With Ledgerbound, an RPG mixing turn-based fantasy battles with the humor of Brooklyn 99 is set to release on August 11, 2026, on Steam. MyMMO editor Lydia got a sneak peek before the release and found herself overwhelmed by admirers.
I need to save my company from ruin – and if I could save the world on the side, that would be great. Oh, and I accidentally absorbed a magical artifact and am now glowing, but that probably means nothing.
With this premise, Ledgerbound puts me in the uniform of the insurance adjuster Rayna. Her job until now has been to prove that various heroes brought about their tragic deaths themselves, and therefore the grieving relatives are not entitled to any gold grain. She is so good at this that she has become Employee of the Month for the 35th time in a row.
However, the orderly existence falls apart when the most popular – and most expensively insured – hero group perishes in the fight against the evil Vacari. If our agency were to pay out this life insurance, we would be bankrupt immediately. To prove that the heroes’ deaths could have been avoided with better preparation, Rayna must save the world – and her office job – herself. Application denied, baby!
Into Battle with Keychains
The brilliance of Ledgerbound is how consistently it carries the bureaucracy madness down to the smallest detail. Our HR manager Jazz makes sure that our quest – including flings with our companions – follows strict company guidelines. (Also, she reminds me of Gina Linetti, which is an automatic bonus.)
Instead of classic equipment, there are promotional gifts, and for every fallen hero, I have to fill out a report for HR back at the camp. This takes time that I would much rather spend flirting, and it also raises Rayna’s stress level. Who would have thought that saving the world would create so much damn paperwork?
Gameplay-wise, Ledgerbound splits into two halves: alternately, we face tricky turn-based battles and take breaks, during which we equip our heroes, review previous battles, and seduce our colleagues.
During the playtest a year ago, they were a bit too easy for me, which is why this time I jumped straight into the second highest difficulty – how naive of me.
While I managed the actual battles without too much difficulty, fulfilling the optional additional objectives is another story. They mostly consist of winning within a certain number of rounds, keeping my comrades alive, and fulfilling an individual requirement.
Despite its humorous presentation, this RPG is surprisingly unforgiving. Because saving and reloading is not an option.
This hit me hard as a perfectionist and self-confessed save scummer and was at times really frustrating. But after a few rounds, a surprisingly liberating feeling set in. I learned to let go of mistakes and live with the consequences, instead of reloading every scene a dozen times.
Taking the Dragon by the Horns
After a battle, there’s usually a short interlude in visual novel form, and then we set up camp. Here we have limited time available that we want to use wisely: flirting with companions, equipping company merchandise, or chasing missed objectives.
I must admit: These scenes could have been a bit shorter for my taste. If you maximize your camp time, that involves 5 dialogues with your companions in addition to the interludes before and after the battle.
The dialogues are fully voiced and quite entertaining, but: I just don’t need so much talking when I just want to go after the next opponent.
But I also fully understand that many RPG fans live for these conversations. Because in Ledgerbound, not only heroic battles are fought, but shameless flirting also takes place. The companions are lovable, cover just about every preference – and almost exclusively have a crush on our protagonist Rayna. Really, I can’t emphasize enough how horny this game is.
Everything is so wonderfully over the top that you can still have fun even if romances in games usually leave you cold, like me. The art lies in simply going with the cringe instead of fighting against it.
With its approximately 20 hours estimated for the campaign, Ledgerbound is a relatively short RPG that is packed with crisp battles, risqué humor, and plenty of paperwork. If you don’t want to be bogged down by endless decisions and chuckled a little at the thought of it, you should definitely take a look.
An unexpectedly gripping game behind a seemingly silly premise is also Splatoon Raiders. How the colorful shooter won over MyMMO editor Niko can be read here: A loot shooter from Nintendo sounds like a silly idea, but it convinced me after just one level
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