I love this game, the interaction between the characters, and the way they react according to their traits is really wonderfully done.

My only regret is not backing this when I had a chance, would've been nice to be able to get Esteban.

Agreed 100%

Why? He's murdering bastard who kidnapped and almost killed Isabela de Yruenes (well, depending your actions he can also kill her). I've also read he rewerts to standard recruit level soldier with no special abilities if recruited and has no additional dialog beyond that point.

A) I like having as many options as possible, especially when it comes to followers
B) He actually has a unique event over in Mexico somewhere, something involving a dropkick apparently. (avoiding spoilers :))

C) Fabulous beard.

Indeed, how much for an Esteban DLC or even better a character (follower) generator?

Daw, so the only way to get Esteban is to go back in time and do the Kickstarter thing?

Yep. I tried to edit him in via copying the mission and turning it into a mod, but they must have expected someone to try that - the game lets me have him, then BOOM he mysteriously becomes "absent" for no reason. Bastards.

Personally I don't want him on my team anyway (after that sacrifice he can forget it), but I do want the OPTION of having him as a matter of principle. This exclusive "backer-only" bullshit I don't agree with. Couldn't they have given the backers a free T-shirt or something instead?

Finished playing it, and completely agree. I thought there were minor flaws like forced traveling of long distances, but one can easily bypass that by taking a break or using the dev console; I did the latter a lot near the end because I wanted to end it :p Quite simply, though, this is the best strategy game I've played to date- love the setting, the theme, the gameplay, the his/storytelling, and the nonlinear narrative, all done wonderfully. Going to buy another copy, straight from the devs this time, because this stuff was awesome.

SPOILERS BELOW

I think one of the best moments in the game was when a companion of yours leaves, for me it was Coyotl; this was only made better by having to face the guy in battle the next time you see him. Really sad state of affairs, but awesome game-making and storytelling; the exchange between you both wasn't kitschy or anything, so that was great. I didn't try to stop him, but maybe I should have.

But I don't think I am ready to play the game again. I think the fact that it's so close to real life makes playing the game a bit mentally exhausting by the end, but a rewarding, and humbling, experience all the same.

I'm really glad you liked it :)

Agree totally.

I think it's one of those sad cases where lack of marketing/awareness hurt sales more than anything else. For one, most people (myself included) weren't even aware about this as a kickstarter. Secondly, once released it was a while before I realised what it was and whether I would like it.

The reviews the game got were on the whole pretty positive (barring some bizarre cases where the reviewer confuses this game with some kind of pro-Colonisation educational title).

On the one hand this seems strange when there are lots of other games doing really well even though they didn't set out to massively market themselves. On the other hand, this is probably because those other games automatically appeal to so many people and/or they already had a "name brand" thing going with lots of other people (meaning those other people will effectively do your marketing for you - e.g. Shadowrun Returns (which used the same game engine as this BTW), FTL, the upcoming Wasteland 2 will no doubt do well, etc.).

In contrast, this game appears to have more of a niche appeal - with many people who would like it not noticing it. Hopefully this will change for when the next iteration is made...

I'm enjoying it too. I've become a fan of tbs/rpg hybrids recently. I thought I was doing okay as well, until I was attacked on a hill and had to survive ten turns. I lasted 5 :-/

I really enjoyed this game too. It helped to turn me on to these tactical tbs games. I played shadow run returns after this and I liked it, although not as much as this :-)

I have SRR Dragon fall and I'm looking forward to playing it.

Just finished the game today, after having lots and lots of fun days with it. My wife already hates it. So good thing it ended now, it was a really great experience that raised my interest in the whole matter. I might drop into the library and get me a book on the subject.