Recent reviews by GridlockBrained

Yes!! it's an absolute masterpiece!

Describing this game as Disco Elysium meets D&D feels a bit reductive, but if that description sounds good to you, you certainly won't be disappointed. This game made me question, think deeply, laugh out loud (more than a few times), grappled with questions of morality (both real and imaginary), hang in suspense, stop to smell the roses, feel actually smart for some of the things I figured out, and generally just enjoy the absolute hell out of my time playing it.

---

(And TBH this is really just me rambling about how much I loved the game at this point)

The game takes big swings and knocks it out of the park. To so directly confront big questions about morality, politics, philosophy, and humanity, and to execute that confrontation not just so intelligently, but so entertainingly as well, is truly impressive. There are plenty of games that ask deep questions, but few dare to engage so directly with them, and fewer still seem competent enough to do so in a way that doesn't feel overly simplistic or just asinine.

Besides being intellectually titillating, the game is also just really fun. Despite the obvious limitations in what is, on some level at least, mostly a point and click, I can tell that tons of care was put into accounting for various, often wildly different, if not entirely incompatible ways of playing the game. There are so many alternate paths, hidden secrets, and unlike so many games of this type, it really feels like the developer wanted you to f--- around and find out. I always find it so very disappointing when the event of game so obviously beg a question that the character is simply not allowed to ask. Or when the result of an interesting choice ends up feeling like the devs punishing you for straying from their preferred path. As the various little notes and session summaries from the dev often suggest, it really does feel like you're playing a TTRPG with the best kind of dungeon master. One who, rather than simply seeking to impose upon you the story they have already fully envisioned, instead wants to create a story with you, together. Your unexpected choices don't annoy, but rather excite him. And he is perfectly capable of balancing the humor and silliness of a game played by friends, with the deep meaning and real emotional stakes that the best stories must have to be truly compelling.

And on top of it all, the game is just really damn beautiful. The artistry of the visuals, the music, the character designs, the UI, it's all just stellar! I'm no artist, nor musician so I don't feel like I really have that much to say about any of that beyond just: it's really good!

And the dialogue!! Oh the dialogue! Despite not being voiced, the dialogue is just so well written that it absolutely drips with nuance and tone. I don't just mean in terms of the NPC dialogue either. Written text can just be so very ambiguous that I often find myself saying "oh no, that's not what I meant at all" after making a selection in a dialogue tree. While I won't say that that never happened to me during my playthrough of this game, it was certainly rare, and even when it did happen, if anything my reaction tended to be more along the lines of, "oh yes, that's not what I thought that meant, but it's absolutely what I wanted to say!" I feel like I've just gotten used to having to play mind games with myself to try to divine not just the meaning of a dialogue option, but what meaning the developer intended or thinks I should intended, or whatever the heck else. It was such a wonderful surprise to realize that in this game, if I just picked what I actually wanted to say, then 9 times out of ten, that's what my character said, and meant, with all the nuance and subtext with which I would have said it. I'm frankly in awe of the skill it must have taken to make it feel so effortless and natural, despite all being pre-programmed.

Not just that, but it was also pretty rare that I didn't have the option to say at least mostly what a I wanted to. And even on the rare occasion that I felt like my dialogue choices were railroading me in some way, even that at least felt intentional. As if the DM looked over at me, "above the table," and said, "hey look, I do get what you want to do here, and that's totally cool, but I need you to just cut me a break this one time cuz I just can't prepare for every possible contingency, okay friend?"

I could probably keep ranting and raving, but you should really just play the game. Even if you don't generally like these kinds of games I really think you'll like it anyhow, and if you do like these kinds of games, well, you are in for an absolutely incredible time my friend.

---

PS: This is totally just a personal thing, but as a trans woman I was a bit worried at first that all the focus specifically on manliness and masculinity in the player character would make playing the game a bit uncomfortable for me, or even that I might find the game's "take" on the subject distasteful. However, if anything, I actually enjoyed it, even as someone who outright rejected masculinity, at least in a broad sense, within myself. I really liked how this game explored the topic and I hope that it resonates even more for the players who actually are men than it did for me. <3

Meh, just meh. Like... there is some fun gameplay to be had in here, but it's really lacking in quality of life stuff. Even something as basic as a "restart mission" button is missing, meaning that if you hit a point of no return, you just have to sit and wait for your command center to be destroyed. That is such a basic thing that I almost can't believe any game of this type wouldn't have it (maybe it's there and just hidden in some really weird place? who knows). And that example is pretty emblematic of the game overall. It probably could have used a bit more time in the oven (or a patch maybe?) for things like that.

That's another thing, that's lacking: good info on what's going on. There don't appear to be actual numerical stats for my units, so I have to just go off vibes for deciding which one is better to use, which is weird. Plus even though there are callouts for when your base is under attack, I have, on more than one occasion not realized anything was wrong until one of my wall sections had already been completely destroyed and my base in shambles. Maybe that one is just a me problem, I don't know.

