Started a game as the young Charles (not yet so great). Created the Empire of Francia. Lived. Ruled. Conquered. Died. Protected the last bastion of Christianity in Leon. Groomed heirs. Changed laws so that the sole daughter heir can inherit instead of some random duke in the realm. Got two other kids later, one boy. Then died. Heir boy is 5. Not good. His elder sister died clutching her heart. He almost fell off a balcony. A man asked him to follow him into the dark to play. Nope. Finally he fell off another balcony, assassination succeeded but his uncle got revealed as the one who ordered the death of a child. The last remaining alive member of the family is the weak 5 years old girl. She is the emperor. But enemies everywhere. A 5000 strong elite army guards her at the capital. Uncle arrest attempted, but he escapes, half of the empire is in flames now. She wins. He is rotting in the prison for the rest of his (short) life. The girl survived. Weak, torn, frightened, but alive. Got crowned by the pope. Best story generator ever. Best. Game. Ever.
I liked FoG Medieval, though i always missed the grand campaign. Battles are fun, but i need the context. When this game was announced, i knew that the time has come. Yet, i forgot about this game completely. It was not really advertised, i didn't even knew it is out. A few days ago i picked it up, and now i have my new favourite grand strategy game. Because the game is very good. Some of my favourtites: - building new buildings cost infrastructure points produced locally. - regional decisions is a breath of fresh air. It works like a card system, you get a new one every turn. The frequency is dependent on the player situation though, certain buildings or other factors will affect what decision you get next turn - battles are awesome combined with FoG medieval - I mlike the diplomatic options (you can ask for troops, money, trade regions, cooperation, aliance, there are many trhings) - Resources makse so much sense. You can produce certain resources in your regions that can be exported to other regions where there is a need for it. It costs some money to export so it is worth thinking a bit when building up provinces. You can even export to other coutnries and import too if you need certain resources. Overall this system is very engaging. - Graphics is completely fine, i prefer simple graphics with good depth more than the opposite of this. Bad: sometimes it is hard to see what's going on ,some basic information might be missing on the ui. It was hard to figure out unit upkeeps, auto population management makes the resource incomes fluctuate too much until i figured it out. I am playing as William the Conqueror / Normandy right now, i was supposed to be a duke in France but i cannot see this info anywhere. When i want to become a vassal of France i can see the button disabled with a tooltip saying i'm probably already a vassal or maybe there are other resons why it is disabled, but i don't know. These are just small quality of life issues that are easy to solve.
What could i say about this game? It is a beautiful fairy tale, in a huge world full of adventure and secrets. If you are like me, and just want to get lost in a fantasy land full of elves, dwarves, humans, goblins, fey, monsters, bandits and evil kings - this is the game for you. I put 180 hours into my first character building a strong party, pimping them with equipment, just to get a middle finger to my face at the final chapter (i went in blind without completing most companion quests). Here i am again, starting a new game, this time i'm prepared. I still love this game. Even when your game can end in the middle or at the end of a campaign.
I have really strong vibes of Darkest Dungeon 1 here and there. Except for the team and narration but that's okay. You play as a single person in a turn based roguelike way. They walk through a generated "dungeon", they have to eat, they need to carry different ailments for different debuffs, inventory is limited, if you make it out alive you keep all your stuff, if you die you lose your stuff. There is a good amount of weapons and equipment to find, even early game. The whole atmosphere is brilliant. Good music, nice graphics, good ideas everywhere. I like how grim the whole game world is. And checking the roadmap it is even going to get better, but if it stopped here, i would already be happy with my purchase. (20% off if you got the title reference)
I love pixel art and this game has the best one i have ever seen. Beautifully animated gore and madness, i love it. The music and the weapon upgrade headbanging is the cherry on top of the cake. All the boss fights are brutal but incredibly satisfying thanks to the constant feeling of METAL
So may users are focusing on what this game isn't in steam reviews. Yes, this is not CK3, this is not Medieval 3, this is a game that has some flaws but also so many things to like too. Diplomacy is too simple, i cannot declare war on fellow catholic nations without angering the clergy (no casus bellis). Battles are not as tactical as in Shogun 2, but yet it is engaging (you can hide your troops in forests, this makes them protected against arrows, you can mark enemy general as high priority, this makes your idel archers targetting him if they are close, etc...) The grand strategy aspect is pretty good so far, the building system is refreshing (you can build buildings in provinces and then apply different upgrades on them). I like the simplicity of troop management (i always hated Total War for adding many unit types with slightly different stats), it is quite simple to understand ho do you initiate trade agreements, how do you make more money, more replenishment of your peasants, etc... The game is engaging, it has tactical battles, religion, culture, allies can join your battles, making money is simple yet there are many ways to do so, you can plot, form defensive/offensive pacts, manage your court. So many things to love here, but i think many were expecting TW/CK instead. The game is good, it has different approach to things than CK,TW, and this is actually good. There are some problems (diplomacy is a bit too simple) but there is nothing that coudn't be improved later on if the devs keep supporting this game.
