==Summary== A city-builder, a puzzle game, with the skin of ecology. ==Pro== Beautiful when the land is transformed. Nice airship take-off scene. ==Negative== Made a bad placement? You can't delete it. Made too much wetlands? You can undo it. Tedious start-up phase. Tedious clean-up phase. Water flow is not logical - it flows a certain distance, then stop? Then when you recycle those pumps, what does it keep flowing? Controlled burning can't be controlled. Grass don't spread - unless it rains. Vegetation don't spread. No proper save feature.
[Mechs - the star of the show] Mech designs are good, but I can't say I love their design philosophies. Polish are fast but weak. Saxons are tanky but can't get anywhere. Ruskies perhaps have the better front mechs. In this COH wanna-be, actions are too fast. You will want: 1) A fast response cavalry and 2) a solid hitting force that you can build into a ball of doom (Starcraft tournament style). The factions I mentioned only tick one of the boxes, not both. I understand it's design, but it's unsatisfying. With big stompy things, you run into issues with pathfinding or unwanted destruction. You have to carefully herd your cows by their horsepower. You also find that your city becomes a flat plain after an extended mech campaign. [UI, UX, Feedback] The game teaches you about cover, or does it? Are you in cover if you are in front of it? - even if the green dots say you are in cover? Can I have a way to cancel "retreat" whenever I want? Sometimes the map is so big that it takes forever for my unit to fall back. zzz... [Campaign] While mechs are fun (and frustrating), the missions that shine are infantry battles where you use their unique abilities. The plot is mildly engaging, but it's like it's written for kids. Stealth missions are a pain to play through. [DLCs] The Union is a fun side to play, because of their Protoss Carriers. However, their ground mechs are unimpressive.
This game has lots of fights. So much that I'll get tired and take a break from the tedium. There's also an inventory problem of too much (cheap) loop and too little vendors to dump them on. Lastly, the technical issues: 1. cannot run from GOG Galaxy, had to run from File Explorer 2. game crashes occasionally
[Good] The tutorial don't feel forced The controls are well placed The cinematic is good The world is big and impressive Combat is enjoyable but... [Bad] Quick time events that let enemy commanders run away Quick time events that drop your health to critical Not able to use wraith mode from the highest vantage points Looks like a long long grind
This package is two games in one, but I have no choice but rate them as one. YS I has a tight design - never giving you too much weapons nor inventory. Each empty slot *will be filled*. It is a completionist's dream - bestiary; character logs; easter eggs. Even have the same Steam achievements. YS II is even a greater work of love - prettier; details (such as messenger pigeon arriving); flowersl lighting. YS II is definitely my pick over YS I. However, both are painful to go through. YS I has pretty difficult boss fights that would make you wanna quit. YS II is much easier, as there's now an element of magic. YS I limits your light range while putting you in mazes and teleportation devices. YS II wisely smooths this irritation, but it gives you a bigger map with... ladder mazes. It was then I call it quits. 2/5 stars because I did not enjoy it. Sure, they are works of love and the production value is great. But I cannot enjoy games if I have to refer to a guide for every screen transition.
[What I loved] I love its demo back when it was released. Contrary to what some 1-star reviews say, you *can* knock out almost every single person, or at least not have any blood on your hands. The mission rewards you for sparing lives. If you're paired up with a fighter, have 1 engage your enemy, and use the un-engaged Merry-Man to knock him out. [Difficult and Tedious Mission] The missions can be hard, even on the tutorial mission. You have to figure out that entering one door allows you multiple exits. It's hard to know who you're supposed to meet inside "the castle", when they should have said "the keep". Once you're out of the castle, you face a line of footmen that you won't be able to sneak up on, so it's "throw money bags and punch the last guy standing". Some save scumming would be required as he's not totally distracted. This makes the first mission tedious. Upon completion, I'm told that I didn't loot some 2000 gold pieces. What?! Shouldn't the tutorial handhold me on this? I'm no interest in replaying that! [Realism] After getting your head knocked in, should you call for a search? Also, guards are pretty short sighted. [Interface] Checking guards' vision requires me to mouse-over the desired guard. [Performance] Very laggy on Win10, removing much enjoyment. Base Game: 3/5 Current Laggy State: 2/5
The town and dungeon appears linear so it could only guide you to the first dungeon. However, it's so freaking dark that it's easy to lose your way. One should have have to depend on his inner dwarf to enjoy this game.
