Recent reviews by msoc

1.0 Update #25, 380hrs

Game is amazing. I've included some places where it can be improved below, but Trese Brothers have built something truly impressive.

There are so many ways to play, so many stories to experience, and a big enough base of procedural content to keep things fresh for a long, long time. The coolest part, for me, is the framework they've used to improve the game from EA, to 1.0, and beyond. The flexibility and speed with which new content can be added is very exciting for the future of the title. As of writing I've played three knights to "completion" and they all feel different, their squads feel different, and their underground network feels different. When new content is released I enjoy playing it on all knights to see the variety.

Stories:
There are currently two origin stories on how your Knight gets their abilities. There is also a single retirement story tied to the only "era" in the game. There are also 20+ scripted stories that range from a couple missions to full-blown story arcs, each of which can lead to new mercenary recruits, new contacts, expanded contact services, and more. There is way too much hand-crafted content to experience it all on a single playthrough if you plan on retiring the character. So much replayability!

Mercs:
As of writing the newest class is Warmachine, which launched with greatly expanded cybernetics available to all your mercs. This class is fine on its own, but really shines when fully engaging with all of the games systems (more on that below). With each new class the "meta" of any given playstyle has shifted. Not because the new class is "OP", but because the expanded options interact with the world in such interesting ways. This leads to a wonderful discovery process of finding new uses for older classes and abilities.

Itemization is also ever changing. For the last year of EA the only way to get the game's top-tier weapons was to craft them yourself. Since 1.0 the new items that can be found in missions or accessed from "Power Play" storylines has increased options for those not wanting to craft their own. Crafted weapons may be a bit outclassed right now, but each itemization update has improved both the number of options and the balance of the types of options (like found weapons vs. purchased weapons vs. crafted weapons).

Base and Face:
The overall base building hasn't been through the major changes of some other systems. There have been constant tweaks to better integrate the game's systems, prevent outright abuse, or improve things that were under performing. The biggest change, however, has been the introduction of the Face class tree. This class tree makes a huge change to how the strategy layer is played. In some cases it may be possible to replace a base building you don't use frequently with some Face talents. Alternatively, you can really focus on maximize certain outcomes by fully leveraging buildings and talents together. You can't get maximize all buildings at the same time, just like you can't maximize all face talents. Choices will have to be made, and the outcomes of those choices can be very satisfying.

Quibbles:
The game has some room for improvement and Trese Brothers are very active in the forums, on Discord, and the game's "F10" system gathering feedback and targeting improvements. I want to reiterate that this game is very, very good in its current state, and the feedback here is intended to be an FYI to help new players unlock all of the game's potential.

• The interface in some areas could use some clarity. Either useful elements are not well articulated or something may not behave exactly as expected.
  
• The "underground simulation" system is well designed, but not well communicated. Not understanding how to work contacts to improve/expand their services can limit your ability to buy gear, improve hacking, or get new cybernetics.
  
• High variance in mission types can be difficult to accommodate early on. Missions that favor stealth will rely on a completely different set of skills than those that require all-out combat. Prepare accordingly.

Highly recommended to spend a few minutes on the wiki (linked from the game's main menu) or one of the excellent introduction guides on Steam to prevent some completely avoidable undesirable outcomes.

Rock on Trese Bros, looking forward to playing this game for years to come!