Battle Brothers

I tried multiple times to like this game, but in the end the encounters all play out in the same frustrating way for me: Miss a bunch of high percentage strikes while the opponent keeps hitting his low chance strikes and ends important characters (which is basically anyone of your party in the early to mid game). Sure there are certain ways to mitigate those outcomes and some tested strategies. But it is one of those games where you don't get far if you refuse to read up some gid-gud guides beforehand. In a game with the premise of adventure and exploration, having to read a guide before engaging every new enemy is just a nogo. Without any kind of comeback mechanic or permanent gain from lost runs (as some rogue-likes offer it these days) and quite a high time investment per run, there is no fun in learning by failing. Only frustration. Everything snowballs pretty fast since there are barely any low-level or non combative tasks, and while you try to get back up after a defeat (or even a costly win), the world around you evolves and spawns harder enemies and events. Save-scumming is also highy encouraged since the same battle can go many different ways depending on rng (the fights themselves, but also the battle map's general layout, weather conditions and enemy composition and gear). The art is great and as a medieval enthusiast I especially love the attention to detail given to the armor and weapon types. Equipping your brothers is a joy and finding good loot feels rewarding. The party system overall feels great and offers a lot of role-playing potential. Or it would, if min-maxing the shit out of every brother and naming them something like "2H Heavy Armor Dude #3" wouldn't be the meta. The "overworld" map is travelled in real-time (mount and blade style). You watch your party hover from city-node to city-node and sometimes adjust the path to do scouting or engage a group or dungeon location. Not much strategy to be found here and quite a boring affair tbh.

Look past the paper doll characters and the 2d graphics, the basic animations. Because the game here is very meaty with a lot to offer. RNG to give variety in game play and outcomes, character progression and party progression, with all the DLC there is a lot of content (the base game itself has a lot of content). I've sunk hundreds of hours into this game, if it's in your wheelhouse you'll end up loving it. If you are an action oriented gamer who does not prefer turn based games, games with a little bit of reading (and really you don't have to read the flavor text if you don't want to), and prefer specific characters and specific narrative structures that get wrapped up in 10 to 20 hours of gameplay then don't buy this game. But if you are the kind of person who is into tactics games, turn based game, rogue-lites, look past the graphics and really give this game a shot. There is a learning curve so don't be put off if you suck early.

I simply dont see the point in this game. Apparently you are supposed to reach some kind of "end game". This end game consist of three different events. To do this you gather up mercenaries. These characters has absolutely no depth and the only thing that seperates the them from each other are randomized icons, names and some minor stat variation. There is a reason for this of course. You have will have two choices in this game. Reload often or keep hiring new mercenaries. You mercenaries will die all the time. This removes any chance of creating an interesting party (unless you like to reload often) The towns are rudementary, the map is boring and the quests variations of: "Carry/Escort x to city y" or "Kill x creatures" and so on. The levelling up is done by placing pre defined points in a given stat. The level perks are the same for everyone. The combat is at best a mildy advanced HOMM. There's a potential somewhere, but the game is to simple.

Turn based, rougelite tactical game with some RPG elements (levelups, stats, personal gear, random events), in a Warhammer fantasy-inspired, randomly generated world. Company management is JA/Disciples style: hire losers, level them up, pay their wages. Turn based tactical battles are similar to Panzer General/Heroes 3. Campaign gameplay is a general buildup towards a big crisis, with additional merc contracts, looting as time permits. Similar to an XCOM campaign in many ways. UNDECIDED * permadeath. I like it, but it is not for everyone * DLCs add width, but not depth. (ie. more crisis-related events are not added, but it would be important) PRO * graphic style is unique * music is brilliant * writing (random events) is captivating * world is alive without player involvement (ie. some towns solve their problems on their own) * player not forced into a good guy role * AI acts smart in battles * different behaviour per enemy type, one cannot use the same tactics in every encounter * all weapons and armor are useful in different ways * nice tabletop RPG references (ie. pub rumours, obituary) CONTRA * economy/difficulty brakes in longer (120 days+) games * crafting is useless * gets repetitive after the initial honeymoon period * all DLCs add nice gameplay tweaks, but also new enemies. Tweaks without new enemies are not available * player feedback is minimal (ie. rules of looting are never explained) This game is a rough diamond. The devs found a working formula, but even DLCs don't add elements which support a longer game. (ie. more unique, crisis-buildup contracts like XCOM) Still, well done tactical games are very rare, and this title is good enough.

Let me start with the positives (which are basically everything). The game is beautiful, the art style is great, the sound effects and music are a real treat to listen and watch. The game is basically a mix between X-com and Mount and Blade. you travel around the world managing your company of mercenaries, doing missions, exploring and doing your best to not die or go broke (whichever happens first) The game is immersive and very addicting. the may problem of the game comes during combat. here you go into a tactical view and you move your troops in turns like the original xcom. each unit has a limited amount of points to spend per turn and you decide what to do when and where. The issue arrive whenever you wanna hit or avoid getting by something. here the RNG system, which everywhere you look you'll find defined as "true RNG so stop complaining". What this means is that the system is neutral to both parties, you and the enemy. so for example... you may find yourself missing tens of 60 to 70 percent attacks while your enemy can hit you like a champion of the sword. its a pain and its as frustrating as you can imagine. But the thing is... like I said earlier, the system is neutral, which means that for every time this happens to you, it'll also happen to the enemy, and those moments are great. The game is great and if you enjoy xcom type games with hit chances and so on, you'll probably enjoy this game a lot. just be aware that the odds are never on your favour, nor do they are on the enemy's side. If anything, despite how frustrating it can be, the devs managed to create a world that feels as dangerous to you as it is for your enemies.