Miasma Chronicles

Bought the game yesterday. I'm having a great time. Good story, interesting game dynamics. Definately worth supporting these developers. Better than any gatcha out there and probably cheaper,lol...

Just like the developers previous game - Mutant Year Zero - this game is primarily a stealth game, and you only switch to full-on combat at the last possible moment. Some enemies you don't even need to engage if they seem scary right now and you don't want to, you can come back later. Play on normal difficulty and "full tactical", thank me later. There's a really, really great game here, maybe even a fantastic one. But it suffers a bit from a few narrative choices. For instance there's one part involving a friend and a bathtub which is honestly is just a bit much, then there's a robot companion which is very stereotypically black sounding (and not in a good way). And finally towards the end of the game there are some very questionable story choices regarding who's the main protagonist and why. The ending is "cool" and a lot of stuff happens but from a player perspective, trying to identify with a character, it feels pretty weird and illogical. There's a also a female protagonist who's way cooler than the "main guy", I wonder if they shouldn't have made her the main character all the way through. Despite all this the world is absolutely gorgeous to look at, 10/10 for world building and graphic design. Truly 10/10 for graphic design. And then the story and the journey, despite being a bit cheesy in places, is overall very interesting and enjoyable from a sci-fi perspective. Overall it's a fantastic game, I had a great time with it. If you liked their previous game, Mutant Year Zero, chances are very high you'll like this one too. Similarly if you're a sci-fi fan chances are also high you'll enjoy the story and world-building. But there are undoubtedly also a few questionable choices, and like many games it probably could have used 6 more month in play-testing, so no top marks I'm afraid. But a very enjoyable 4/5 from this small but talented studio.

So I wrote a comprehensive, witty review, but I couldn't post it because it was way too long. Oops. So here's the summary: - I finished the game; the negative reviews are accurate but a little harsh IMO. - Story is predictable, MC kinda dumb (what did you THINK Jade's origin was?) but not so bad it put me off the game - Decent backstory in collectable lore items (tho a bit cliche), they put some thought into it - Good performance, no crashes, some glitches like characters teleporting across the map when toggling ambush mode, or sneak mode disabling after a stealth kill and triggering enemy vision - Controls are fully remappable, a game that did it right for once *-surprised pikachu-* - Linear main quest, side quests for weapons/upgrades, no "moral choices" - nothing like Fallout etc, but good for a completionist gamer with limited time - Unbalanced combat: too many enemies to take head-on in most areas, stealth is mandatory (and fun), but some areas have enemies too tough to stealth-kill in one round which is a jarring contrast to everywhere else - Lack of feasible variations to stealth strategy makes it less interesting (eg, no silent miasma powers) - More unbalance: robots can be EMP'd giving ~3 rounds to stealth kill them, all other enemies can only be disabled by noisy abilities - Lategame: teleport power + "no AP cost" chip + Jade + collector shotgun = unbalanced 1-round TKO - Unexciting skill trees, some good skills but many are "meh" - Elvis and Diggs are mandatory in your party, only one swappable slot and Jade is just too good at "BOOM HEADSHOT" so I rarely ever used any other party comp - Only a few things worth buying with plastic, get better stuff for free from sidequests - Consumables don't appear to restock in shops (don't waste em) - Weapon and skill loadout fully swappable outside combat (but a couple of a scripted ambush points without warning to swap your equips) Verdict: worth buying on discount if you like the genre and seek entertainment

The game is advertised with absolutely stunning graphics and indeed this is the case. The atmosphere of after the world ending event is achieved with a perfection. The game ambiente was also nicely supported by voice and text logs with the lore. BUT, in game you cannot really zoom on anything. What? You say that the developer put so much effort in the ambiente and you can barley appreciate it? This is odd but hold on to your britches because the weirdo train is just leaving the station. Imagine a PC game that uses controls ripped out of a console game. Perhaps for some it is not an issue but for me it was a punishment. Then we come to the story... .ah the story. Really poor story that is. For me not really engaging. So you basically are led on a rope like 90% of the time. Great, linear game ;). You start fighting frogs then bandits then bad family robots, more robots and the game finishes with a very lengthy linear chain of fights. Very much uninspired idea. At the end there is admittedly a twist where the main protagonist turns to be a bit of a whacko that you have to get in line again but that is it. I think the worst part for me was rather unhandy dropping the "bad family" as the main villain. Lastly there were surprisingly many bugs and crashes and I do not run a weak system. The most funny case was where my robo friend after a run&gun order run though the walls, left the battle zone and continued to the far edge of the map... where, I guess, he opened a can of nice mineral oil and enjoyed the battle from the distance.. ;). Not all was bad though. The combat was actually ok, sometimes even fun. Like X-com but with whacky controls. The selection of skills is decent and the choice of characters is ok. I also enjoyed the modding of weapons. All in all this was a good part. The miasma powers were ok but limited by energy so I relied on the conventional piew piew. Do I recommend the game? If it sells for 5€ or less, it is ok. For more, no not really.

TL;DR - Masterful. This game is going to get crazy praise in year 2023, and yes, the praise is deserved. Within minutes, the game makes the characters feel like real people and not NPCs. The gameplay is fluid, fast and brutal, the music's goes from western to synth to creepy to industrial. I'm pleased to say that there's a hint of Fallout in the soundtrack, as well. The UI and controls are sleeker and faster than even a fully modded X-Com 2 is. I am serious. So yeah, I never once preordered, and I haven't bought a game on release date since Diablo 2 in year 2000, standing in line all night at the game store, jolted up on caffeine, the wait killing me. I bought Miasma Chronicles yesterday on release date, because it's a game I've been waiting for for a LONG time. I thought Encased would hit the mark for me, but it sadly missed by a bit. Miasma Chronicles, on the other hand, hits it dead center.