Expeditions: Conquistador

If you enjoy turn-based strategy, this game will captivate you. The sitting is a star in itself, bringing me way back to an old EA title I used to love on the C64, Seven Cities of Gold. Anyone who remembers that game as fondly as I do will appreciate how meaningful it is to even mention Expeditions: Conquistador in the same breath. Add to this setting very enjoyable, tactical squad-based battles that will challenge the player (particularly if you venture beyond the "normal" difficulty level), nail-biting resource management such as feeding your expedition members, keeping them in good health and morale considerations that affect every decision you make as the commander, and you have yourself one fantastic gem of an indie title. I highly recommend this game. Just be warned: the hours will fly by once you start.

The bit rough surface covers a great indie RPG in the Age of Discovery historical period which outplays some greater titles in the same genre. The game contains careful team building and equipping, some decision-making, questing and wandering around on a smaller and a lot bigger map as well later. The exploration factor is working well and there is something captivating to walk into the Terra Incognita. Since Pirates! (good old days...) that era is one of my favourites and this game is more than satisfyingly blends my favourite genres: turn based tactical battles, RPG and some minor trade simulating. I'm only after 6 hours of playing but I bravely recommend it to anyone who likes all these genres. (Some fine polishing on graphics would make the game more attractive for the wider public. If I would be the developer then I would address that firstly in a patch or update)

This is one of those games where the beginning is exceptional, and then it kinda falls flat on its face in the 2nd half - a common theme in the series as it will too happen in the sequel "Viking". The game starts you off as a child of a noble bigshot from Spain, who managed to pull a few strings in order to send his son/daughter to spearhead the glorious conquest for the Spanish Crown. You travel to Hispaniola as a middle stop, unfortunately for you, you get drawn into a civil war of sorts that you have to solve as the standing garrison is unable to supress the rebels. This is the first half. The second half in the game sends you to Yucatan, or Mexico where the ruling power of Aztecs faces internal strife as several powerful tribes seek to distance themselves from the Aztec dominion, and it just so happens that the "children of the gods" hold the right amount of neutrality and military potential to make that happen. Pick your side wisely. Both of these parts of the game can be considered separate, as once you finish Hispaniola, you can acquire an option to always skip it in favor of Mexico. The Combat seems hard in the beginning, but as you get better, you will start to notice that the AI is actually kind of retarded. At a certain point I maxed out my difficulty and was still stomping every fight outside of those few where the odds are so overwhelmingly stacked against you that you actually have to try. The devs have tackled the issue of retarded AI - that will only seem retarded once you acquire tactical mastery and understanding of strengths and weaknesses of all classes, by limiting your follower count whilst the AI is free to break that limitation. What this essentially means is that while you're locked to 6 followers, the AI can get up to 18, and believe me numbers do count at certain points. Storywise: Hispaniola (5/5) > Mexico (3/5) AI: (2/5) is pathetic once you get the intricacies of combat Follower Class Balance: (3/5) could hace been better

I was new to the expeditions saga when I tried this game. I got confused and didnt get the hang of it, so I quit playing. Almost a year later i gave it another shot and this time I got totally into the game. -Combat system is entertaining, that being said, once you really get how the game works it wont be truly challenging but for some combats where your starting position will intentionally be bad. -Class system and abilities and very clear in this game. You cant make your characters jack of all trades in this game. A class will do its thing but wont be able to do what other classes can do. -As others said, charm, lots of charm. Tons of charm. -As others said the game is divided in two parts, being the first one smaller and meant to work as an erxtended tutorial. You can skip this part selecting "mexican campaign" in the menu and starting in the "new world" right away. -You can choose to be a warmongering conqueror or just help the tribes opresed by aztecs (not to forget they sacrificied human people). Or perhaps join forces with the Aztecs? Then betray them? Maybe you will feel like sacrificing one of your crew in some misterious cave.All that, you can do. -Biggest flaws for me are: 1)your character wont take part in battles and is there (mostly)to provide stat points which will be considered to resolve quests one way or other (outside battles, your character can, however, treat injured party members) 2) Every class member is absolutely equal to the other in combat. Only difference is traits ("personality" traits) which will make your party members react to your actions consequently. Simply put: addictive tactical rpg (once you learn the mechanics) and tons of charm. In a sale, go for it.

Recruited only girls for my expedition, got native wife as a gift from locals, expedition had an orgy with Amazons, massacred locals with our superior guns, found El Dorado. 9/10 because no Chel.