Recent reviews by Treech

It's bare bones. Look at it as any Sims game pre-DLC, both in mechanics and in amount of things to do. Flirt, get into relationship, pump your skill numbers up... and that's it. You can move with wsad but it's more of a convenience than an actual game feature, one that reflects on the gameplay itself (unless you are driving, you can bump into people to upset them). An interesting feature is very high control over more than just your zoi but also surroundings and the city itself. You can add bits and whatnot to the public places wherever you need them, feels a bit like cheating in some cass but it's not anything gamebreaking, or game making.

It's working and works relatively well but the Unreal Engine 5 might require you to tune the graphics to avoid frame rate drops. This in on itself is also something you might remember from the sims series. That being said the realistic graphics are nice to look on one side but potentially makes you feel weird when the Zois speak and act in this weird sims like goofy way, when looking potentially very realistic.

It's not cheap so you might want to wait for a sale or some future bundle once more DLC will drop (which is inevitable) and definitely wait for a mod support.

Still it's an actual game that works and does what it is advertising, so all in all it's a yes.

This will be one of THOSE reviews in which you'll read...

This game is not bad, but at the moment of writing this review (v0.6.4 build 637) I can't recommend it yet.

A bit too early access for my liking. There is some content but not enough to drop a good chunk of an evening or two into it. And you have to since there is no sandbox yet, you are locked into doing milestones/missions to unlock more building and technology. At times this can be double frustraiting, like unloching dams to control flow of water (not very intuitive and janky btw) can happen AFTER you risen temperature above melting point and half of your industry is underwater and inoperable. There is no option to decide where your colonies will spawn which again may result in your city getting submerged and no amount of dams will save it.

This are EA problems and will probably be resolved later but there are other things that I believe will remain since they are tied to echanics and core of the game.

My biggest gripe is with the system of extraction and transportation of resources. One extractor produces x amount of ore, you need a depot to gather it, one depot for one type of resource/produce, then you need a method of transportation to a factory, it may be immediately adjacent to a depot or by a truck or train, depots have limited range (1 hex for basic 2 for advanced) and every train/truck stop can support only one route and one resource and you need a depot for each and every one resource in the area, which means that you have to build a very cramped and wierd industrial zones. Very bothersome. And you will need to redo large chunks of the indsustry periodically, since extraction nodes run out of resources in about 10-12 years and you need to relocate them so new depots, routes etc. Upgrading and refurbishing is basically standard in this type of tycoons but the process in this case is far from intuitive or pleasant.

Even if the EA issues will be resolved and there will be more content like resources or technologies, I don't know if it will make game better since core mechanic make it so bothersome. But I can't see into the future and will likely revisit in some months.

This game is written well enough, have nice visuals and enjoyable music (although "US highschool drama rock" can get tiring after some time). Gameplay is starightforward, based on simple mechanic of time/energy management mixed with some hex based treasure hunting and ocasional minigame of clicking clusters of blocks. Basically in terms of gamplay loop it's in the similar genre as Hunie Pop (obviously less raunchy). There is almost nothing wrong with this game.

So what's up with almost?

Well for starters, there is almost no challenge. I aced both of my first and second run when it comes to controllable (numerical) stats. Didn't exactly have to crack my brain to do this.

There are also some nitpicks I have in terms of game not exactly recognising player choice when it comes to characters sexuality. In my first playthrough I rolled a girl and since I didn't find Richard exactly alluring I went and and tried to indicate that my character is a lesbian, clearly chasing after girls. Yet game still got me a husband in the end. Exact opposite situation was in my second playthrough. Rolled a boy and decided to chase after girls and clearly drawing the bro/friend line with a dude. Ended up in gay marriage.

I get it sexuality is a roll of dice, but it's determined VERY early in life if not at conception. I guess game treats all player characters as Bi.

And so we get to the second nitpick. As far as I understand that it is confusing and rarely clear for a teenager to figure out whether feelings are mutual (at least until they ask directly), I am not a teenager. Haven't been for a long time and yet for the love of me I was completely unable to determine what the hell is happening under the hoods of those kids (something I have no problem at all IRL, being a father of a teenager). Basically until the very moment of "Oi! Wanna smooch?" you have no idea if you picked the right choices to end up in a relationship. And considering that there is no option to go back to previous save (game plays only in ironman mode), and there is not enough content for more than 3 playthroughs, there is no posibility nor incentive to actually figure out what choices will lead to what?

I still consider this game to be charming and enjoyable enough to be worth the initial price. It just won't leave you with any kind of strong feeling of either frustration or satisfaction.

This game have some issues. It promises choices but never actually delivers in that regard (more on that later). Have problems with text on higher resolutions to the point that you can't read complete descriptions of ending because text just ends abruptly like it doesn't fit the box (my resolution is 3840 x 2160). Hints at certain implementation of game mechanics that are just not there, namely agent number. You only get one of each. Why does it refer to them "we don't have enough hunters/generals/witches available" like there were more than one. It can be completed in 6 hours and replaying it is pointless unless you really screw up in first playthrough. Game mechanics themselves are basic but otherwise good. They do their job without making it tedious, boring or cumbersome.

Now for the story.

