Flagris: I do like
Drox but when I have known
Din's Curse I've found it probably the best Soldak game so far. Yes, Drox looks different but it's just that 'clan-based' game again, only put in the space. And it often (all the time, in fact) feels quite chaotic and hectic (even with Drox involvement set to minimal).
Din's Curse IMO is better suited for the first acquaintance with Soldak style of game design.
Din's Curse is my personal favorite as well. I think the design is super tight there. However, I recognize that Drox is really good at what it does, and there are some design choices that make Drox superior to the other clan-based designs:
* The fact that you're NOT the leader of a faction makes a huge difference. You cannot exploit the AI to overwhelm your opposition. You're always a small fish manipulating the galaxy rather than just generically trying to expand. You always have to rely on other races, and watch what they're doing. I do think the game could use better ways of observing what those races are doing, but nevertheless, this is a wonderful design choice.
* Tying skills to items automatically fixes the biggest problem with Soldak ARPGs, which is their skill balance. You'll get to switch between multiple skills as you upgrade.
* Space games look better on a low budget. There's no background to render, and no animations since ships just rotate and move about. This makes it much easier for small devs to compete. There's a reason Indies love to make space games, and this is it.
* Making enemy 'bases' aka planets small, and putting them all on the same map as the solar system, is much more interesting than having a 'base map' in the fantasy Soldak ARPGs. It means that colonized solar systems, which contain planets and therefore potentially many alien bases, can be much easier or harder, depending on your relationship with those races. It means for example you can bring monsters over to planets to wreak havoc. This makes bases much more dynamic. It's an abstraction that has huge positive gameplay repercussions.
* The ability to help or hinder different races using quests and deliveries is terrific, and unique to this game.
The main down sides vs something like Din's Curse:
* Monster enemies are hard to remember and are more forgettable.
* Moment-to-moment fighting in general, while cool looking, isn't as visceral as when you fight hand-to-hand.
* The quest system isn't as effective in Drox, because you're not assisting your own race. You need to really care about a race for them to mean as much.
