I rarely enjoyed a story in a game like this one. It was coherent and the politics between the villages felt real. The atmosphere is great and I like the exploring part in the beginning and then the feeling of coming home if you make it back safely to your shelter.
Even though this is already the version 3.0 of the standalone expansion the game is completely unbalanced. The good things: atmosphere, tech tree, buildings and city levels. But the game is bland and goes into grinding because you have to do a lot of insignifanct choices. The worst part is summoning - the air elemental is the second summon you get and it is the best by far, because initiative concept is broken. A high initiative let's your unit attack 10 times while the other just stand there and wait. Pyre of Man is the last summon you get - a huge beast with a lot of HP - but only remains for 3 actions - 3 actions of the summoner that is - so the Pyre of Man ends up not getting any (!) action. This summon is completely useless and it is the last one you get...
So the overall gameplay is fun, you can closely and slowly watch your village grow. There are some events, you can explore the surroundings and research. But it remains shallow. The items you can find during exploration are not unique or even expensive, you could just mine/forage them in your village. The research allows you to put some more villagers in a building. Combat is not difficult - in general there are not too much choices. So don't expect too much. There is some unneccessary micro management - the bakery as an example. There is just one option: make grain into bread - so I have to spam the button, so that x bread is created. But having in mind that this is an independent developper, the result is awesome! The music is atmospheric and you want more of it. As the majority rates the cost/performance ratio of the game, I also give it 4 stars. For quality/depth perspective I'll give it one star (which is still alright for an indie game).
I was surprised, that I never heard of it before. It is absolutely worth its money. The concept is very unique and it is fun to watch your heros acting on their own. As there are not much descriptions what are the specialities of every hero class or building, you need to learn it by trying. But that is really fun and motivating. Also important to mention are the "details" like all the voice acting, which really makes a nice atmosphere. In general I enjoyed the atmosphere, as it is not as kinky as modern games with their colorful style. It is really a hidden gem.
