Recent reviews by Kazanski

Oxygen Not Included (ONI) proved to me that I am not a very smart person.

I enjoyed ONI, wanted to play it, wanted to be good at it - but I just couldn't really pull the complexity together to understand all the systems and advance very far in it.

This game gives a form of that gameplay loop (though very different) that is a lot more accessible for me and very enjoyable. I am glad that I've played ONI and Rimworld, because without those experiences the learning curve for this game is going to be tough (specifically the systems around schedules and meetings needs).

The tutorial for the game is bare bones and isn't doing much for you. However, the nested tool tips are well done and the descriptions are pretty clear.

With all that being said, I am loving this game and enjoying the process of playing it. Clear objectives, lots of flexibility, great community management, good visuals, and consequently a great game.

If you like games like ONI, definitely recommend it. If you are a player who finds ONI comprehensible and "simple" than this game is going to probably be boring for you. It doesn't have that same kind of complexity that ONI offers and this is definitely more accessible to a wider audience as a result.

Dropping a recommend on this game with some qualifiers. I probably have more negative things to say about this game than positive, but the positives outweigh the negatives a good bit and the potential of the game and its model is really strong. So - if the negatives don't bother you, I definitely will call this out as a great buy.

Premise and Pacing - 10/10
Combat and Units - 6/10
Bugs - 6/10
Map Variety - 3/10

Great Game Premise and Pacing
I love the premise of this game in that you have "Fire Emblem Roguelike." I love the style of Fire Emblem games, but have always felt like they overstayed their welcome. This game allows you to get in, do some combats with some growth, and then the run ends at a pretty good point. I find the duration of the runs to be timed just about right and the base formula for this game is excellent. A full run will probably take you 2-3 hours.

Combat and Units
The game follows the typical weapon and magic triangles that you should be pretty familiar with. The system is fine and if you like those systems, you are going to like what is on offer here.

There are a lot of different weapons and items available in the game, this system works out pretty well for equipping your team in various ways.

The unit balance is . . . poor. There is a lot of potential for broken builds in this game which is either good or bad depending on what you are looking for. Some of the classes are struggling to be relevant on the field in a team while others can literally solo the game.

I generally prefer the team-dynamics in this genre, but the game appears to be developed too much around making one or two of your units just do all of the lifting. The development team even embraces it a bit as there are achievements to do a run just using a single hero. The fact that the game was built in such a fashion that this is a "feature" just feels off to me. I would have preferred a game that balanced more into making your "team" work rather than working broken builds on a unit or two.

Bugs
This game had a rocky launch where the bugs made it essentially unplayable for a few days. The major bugs have been squashed really quickly by the dev team and they need to be recognized for that. However, there are still some edge glitches that I have stumbled into in my few hours of playing that just shows that a lot of polishing is still in order. Most of what I have found now are just visual bugs and glitches that no longer cripple runs though.

Map Variety
The real weakness in this game is its map pool though. Your runs will be on the same terrain with the same enemies with very little variance. Some of the smaller combat scenarios vary a little bit, but the boss encounters are the same every run and I repeated many of the common combat scenarios in both runs. The enemies in the maps are all in the same places and I believe of the same classes as well. The lack of variety makes any desire to play this through again pretty low for me at this point.

Conclusion
Great idea for a game that I'd love to see more fully explored. Some missed opportunities to take it to outstanding, but I still feel like I got my money's worth out of it and enjoyed the couple runs I completed.

This is the story of how I died again.

I trained myself in the arts of Pyromancy and slowly ascended the floors on my quest to defeat Mordred. Along my journeys, I found a lost spell hidden in the charred remains of a dead wizard. This new knowledge taught me how to summon siege golems. I had not considered them useful, but a wizard doesn't leave knowledge behind.

On my journeys through the floors, I came upon a wide field of battle and decided to put my new knowledge to the test. I summoned my siege golems on the back line and they assembled their cannons. A great battle began as the enemy charged my line and they fell in flames as cannons and fireballs rained over the field. I became wounded during the exchange, but the battle was ours. I am The Prince of Ruin. The Firelord. A lone siege golem remained and the enemy forces were tattered and in disarray.

I limped forward from the line to dispose of the remaining enemies who had taken cover around corners across the field. A single weak minion charged around the corner in front of me. I thought, "A simple cantrip will...."My thoughts were interrupted. Suddenly my world lit on fire. My body flew into the air and landed in a crumpled mess on the field. As my vision began to fade, my single golem mechanically began the process of reloading the cannons he had fired through my body. As oblivion overtook me, I tried to make a mental note never to summon siege golems again in the next life.

_____

I enjoyed the first version of this game and feel this is definitely an improvement on the first. This game is a bit overwhelming in its scale. There is an unbelievable number of options and just as many ways to die. If you have the patience to read and consider what you're doing, you'll have a great time here. If you like trialing different builds and different ways of using spells and skills, this game is a great time.

Playthroughs take a bit longer than I like. If it goes well, a run could easily take you a couple of hours to see to completion.

This is not a game that will have replay value for eternity, once you see a build work out, the interest for me is trying out something different. While there are a lot of ways to play the game through the different classes of wizardry, you'll probably begin to find it repetitive once you've explored them all. Depending on the kind of gamer you are, there is probably a good 20-50 hours in here though - well worth the price if the gameplay loop is interesting for you.

You have to be content with dying though. You are going to die a lot in the process of science. If that's your jam, you're going to have a great time.

"Dying is fun."

Very solid auto-battler to consider here.