***SPOILER ALERT***

This story is a drama in which your only options are: Be an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and lose everything or be a meek people pleaser, that loses just some of the things. You don't get an option not to marry out your oldest daughter. You just does it with in-game explaination that you had no choice (you are a KING FFS!). You do this to avert grave danger to your kingdom that could be averted by... just talking with the dude that supposedly was a source of danger. Only to realize that you didn't even need to do that because you beat him up anyway without the help promised by the arranged marriage (they betray you). Not only that, you get to realise that prince, and later king, you wed your oldest princess to, is an egomaniac sociopath. He beats her (you do nothing after that), then kills her beloved cat and forces her to tailor its fur into a scarf and sends it to you as a gift (no choices after that either). Finally he burns her alive for disobedience and suspected witchcraft (because she had a cat).

Yeah no choices there either.
It just happens.

Your second daughter turns out to be a lesbian (probably) and decides that she wants to run away with her gf. At the age of 13. Only way to stop her is to marry her to some sleazy old king in exchange for some military support. Yeah you either let her go, she runs away or you basically sell her off. No option to tell her for instance "hey it's cool that you want a different life but you are too young and know ♥♥♥♥ about world, maybe stay here with your gf and train and prepare and set off when you're older?"

One choice is which Lord will you choose to be executed for poisoning of some other king. The choices are: drug dealer, pathological liar and some old lady with cursed son. Neither of them is guilty btw. You can also decide not to choose any of them and let your friend and loyal aide throw himself on the sword, because SOMEONE INNOCENT HAS TO DIE!!!

Only 1 (one) choice have actual consequences and said consequences are not directly related to the choice: Do you let your youngest keep a bear or not? If not then she may die in final siedge.

Only other thing is with a ritual you perform on your wife so you can change sex of a baby during childbirth... If you make mistakes during ritual (you can ace that) you can decide to either let a daughter be born or sacrifice your wife so she will give birth to a boy. These are the only things that feel like choices that matter.

You can't role-play king either. Being strong, stubborn, decisive or ruthless will never give you any positive outcome.

So yeah this is a game about choices where you can choose to be meek and lose just some, or to be anything else and lose alot, potentially everything.

Well, there is a little need to add anything to the flood of praise this game recieved. All of it is well deserved. This is truly the ultimate ugly-cripple-cannibal-tortoise-skin-wearing survivor simulator.

Polecam

TL,DR

This game is fantastic. One of the most enjoyable RTS out there.

Been a whle since I played this last time, something like 2+ years. So when I heard it will come to steam I was both worried and excited. Excited because I knew this game is a product made of love for RTS and been developed, tweaked and redesigned numerous times, to get best possible RTS experience. I was worried because I remembered UI was clunky at times and just launching the game was more than tricky.

Now I see only thing left is excitement. Ui is very much functional and straightforward. You can just launch a game and start up a match, be it solo or multiplayer, right away so there is no technical barrier for newcomers. Unit functions and gameplay design is better than any RTS I have palyed recently. Its on par with SupCom:FA and even better if you count this little things like builders ability to automatically call transport if you queued up some structures that are far away from each other. Fact that all units have their own little AI to lower the amount of micro you need later in game, though you still need to manage your units early game since players can outplay this simple AI quite easily. But knowing that your skirmishers will try to maintain distance from enemy while your assaults are pushing through and all damaged units are trying to retreat to repair zones, is simply fantastic.

Unit variety and functions are so diverse you will have a hard time encountering two games unfolding the same way. From jumper and spider bots, cloak units, heavy tanks, gunships, to aricrafts and ships. Micro black hole launchers, gravity turrets who can pull or push units, EMPs, shield generatos, orbital cannons, nukes, METEOR PULLERS(!!!) and even better (for me)

THERE IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL TERRAFORMING!!!

Yes you can rise up walls around your base, make ramps to open up previously impassable terrain or throw walking boxes of dirt toward your opponents base because why the hell not. It will screw with his direct fire defenses, because... Every bullet is a separate entity that flies from your unit barrel towards enemy so it can be dodged or blocked by terrain.

Graphics are... there. Units look ok and are easily recognizable but this engine is dated to say the least and all models and textures were made by volounteers. Still, the game looks clear, nothing in visuals departament is working against you in terms of visibility or situation awareness.

Give this game a shot.

It's free and fantastic and even have very good skirmish AI, TD Coop and Campaign (no story thou), also PLANETWARS (large scale competitive multiplayer campaign) are coming.

At the moment of writing this review I have not completed my first playthrough but I think 8 hours is enough to evaluate my experience.

It is good. Game is challenging in every aspect, as you have to make choices on things that will follow up throu entire game and there is rarely an obviously good option to take and it will impact things like what heroes you can deploy in battle, or what bonuses will you get for controlling (with a keep) a region.
Although one must understand that the very mechanics this game is based on may be a bit frustrating for some as you don't care for heroes, you care for lineages. You have to tailor marriages that will give you valuable descendants and classes you will need later in game. There is no telling what will be the perfect composition of classes in next generation as in every battle you have different set of enemies that will require different tactics.
Combat itself is propably strongest aspect of game as enemies are challenging and interesting and you have a really fun mixture of skills to use in battle.

Question is what are this game's downsides?

Well, game can get repetitive after a while. Strategic aspect of game lacks options and feels shallow after first few decades. Events that happen sometimes are a bit to rare and most of the time lacks impact. This game needs an expansion of that aspect. I guess more buildings, events or even lands would make it more interesting and less repetitive.

Still I can recommend this game as it will give you few nice evenings and for its discounted price (~10 EUR right now) it's hardly a bad choice.

Awesome game. Does what Dialbo 2 did best and makes it better.