Massive Chalice

Overall I found the game to be very enjoyable, even with this mention that the game is less than what it should be- which is easy enough to see, yet at the same time fairly acceptable given the product as it is. To boil it down, the game is very clean and minimalistic, focusing well on art style, character and gameplay, but sorely lacking on lore and world development- despite hinting at a rather enticing story which never comes into it's own. The best comparison would probably be a mix of X-com and Rogue Legacy, with a hint of Darwinia mixed into the art side of things. As far as the tactical gameplay is concerned I think it's superior to X-com- at least, there's no penalty for blowing up the enemies. You also get to move the enemies around a lot and slam them into things. Quite satisfying. The game feels better paced, but is also shorter- the finale is suitably epic as well, at least if you've done well enough to survive. Nice music. Also extremely well balanced- the RNG is minimised and if someone dies it's generally clear what happened. I found a number of strategies to be effective- stealth spotting and sniping- AoE nuke- maximising stuns. Heroes can become extremely epic at max level. The character of the game is extremely well done, but comes with a problem- there's only two of them- two characters. Good characters, and much needed too, otherwise the experience really would be rather lonely. Unfortunately you never really learn much of their past even though they hint at a previous life. In fact you never really learn much about the world at all, save that it is beautiful and in ruins. The game could have been much more than it was, which I see more as a good thing than a bad. It's probably worth the discounted price, you'll have to judge for yourself. It's certainly artsy and creatively made, with a healthy dose of both humour and serious undertones. All from those two disembodied voices. I'd definitely recommend the game for study though.

First I'll say that I'm confused by people saying things like "It's similar to XCOM but without the fun," mainly because it's a fairly straightforward turn-based strategy like 1000 other games (not only XCOM), and fits very well into the genre. Pros: - Outside of battles, you perform research along a timeline and hope that your research finishes before the next attack you must defense. This adds interesting tension and decision-making to the game outside of battle. - The members of your kingdom age, and thus gain experience (which nicely stacks through generations as older generations teach younger ones what they've learned). - There are some interesting special weapons that sort of magically appear that you can pass through on to heirs when they die. - It's a really cool feeling watching your vanguard grow old and gain experience as the years pass. You kind of grow close to the reliable ones if they entered the vanguard at a young age and have gone through several battles with you. - The battle system is very good. The UI is easy-to-use and the overall feel of the battles is awesome. It's not long enough to ever feel repetitive. - The art is very cool if you like the simplistic overly-polygonal look (which I do). - It can be pretty funny at times. Cons: - The alchemist classes are too powerful at upper levels. I can finish the final encounter with 3 of them fully leveled. - The choices that pop up out of battle are silly and inane, and often feel like you're playing a choose-your-own-adventure story where the outcome is completely random. It often has little, if anything, to do with the actual choice you made. - The game seems too hard for the first 100 years and too easy for the last 100 years. - The ending seems to pack in a moral while the rest of the game was largely story-free. They missed an opportunity to add a cool story, or to ignore it completely. It feels out of place as is. Overally, solid game, good replayability. Pick it up.

Backed this on Kickstarter, basic level pledge. Xcom-style, 2-Action Point Turn Based Strategy with 5 heros. In the game you fight a variety of enemy opponents, each with their own unique characteristics. On the strategy layer, you run a kingdom, building keeps, research buildings and training citadels while marrying off different heroes and creating "blood lines". The game intends to create player connection not with a hero, but rather with a line of heroes. However, for my part I never found it really hit the mark. Unlike a game like Xcom, each generation of heroes will only see at most 1 or 2 battles so there's really not much opportunity to care about any of them. Many won't even see combat, and will instead serve as baby machines, scientists or training masters. This game is really an economic game. The goal on the strategic layer is to create a sustainable source of heroes, which over time accumulate a greater wealth of experience which they in turn pass onto their children. So by game's end, even your new heroes are leveled up quite substantially and you have a healthy variety of class types. As the game progresses, you quickly assign people to tasks not based on who they are, as in family names, but simply by their attributes. Is this hero infertile? Scientist. Very fertile? Keep lord or consort. Research finding a baby to continue a bloodline, etcetera. So, overall the game lacks player connection with the heroes. The enemies are well varied and interesting, but I feel there could be another 1 or 2 classes added to the mix. The hero classes are unique but often confusing the first time around, especially when you get into hybrid classes. The art style is great, the voice acting is good but get lacks variety. You will hear the same quips many times over. The final battle has some great touches as well. Overall it's worth a play.

For a pure x-com clone the combat system is medicore at best. You are stuck with a fairly linear set of classes that are not interesting in the slightest. The progression trees are simple agian like the new x-com however i never really felt they are all that impactful to the way combat flows. The stealth system is nice on the hunters but the game lacks overwatch. There is also a lack of decent cover in most of the levels i played. The game shines most in the overworld where you are taken to polishing your troops and their heirs in a rogue legacy style system. But because they die off with quite a bit of regaularity due to old age mainly or random combat. You don't really care much for any of them, And the actual effects of the traits also are not the most obvious in combat either. There is also an interesting story being told here in nuggets of information here and there. I feels a little like Codex Alera series by jim butcher. All in all. Meh. its ok but doesn't hold my interest.