowveil #L5R #IndieDev
positive · AI labelView post →Oh, this is a bad game lmao. The art and music are fine. The sound effects are a little weird and intrusive---lots of crispy crackly and little pings at odd times, fully apart from the traditional instruments in the soundtrack. The writing is okay, although dragged down by the supremely mid voice directing. But none of these are the actual problem with Shadowveil, because Shadowveil is both boring and grindy. And by grindy, I don't mean in a fun brain off way. I mean I spent two hours…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great autobattler. The setting is a plus but theres not really too much of a story here. It is still a bit rough around the edges since the Studio was shut down unfortunately but no major stuff for me at least. Gameplay wise youre going on runs that are quite short in the beginning but take 70+ minutes in later game. Inbetween you level up your party and classes. I highly encourage trying the demo.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Post Launch Report ft. Game Director @generalfil.bsky.social Check out this update, where Filip shares some insight into what's happening right now, and what's coming next for Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings! Read more on Steam: store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #gamedev #shadowveil #l5r
neutral · AI labelView post →Shadowveil Speedrun Contest starts right now! This 3-part contest is your chance to become a Hero of the Wall, and become part of the canon Legend of the Five Rings lore! Part 1 ends in 24 hours! Info and signup: store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #shadowveil #speedrun #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Shadowveil is: * RPG-ish at the high (meta-progression) level: build your characters, build your roster, choose who to take on a run, target quests you want to complete, get meta-progression upgrades * Slay the Spire-ish at the mid level: choose your path based on what rewards you want or what fight looks easier, choose who gets which ability cards (you find per run) or equipment (you find per run) * Autobattler at the lowest level: place your heroes on the grid and they do the rest The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've just finished this game and I feel relieved. I can now get gack my sanity and leave behind this atrocity of a game. The promise is great : a roguelike autobattler in familiar settings ? Hell yeah ! Then, you start playing, and it's... ok. you start noticing bugs and obvious lacks of QoL, but, well, you want to give it a chance and see if it gets better. It does not. The more you play, the worst it gets. The game is very repetitive and EXTREMLY unbalanced. Once you get to the mid game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Our first video featuring our hands on experience playing @shadowveil-l5r.bsky.social is live! Check out all this game has to offer here: youtu.be/PNjXIbv8LRs #vtuber #L5R #Shadowveil #roguelike #LegendoftheFiveRings
positive · AI labelView post →Legend of The Five Rings is based off a board game. Just like other auto battlers, you place your units on a grid based map. Act 1 starts with 2 units and a main samurai character. After winning battles, you earn currency and cards to equip. Healing can be done before or after a battle by using jade and choosing random boosts. If you lose a battle, you can use jade to heal up your party. 👍 Pros: - Great Samurai character artwork and card images. - Voice actors add personality to the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll give the warning that it still needs fixes and patches but honestly I'm such a fan it's not a deal breaker. I love Rokugan and I am so happy that someone is finally building sick games in that world. It's a lot of fun and has a lot of unique strategy. Easy buy for me if any of it interests you or if you are just an L5R fan.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to love this game—I have a lot of appreciation for the Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) setting, and the concept of a roguelite in this world was very exciting. Unfortunately, the execution falls far short of its potential. **Positives:** - The rich lore of Legends of the Five Rings - Simple yet appealing 2D artwork for the characters and card designs - When the gameplay works, it can be enjoyable **Negatives:** - The story is overly simplistic in a negative way; the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadowveil is a stylish, tough single-player auto-battler.
neutral · AI labelView post →Excited to see Aliensrock play Shadowveil! 🤩 Check out his Shadowveil video here 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=F14h... #indiegame #samurai #roguelite
neutral · AI labelView post →Would you like to see some top tier Shadowveil gameplay? Then tune in right now to watch Raptor Gaming stream Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings on YouTube! 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwCN...
