I've played this game for close to a hundred hours just to beat each map with each kingdom on the toughest difficulty. There's a slight bit of RNG, but every time I lose, it's because I made a poor calculation - by expanding too far too quickly, focusing too much on my military, becoming too inefficient financially, etc. The easier difficulties are a fun romp shich many will be familiar with if they've played the above board games (or many/most hexed based strategy games). But the toughest difficulties require perfect calculation and assesment of the situation, where the game becomes less like a strategy game and more like an intricate puzzle. The game is very well put together and a ton of fun for strategy geeks like me, but if you're looking for the shiny bobble which is created from researching (like in Civilization) you won't find it here - we're talking numbers and locations. There are many ways to adapt the win conditions for short or long games (I usually go for long) and several maps, each with their own potential empires. There's virtually no story and the online community is essentially dead - so single-player pure strategy experience only. It's a bit of a one-trick pony, but the one trick is REALLY good, if you're into it.
This game isn't for everyone as there's a significant (as in 99% of what you do) reading. In reality it seems like someone wrote a story and THEN decided to try and make a game out of it, and somehow it worked. The resource management aspect is based around your (up to) 5 dice (d6). Your decisions regarding where to use each die, and which die to use, is where the gameplay comes in - in addition to this, there is an energy/food and sleep/repair mechanic. I haven't seen mechanics quite like this in a game before and was impressed with how well tuned they were. At the time of action, it feels like you have to hit everything just right to survive, but in hindsight, your character was always going down that path, and although the story will end differently based on your choice, the narrative branches don't go out very far from the preset path(s). I had one play through, it was quite interesting, fun and the story was well done (cyberpunk-ish imperfect future space story). I assume you can fail/die, but I didn't encounter that, so not the hardest game (as long as you understand the mechanics). There are 3 characters, but it seems they are simply slightly different starting-off points, so not much need for a second run through. Game crashed a couple of times, but boots up quickly, and frequent auto-saves (and easy story skipping) didn't affect my playthrough. Unfortunately the save file surpassed the GOG cloud max of 200MB halfway through. You don't need the cloud save, but going into the file to see what was wrong and then having to turn it off so you don't keep getting reminded, was a bit annoying.
This is an amazing game with endless playability. If you liked the game asteroid back in the 80s but wanted something more up-to-date, then this game is for you. The Rogue-Lite aspect provides the sense of progression while you learn the game. Once you beat the boss, there are difficulty modifiers, a draft choice and endless mode to provide infinite replayability - the endgame is infinite. The looks is simple but fun. Action is fast-paced but not overly punishing (this changes the farther you get into endless w/modifiers). Sounds and music set the ambiance perfectly without being a distraction. For those who are just starting to play, I highly suggest jumping in and learning as you go. But if you have questions or have reached endless mode, check the links below as they will greatly add to your enjoyment. P.S. If you are looking for a twin-stick shooter only, look elsewhere, as there is a 'thrust' button. Not a game for twinkies. https://alicemetic.github.io/nova-drift-cheatsheet/ https://nova-drift.fandom.com/wiki/Nova_Drift_Wiki
There's elegance in the simplicity. You start a run of ~40 weeks (each week a new event occurs) while gaining monsters, traps, relics, etc. to improve your dungeon of two rooms containing 3 monstrous defenders, and various other rooms depending on the particular dungeon's setup, with the goal being to protect your boss throughout the campaign and move onto a new campaign where more items will be unlocked. Not particularly difficult, but challenging enough to remain fun for the 50 hours that I played (can be a bit addictive). Clearly inspired by some Darkest Dungeon elements, but not meant as a single campaign like DD, and in my opinion, more fun. I preferred setting up defenses, along the individual campaigns, as I found DD's campaign a bit of a slog after far less time than I spent on this game. The combat was also far more intricate with planning on how/where to place your monsters being of utmost importance (far more strategic thinking than DD). Don't bother with the DLCs until you've played most/all of what is to be played in the base game. They're just additional content with more monsters, etc. and I found the base game had plenty to keep my entertained while the DLCs would likely cause the game to over-stay its welcome, but your mileage may vary.
You start each campaign by picking one of many hexagons (each with their own special bonsues and drawback) from the world-map to setup a new village with multiple races. Throughout the gameplay you'll build a town to make you villagers happy and complete quests while expanding and discovering new parts of a forest which offer new challenges. You choose where your villagers work, but they may die or leave if you don't keep them happy. This is made more complicated by the 4 (currently) races which all have differing disires and needs. Do you try to make them all happy and risk losing everyone or do you concentrate on 1 or 2 groups and accept that the 3rd/4th won't stick around - you'll have to make these decisions on each map and they may change based on difficulty and available resources (some maps are inherently more difficult for certain races). It's a vibrant game with interesting buildings and many different systems running simultaneously (there are also traders who come to town, an overbearing ruler who desires gifts and a wide array of resource management). There are no overly long or complicated individual tasks, so if you're a fan of a production tree that goes 20 layers deep, this may not be the game for you, but the number of different systems along with the timing required to complete them keeps this game interesting and often (although not always) challenging. As you explore the forest you will encounter various challenges within each glade, but the seasons are the primary challenge throughout each campaign. You'll have to work on the timing of each task to assure that they are completed at the right time to benefit, or suffer from, the storm that comes once per year. This often requires micro-managing what your villagers are doing for short spurts to avoid catastrophe. The progression system (outside of each campaign) leaves a lot to be desired. There's a fair bit there but it doesn't feel 'rewarding'. But otherwise, this is a great game already.
