Grinding is fine, but grinding in a boring environment is painful... In this game you explore almost empty dungeons (=ships), each movement needing some energy. You can scan around your position but this does not guaranty you will identify interesting rooms. Some will nevertheless have some loot in there. The difficulty levels seems fine, until you hit some wall, and probably need to backtrack and explore some other dungeons to grind (I have not experienced backtracking to a fully explored ship. There might be opportunity for leveling through random encounters but have not tried it (remember, bored). The combat system and cards seem fine, at least I was interested enough to try it for a longer time. However, you have to guess much of it. Hence the 2 stars. Now for the really blocking and game killing aspect: the interface looks like it was built for a touch screen with no keyboard. EVERY INTERACTION needs to click. Going to the inventory == click on the PDA button on the top right, then click on the Inventory button. Hey, Devs, do you know the 'I' key on a keyboard? Or 'M' by the way, or ESC to get the Menu system, or 1-9 to choose action, etc. The game is very expensive for that kind of execution; I have got it with a 66% discount but this does not make a better game. Please devs.... make an update with a proper PC interface.
The art, level design, uncertainties with maps, tons of weapons, tons of passive or active support [but not clear quantitatively], Dark souls like in 2.9D (levels are 3D, each section is in 2.5 D, looking at the background gives you very good hints), difficult but fair (meaning some grinding but not too much). All that and more. Now for why I do not recommend this game for non-hardcore gamers : there is a level cap (at 30). So even though you can level up to compensate your high reaction time (low reaction speed if you like), you are screwed in the end. I was stuck at the final battle (pre-final boss) where **SPOILERS** you have to fight 3 time 4 high level badies ; most of the time, you had to fight 3 at the same time, now it is 4, they are not in sync so whatever your good skills and weapons, you have to rely on reacting in the optimal way. Even good players end this game with little health. Hence I ended up frustrated by not ending the game **END-OF-SPOILERS**
I received the game for free, but could not play for more than 10 minutes. Trying to hack and slash in first person mode made me quite dizzy: headbob was OK (I believe minimal or none), but the first combats were very messy., and made me feel seasick in 2'. This game looks good in general, also appears to be well done, but I am not recommending it at all if you are subject to such dizziness. Definitively needed to have a third person mode. Gilbert
Nice little gem of a game. Casual gameplay most of the time, except for bosses who have interesting patterns. Also, 100% needs some work - a couple of upgrades are difficult to find/guess. Caveat: Xbox controller is nicely recognized, mapping is OK for most of the game, but not very convenient (a jump, x shoot, b missile) when you need/want to run and gun and missile (and phase). I used joy2key to have an alternate shoot (LT) and missile (LB). Control remapping for controllers would be nice.
The story is very good - mixing the West with a horror setup. The gameplay consists in a number of "scenarios" (chapters of the campaign), following a number of interrelated of characters/events. Phases of these scenarios are (1) simulation of combats in a squad-based western type combat, (2) exploration of a map with events and choices, sometime management (food or money). The combat phases are very well done, with a very good luck/"MP" system (if the RNG decides you evade an attack, then you lose some luck. Luck is also the basis of some very powerful abilities.). The cover system is also very well thought (see also the negatives below). The exploration phases are OK, choices are simple (this is very good for me). They tell the story while avoiding the map-after-map syndrome. Replayability is low unless you wait the time to forget the elements of the story. I played in "normal" difficulty, I recommend going "hard" from the beginning. I suspect Hard+game modifiers is extremely difficult, needing you to constantly optimize your weapons, buffs and modifiers. Finally: I have not encountered any game breaking bug. I wanted to give a 4.5 rating, so 5 it will be. Negatives: - the cover systems works almost always, but not always: more than once, one of the enemies would benefit from a full or half cover while being attacked from behind. - enemies benefits from an automatic over-watch zone, based on proximity - if one of your character enters the zone, he/she can be automatically attack. This is a very good mechanism... but your characters don't benefit from it: they don't have it, not even as an ability (e.g., in some game, you can use some AP to go in overwatch mode).