Additionally the writing just isn't good at all unfortunately. And for a game like this, who cares I guess, but it would have been cool to actually have some reason to care about the events of the campaign. Especially when you factor in the need for solo hero unit missions, that seem like they should be "story missions" (a la StarCraft) but instead, they are just busywork missions. It would probably be a nice way of mixing things up to have these missions where you aren't doing the normal RTS thing in between regular ones, but they are just lame, so it becomes a chore.

And there are more little things I won't get into, but the point is, while any one or even two of these things i could probably just overlook and still have fun, when you add them all up it's just really hard to have a good time with this game. Many people seem to have enjoyed it, but it really seems like the game was going out its way to try to stop me from finding that fun and ultimately I just feel like it's not worth it.

PS: There are still a lot of good ideas in here, and the fact that there definitely is fun to be found underneath all of the annoyances says a lot. I'd call this pretty okay for a first game and I hope the devs keep honing their craft and make an even better one next time :)

SO GOOD!! I was never able to get into souls-likes until this game, so if you're looking for a good entry-point into the genre, this is ab-soul-utely the game for you! And not only do I like it as someone who wasn't previously a fan of the genre, but my girlfriend who's played every fromsoft game all the the way through at least twice also loves this game, so I'd say this game absolutely has something for everyone.

In addition to fun and challenging gameplay, this game is just brimming with charm and humor. The characters and dialogue are top notch and the amount of time spent in cutscenes vs actually fighting things feels quite well balanced to me, ensuring that story stuff feels like a nice occasional treat rather than something interupting your fun.

This game is just an absolute blast and I highly recommend it!!

Definitely fun and definitely early access. If you're expecting a balanced and complete game with tons of replay value, then you're going to have a bad time. But if you buy an early access title expecting more than that, you're being silly.

For a just released early access game, especially from a new indie developer though, it's fantastic.

I'm already on my third play-through and I can't wait to see how much better the game gets with continued updates. And so far at least the updates have been coming really fast, especially for such a small outfit. I'm happy to give my money now towards further improvements to the game, even if a lot of the planned content is still missing or in need to a lot more balancing.

First thing first: This game is in Alpha (as in not even in Beta yet). It is not a complete game, so there is no goal or endgame, which can certianly lead to it getting boring pretty fast. That said, the core mechanics are very fun and I've been pleased with the updates that have come through so far. The devs have definitely not abandoned the game and considering how much fun it is while still in alpha, I have no doubt that it's going to be absolutely amazing when it's finished.

As long as you know what you're getting into with a game that is still in alpha (although this is a pretty darn polished alpha), I highly recommend buying this game. Just understand that while awesome, it is not complete.

Fantastic game. Very hard in all the best ways. Can be difficult to get the hang of, but it's that challenge that makes it enjoyable. High replay value.

Story/atmosphere wise this game does a great job of continuously forcing you to choose between the lesser of two evils. You are forced to do the best you can in a no-win situation time after time and the game makes sure to keep up the pressure so you don't get complacent.

Features multiple scenarios as well as and endless mode with both "chill" and challenging versions to up the replay value even more. Also the Last Autumn DLC is a nice change of page if you get bored of the base game but want more of in the same vein.

This game is an absolute gem.

Very fun. Terraria in space and every time I come back to it there seems to be more content.

Just a buggy mess. Do not buy it, you will be sad and regret it. I am intrigued by the new stuff in here, but I can't even get to a place where I get to actually use the new content since I'm getting hamstrung by bugs. So far these have included:
- Drones get stuck in some sort of ghost task where they are transporting nothing back and forth forever so actual tasks don't get done.
- Building is stuck in the "about to be demolished" animation forever and is never demolished.
- Farm was successfully demolished but left behind a resource depot thing that cannot be demolished and prevents anything from being built where the far used to be. Also colonists run onto it and get stuck stuck there for the entire day.
- Crisis event seemingly broken with event percentage stuck at the same value permanently.

Probably a few more I'm forgetting. And the thing is none, of that even has anything to do with the expanded game. So I literally just paid $20 to break the base game. This might actually be the worst DLC I've ever seen. DO NOT BUY THIS.

A lot of early access games don't deliver on their promises. So far (after 90+ hours), this one does. While I look forward to future updates, even if if the devs didn't keep adding to the game I would still recommend it. The core mechanics are just a ton of fun.

- Combat feels good and is surprisingly deep, especially for a survival crafting game.
- Building is fun and strikes a good balance between applying physics to your structures, but not stopping you from making fun things.
- Farming/ranching is nice if you're into that sort of thing and doesn't feel required if you're not.
- Various little mechanics that could easily be annoying, like the eating system, actually end up feeling really good.
- Exploring is just a ton of fun.

The ability to play with friends makes an already fun game twice as fun. I can't recommend this enough.

This game have really fun mechanics and a great general vibe. It is very much still in early access when I write this, so you will run out of new things to do somewhat fast, but new things continue to be added and I'm excited to see more of this game.

It's almost like a zen puzzle game, but in first person with much more depth. Highly recommended!