At it's core it's a unique and fun puzzler. Early in the game i would become frustrated because I was trying to work the solution backward and it was too easy, which made it harder, if that makes sense. But as the game progressed and the puzzles became more complicated (and i stopped trying to work the puzzles backward) it became easier and more fun. As some have mentioned the interface isn't perfect (you 'want' to look around but can't) however it's not an issue in pregressing, just doesn't allow the freedom many are used to in puzzle-like games. The game takes a little getting used to, but is quite rewarding once that happens. The only frustration i felt past the early game was when I realized i made one step out-of-order and i need to work my way all of the back to where I was to fix it. Can be a little frustrating, but a bit of frustration is to be expected in a puzzle game. The aesthetics and story were both unique and I found the dancing character fun and not distractingin any way. Unfortunately this comes to my one very major gripe...the music REALLY sucks. I'm not saying that as a 'i don't like this type of music' but as a 'i'm watching this fun character rock-out while listening to repetitve (often 5-10 second loops) elevator music'. They could have gone with bebop, big-band jazz, techno, rock, etc. - but what we get is a bit of smooth jazz with some electronic beats mixed along the way. compared to other games i would rate the music as below average, but in terms of the game being so centered around the music/dancing character and the type of music unable to match the mood (it would have been acceptable as normal background music) it's hard to forgive this miscalculation/oversite. I hope this studio makes more games as they clearly have a lot of unique ideas, but I hope they find someone new to manage the music (or simply make a game that doesn't rely on the music).
If you were a fan of the game privateer, you enjoyed playing the old star wars rogue squadron or wing commander games, or if a fast-paced arcade space fighter game is what you're looking for - this is the game for you. Ignore the 1* reviews, in 35 hours I encountered 1 bug and I found the original Rebel Galaxy unplayable (couldn't get over a space game that plays like a sea game). As most of the negative reviews are from people crying that it isn't the same as Rebel Galaxy (it's much better), just ignore them and tell em' to get over it. Pros: - very fast paced - fun arcade style combat - great soundtrack with over 20 hours of music (listen to the commercials; they're funny and provide good info) - side games (the pool simulator was a lot of fun) - interesting characters (there are no 'good guys' so make sure you're OK with that) - variety of different ways to play and succeed: kill bad guys, help the police, transport cargo, mine rocks - ship and weapon variety is well-balanced: some weapons and ships are better than others, but nothing is perfect, so you need to figure out what fits best for you and how you want to play Cons: - There is a great selection of missions, but can get a bit grindy. I didn't mind too much as the fighting is a ton of fun, but once I felt this I went back to finishing up the main story (i did play for 35 hours before finishing) - occasionally a mission will get funky in that you can't find what you're looking for (it's there, but space is big) or the enemies aren't all dead (may have to wait around or explore a bit). But it's more fun fast-paced, so move on if a side-mission drags. - The game ends...no fanfare...just ends. It looks like they were planning an expansion but I don't think that's happening This is a REALLY fun game that has been dragged down down fans who are angry that it isn't the game they wanted, which is really unfortunate as this one is far more fun. This is the Privateer game many of us have been waiting for.
I'm 6 runs in now and this game is definitely a ton of fun. They took the general idea of Slay the Spire (rogue-lite deck builder) and added their own twists enough that it feels like it's own unique game despite the StS influence throughout. As I've run out of much left in StS, I can see this game taking over as my 1-2 times per week fun relaxation game. It definitely scratches that same itch. The reason I'm giving only 4* instead of 5 is because it follows the slay the spire outline but falls short in two key areas: 1. Story: StS has an incredible unique world with mystery and intigue both into the first 'victory' and long after. It was never particularly deep but is far more interesting than Monster Train. That being said, this type of game doesn't need a story to be interesting, but it's a step down in that department and clearly didn't have as long of an incubation/planning period as StS (I'm sure they rush to get the next StS clone to market and I can't blame them for that). 2. Challenge: This game clearly has an abundance of challenges to keep players interested well into the future, but so far I don't feel I'm learning as I go in the same way as with StS. This may be a result of my putting in over 100 hours on StS so I'm learning more quickly, but I came into this game with no idea of how it played (aside from 'StS-like deck builder on a train') and I was able to beat it on my second attempt. This doesn't ruin the game due to so many items to unlock, difficulty increases and alternative play-types, but for a rogue-like game to be so easy to beat, I was left a bit dissapointed (I was surprised when the game suddenly ended) If you enjoyed StS then you'll enjoy this game as it's definitely worth your money. But if you haven't played StS, go buy that first (they have a mobile version now) and move over to Monster Train when you get bored.
The game looks great and provides a wonderful atmosphere. Puzzles are interesting but not very challenging. After about 2 hours the game became a chore of maintaining the vehicle. I stopped playing about 30 minutes later. I'd like to go back just to finish but I just can't bring myself to face that level of tedium again. Developers did everything right in making a short artistic and unique game - but forgot that games are meant to be fun.
Battle Planet: Judgement Day, aside from the Rogue-Lite elements, would be a huge arcade hit circa 1985. You jump in, run around like your hair is on fire for 5-30 minutes, and enjoy the chaos on a 3D planet that greatly differentiates the gameplay from side-scrolling shooters and other rogue-likes. There's no complex story, no puzzles to solve and no long cut scenes. It's just straight unadulterated arcade fun for you and a friend (friend highly recommended) in a way you have likely never experienced before.