It does all the things you would expect pretty well, but the main thing that makes it stand out for me is the excellent job it does with post-battle reports. You have a really good idea of how each person contributed in what way and how their items and abilities made an impact. The stats go into details on how many ults were cast, auto-attacks made, healing/shielding done, and damage mitigated. In doing this, it will even break down what contributions came from what item. This game has a lot of complexity and variables and these breakdowns are really nice to help you figure out under-performing aspects of your run.

If I had to stretch for a negative, I'd say that typical runs for me take about an hour and a half to see all the way through. Bit longer than I'd like for a session, but all of the other aspects of this game are top notch.

Have put enough time into this game to highly recommend this game at this point.

The game has a ton of features that make it a truly excellent roguelike. Progression of new content is great without significant power creep. The available challenge runs shake up the game in interesting ways and offer many additional hours. The different starting decks you can use spin the game just enough to offer new ways to approach your run.

The way you can manipulate your deck by adding, removing, and enhancing cards is really well done and works brilliantly with the design of the game.

Special call out to the balance around the Jokers (Artifacts if you prefer?). This system is really well done where all the jokes in the game have a pretty good place and are very playable to make a successful run around. You may prefer some over others for what you are doing, but this game does a great job of encouraging you to embrace what you are offered and make lemonade out of it.

The game has great systems and is easily my favorite in the genre right now.

This game is absolutely fantastic. A best in class for the roguelike RPGs for sure. I have been watching this game from a distance for many years while it went through its early access. They have really created something special here in the way that it creates a unique world every time that allows you to build the story of how your character dies to some misfortune.

This game really embraces the mantra of "losing is fun" and you can progress a character very quickly to do it all over again.

The most obvious drawback of this game is it looks dreadful. This is the absolute definition of gameplay over graphics.

You won't know much about the game diving into it, but part of the joy is learning the systems of the game. The game does a decent job of explaining the features and the tutorial/preset characters do a good job of introducing you to the game.

If you have a patience for a retro style and look, the ability to slow down and read every now and again, and a willingness to accept your inevitable death, this game is going to be great for you.

Writing this after taking a first pass through the campaign on the 4th difficulty level (out of 5). I did spend a decent amount of time playing in the early access on the various challenges prior to 1.0.

Summary
This is a really great spiritual successor to They Are Billions. Where as I felt They Are Billions got worse in its early access journey, this game definitely got better and the 1.0 release has released an excellent game that has been worth the time.

Gameplay Loop
The gameplay loop is pretty stable. You start with a main base and slowly expand your population by acquiring resources and expanding your economy. Each session will take you an hour or two to play (depending on how much you rely on pausing). Generally you take time to clear out segments of the map to claim for exploitation and then solidify your gains by figuring out ways to build defenses or station men. Intermittently large waves will attack you from an announced direction.

The campaign does not do overly much to shake this loop up, but the loop is just pretty good on its own.

Campaign
The campaign is an improvement on just proc-gen endless modes, but I'd say with some significant missed opportunities. There are some side objectives that direct your attention or win condition in a slightly different direction, but you are still starting with the same base startup and applying the same gameplay loop with very little variation.

The campaign had some opportunities to shake up your starting conditions some more than it does, but it takes the path of just ramping the difficulty on the player assuming that the player is learning and getting better. This is fine, but it would have been more interesting to shake up the loop a bit.

Story/Writing
I'll also call out that the story/writing in this game wants to be funny, but it landed pretty flat for me. While you can skip the whole dialogue scene, you can't accelerate the individual dialogues requiring you to listen to the whole thing if you are trying to pay attention. Overall, the dialogue overstays its welcome, it provides some loose context for "why" you are doing what you are doing - but it is not very well written.

You also get to take the story down some branching paths, but this is really just gating content to encourage additional campaign playthroughs. I guess it is ok, but I personally would have preferred a more linear form of storytelling.

You probably aren't playing this game for the gripping story though - so it is an acceptable weakness.

Difficulty
This game is delightfully difficult. There are 5 difficulty levels available to make the game more accessible to players. The difficulty is also well designed in that it scales the volume and frequency of enemy assaults but doesn't touch health or damage points. This is a really nice way to do it and I found the 4th difficulty to be a good sweet spot for me to feel like I was being tested, but could push through and move the campaign forward.

Conclusion
Overall - really enjoying my time with this title. Highly recommend it if you enjoyed They Are Billions and are looking for a good reboot of that formula.

This is an exceptional stealth and top down shooter game. You have a wide array of options you can use to tackle the very well-designed levels. The balance between options of going loud, going quiet, or some combination are great and you can approach things with a lot of creativity.

The story is above average. The gun modifications and options are above average.

If I had to stretch for a draw back, it feels like you are required to play the game on the highest zoom out settings. Failing to do this will have you getting shot and spotted constantly by things off screen, but the zoom of the screen makes tasks a little tricky until you adjust to it. It would also be nice if there was a key to change your zoom settings so you could zoom out or in depending on your situation. Presently you have to do it exclusively from the options.

Very good auto-battler.

Going to be pretty brief and just highlight some qualities about the game.

10-20 minute games. Units you place are permanently placed on the battlefield and each round you add units to bolster your strengths and counter the plays of your opponent. Very chess-like in many respects with trying to out-position your opponent and predict their moves.

This game is very difficult to balance due to the sheer volume of units and possible upgrades. Great complexity and very addicting to play. The 1.0 release has seen the game to a very good place and very excited to put some more time into it.

Best $5.00 I've spent for content I already had.