neutral · AI labelView post →When I heard that Legend of the Five Rings finally got a video game last night I dropped everything and bought this game. I've been waiting so long for L5R to become a video game as an old fan of the IP for ages, and this is a fun start to what I hope will end up being many different L5R games. It is a Roguelite game with similarities to Darkest Dungeon, and combat maps similar to Heroes of Might and Magic/Age of wonders. The Classes and squad builds are all pretty simple and easy to figure…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, wish there would be more DLC in the future but a fun auto battler! Pros Fun and good value for the price. Interesting story beats and easy to learn gameplay cons some systems need more polish and more depth short campaign even though for the price it is fair, want more DLC
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings A straight forward, Japanese inspired roguelike deckbuilding auto-battler that for some reason just feels super satisfying Playtime at Review: 9 hours What Stands Out: Gameplay: I personally love when indie games are straight forward and don't try to over complicate things by adding in too many different features or require you to have an excel to min-max everything. Shadowveil does this extremely well by having simple game mechanics and also having…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was fortunate enough to have been a Crab fan from the beginning, so this was the perfect game for me. Truly Fantastic. Of course, improvement is possible, and I look forward with great eagerness to games by this developer in the future. Hopefully we can see more clans involved so other fans can have a great of a time as I have.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First off let me start with saying if you are an old school fan of Legend of The Five Rings, you will be absolutely geeking the ♥♥♥♥ out as you play this. They captured the vibe and artwork of L5R PERFECTLY. The devs clearly did their homework. If you have never heard of L5R but are into samurai and dark fantasy then ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are you in for a treat. Just finished ch 8. Excellent game. If you are like me and you like roguelites in spirit but are sometimes frustrated when a run ends…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been enjoying the game. I'm glad that there is a storyline for the multiple play through that it requires to try to beat the game. There is enough different variety and optimization that you could build with your team if you wanted. There have been some bugs so far but nothing game breaking and I'm sure they will be fixed in time. Looking forward to seeing what else they can do with the L5R world.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadowveil version 1.0.1 Patch Notes 🔧 With the first post-launch patch going out tomorrow, here's an opportunity to check what's been fixed, added or updated in tomorrow's patch. ✨ Take a look! 👇 store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #shadowveil #l5r #indiegame #roguelite
neutral · AI labelView post →I like this game but it has too many flaws. The atmosphere is dark and broody, the characters have lots of charm, the theme is cohesive and well put together. For an autobattler, it has a decent foundation to work off but falls flat for a number of reasons. Going through some easy reasons, there are graphical bugs. For example, there are times you will be offered a reward, switch to your inventory to evaluate your options, and shift back to your rewards and find that everything is blurry…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very good. I've played L5R RPG table for many years with my friends, and it is a blast having to play this game now. A few points to consider, that could make the game even better: 1 - The watchtower have little improvements 2 - It is sad to only have the crab to choose from on the main game (I know that fighting the shadow lands is their thing, however, many other clans send Samurais to the wall and with that said, could be a nice storytelling opening for other characters)…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really enjoy the lore aspect of the game and deck building. It is very similar to Inscryption so if you enjoy games like that with the lore of LoTFR then I highly suggest trying this game. There is quite a bit of voice acting in the game so it isnt just some odd noises or walls of text to read. Right now the game is still in early design and as such has a decent amount of content ,but I do not suggest binging on it as you can burn thru both storylines fast. I really think it has a solid…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadowveil is a good version of an autobattler, stripped of any mobile game monetisation and focusing purely on the game itself. Which is absolutely fine, if at times a bit irritating. The story keeps hitting a wall (appropriately enough), as every chapter is very repetitive and goes through the same motions. Side quests are entertaining enough, but since there are so many of them and only one can be active at a time, they feel like a bit of a slog. The UX could also benefit from some polish,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game. Interesting concept. I would like to be able to play this, but the progression is way to slow. I just feel like I am wasting my time without any actual impact on the progression. I would only recommend the game if you have anything else to focus on while you play this in the background.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game had promise at release but is now abandonware.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shadowveil Patch 1.0.5 just launched, and with it a bunch of improvements to the game! Including: Added retraining option New hero portraits! Optimizations Updates Balance tweaks And more fixes of both bugs and crashes! Read the full patch notes here: store.steampowered.com/news/app/253... #l5r
neutral · AI labelView post →I LOVE Legend of the Five Rings. I HATE autobattlers. I was apprehensive of this game, but decided to take the plunge - even if it sucks, at least i'll get a short lore bite of Rokugan out of it. It's good. Setting is great ofc but the story is solid. There is quite a lot of ways to build your team and you can juggle traits, masteries and abilities to build your squad. It's great in short stints and fun enough to sink an afternoon into. Recommended. Edit: Game took 14h to finish. There are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The one CCG I ever got into was L5R after getting a free deck (Unicorn clan) at the one Gencon I attended in 1995. I enjoy this take on that game, despite the lack of finish common to the newly released. I really appreciate the advancement of a story every time I head out into the Shadowlands. The actor playing one of the main characters, Suzie Yeung as Hida O-Ushi ("the ox"), def raises the game a notch for me, even if I get tired of narrator voice over map.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very fun rogue like single player autobattler. Would reccommend. Lovely to see Rokugan get used.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, I really enjoyed the game. It's a fun roguelite deckbuilder, and if you like the genre, it's worth a try. Cons: 1.Poor optimization—despite its low graphics, my CPU and GPU run intensively and overheat. (A fix: set in-game graphics to the lowest and cap FPS at 60 in your GPU settings.) 2.Can feel repetitive toward the end, as you go through the same runs repeatedly. 3. There's a few bugs here and there, but overall nothing major.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has so many bugs! I got to 90% progression, but made the mistake of assuming I could auto save mid-run and come back to the game later. Now when I try to continue/load the game, it crashes. I've also had quest conditions not triggering. The overall look and feel is decent, but the run variety in-game is so limited that the novelty wares off pretty fast. It's a shame, because L5R is such a great world with such great potential. Kisada is not impressed.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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