Face Your Demons: Band of Crusaders

It’s 14th-century Europe. The Knights Templar have fallen, decades of brutal warfare have laid waste to the land, and, from the scorched earth, demonic Abominations have risen—primal hybrids of human and animal remains, with parasitic limbs that put your worst nightmares in the shade. Strategy RPG Band of Crusaders puts you in the centre of this hellscape as humanity’s last hope, and if you want a taste of how that feels, the demo is available to play now at gog.com, and Steam. To celebrate this milestone, Virtual Alchemy, the Warsaw studio behind this crusade like no other, came to Intel Gaming Access to top up our nightmare fuel.

In a world where humanity seems outnumbered and exhausted, knights are still needed, and this is where you come in. “It’s a game about survival, strategy, and making meaningful choices in a world that doesn’t make things easy,” Virtual Alchemy explains. “This is a challenging, uncompromising game. Every decision—whether in battle, in managing your company, or in interacting with companions—carries weight. It’s for players who appreciate strategic depth, emergent storytelling, mature themes, and the freedom to approach problems their own way. In short, it’s for people who want to be treated seriously as players, where ingenuity, persistence, and careful planning are rewarded, and where every victory feels hard-earned.” It’s also eerie, and beautiful, and strange.

“A particularly unique aspect of Band of Crusaders is its hand-painted 3D art style,” the studio says. “The game features a rotatable camera, so characters and environmental models must be fully 3D. On top of that, we apply hand-painted textures and details to create a rich, artisanal look inspired by classical oil-painting techniques. This approach is challenging because each texture must maintain consistency across animations, lighting conditions, and complex shaders, while still preserving the painterly aesthetic.” 

Virtual Alchemy have always tried to live up to their name, with a dream of making transformative games without AAA budgets. “To close the resource gap that small studios often face, we focused on clever technology, efficient pipelines, and, naturally, strong talent. Today, the studio consists of 15 people. Our team brings experience from remarkable projects such as The Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077, Gwent, e Showgunners.” And this talent is all up there, on the screen—in artisanal 3D.

There’s much more to the game than stunning visuals, of course—Virtual Alchemy set out to push the very boundaries of storytelling in gaming. “Band of Crusaders is in many ways a tribute to the classics we grew up with—titles like Dragon Age: Origins, Baldur’s Gate II, King’s Bounty, and Heroes of Might and Magic. These games shaped our appreciation for tactical depth, character-driven stories, and meaningful player choices, and naturally left a strong imprint on our creative direction. At the same time, we’ve drawn inspiration from modern, smaller-team successes like Wartales e Battle Brothers, which demonstrate the power of emergent storytelling—where a player’s journey is shaped not by rigid branching scripts, but by countless micro-decisions that accumulate into a story uniquely their own.”

This emergent influence can be seen in the way Band of Crusaders blends a multilayered main narrative with dynamic systemic storytelling based on player actions. “The result is that the game doesn’t just tell a story—you build one,” Virtual Alchemy says. “Your decisions, loyalties, failures, and sacrifices shape your Crusaders’ personalities and ultimately the fate of your company, creating a campaign that feels like an unrepeatable chronicle forged by the player.” And despite the body horror competition (wait till you meet once-humans, The Cultists), your Crusader is a fully-realized creation. “Every Crusader is a unique person with nationality, background, traits, and beliefs, all of which actively react to the player’s decisions,” the studio affirms. “The Faith system influences morale, loyalty, combat performance, and even access to abilities, making your company feel like a living, breathing party rather than a roster of stat blocks. Our combat is formation-driven and highly tactical, combining squad tactics with ability synergies, positioning, and a wide range of equipment choices. Instead of a single optimal approach, the battlefield encourages experimentation, adaptation, and creative problem-solving.”

A game of this complexity is going to require a little problem solving behind the scenes, too. “It balances intensity and strategy,” the studio tells us, “letting each encounter feel cinematic without sacrificing thoughtful decision-making that defines tactical RPGs. The game targets PC platforms because of its control scheme. We see PC gaming evolving rapidly, with trends ranging from high-end hardware to versatile laptops with integrated graphics. Our goal is to create a game that shines on high-end hardware while still delivering a full, satisfying experience on less advanced equipment.” We were obviously there to help with that—then got the hell out before anything with parasitic limbs came too close. “Working with Intel has been great for Band of Crusaders. We’ve integrated Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS), which makes the game look sharper while running smoothly on a wide range of PCs. This collaboration has been unique in helping us make the game look and run its best for everyone.”

To find out just how good it looks and runs now, go play the demo. It offers a story-driven main quest that introduces the lore, alongside sandbox quests that let players experiment with combat, exploration, and decision-making. And after the demo? “We are fully focused on Band of Crusaders,” Virtual Alchemy says, “and will draw conclusions from the demo, with no plans to shift our focus to other games. We are considering releasing Band of Crusaders through Early Access and continuing development in close cooperation with the community. Beyond its release, we would love to keep developing Band of Crusaders for years, especially if the players support it.” Would-be knights, stand by. The Abominations are on their way…

Access the Band of Crusaders demo on Steam

Access the Band of Crusaders demo at gog.com