King of Dragon Pass
I am of extremely conflicted opinions on this game. TL;DR, this game is unique enough that if you have any interest in its concept at all, you should probably get it at least on sale, in spite of its flaws.
I also will not weigh in on the GOG versus Steam versions debate, as I don’t own the GOG version. The GOG/classic PC version is less expensive, and has your clan tula (lands) improvements shown on a map, while the Steam/iOS version has higher resolution support.
That said, the good:
This is a game of serious choice-and-consequence gameplay that isn’t bound up in a single black-and-white morality system. It can be a serious game of strategic choice and risk-management, as well as role-playing. The world, in particular, is rather detailed, and while the simulation is rather simple, it does manage to leave a sense of verisimilitude in the world. Other clans have military and economic strengths where their casualties and losses are recorded, and other clans feud and raid in the background without you.
– Real player with 95.8 hrs in game
4/5
King of Dragon Pass has rich and well thought out world. The story is captivating, events have consequences and you can get attached to your clans ring and its candidates.
I have finished a short campaign, and I still have a lot to learn. I played as a passive peace clan, who traded and avoided conflict, but I had my fair share of it. The diplomacy felt a bit wonky and randomized. Warring felt unimpactful and tiresome. The events were really the cream of the game. In the end all I really wanted to do was solve the issues of the clan. Everything else was and felt trivial to me.
– Real player with 43.3 hrs in game
60 Seconds! Reatomized
I picked up 60 Seconds! Reatomized for only £3 and its definitely been worth my money. The game is one of my favourites of all time and I’m happy to gotten all the achievements for it.
The main premise of the game is to survive the apocalypse until you get one of the game’s many endings. However this is easier said than done and there may be a couple things that try to stop you from reaching your goal. You’ve got to manage food, water ,other supplies and sanity to survive.
The characters are likeable, unique and have their own personalities, the setting is very reminiscent of the mid 20th century, the atmosphere is dark and comedic and the soundtrack (even though there isn’t much on it) really sets the mood. I have also never encountered a single bug or had an issue at all which really made me appreciate the game more.
– Real player with 39.5 hrs in game
A refreshed version of 60 Seconds!
This review will be short because not too much has changed compared to the basic version of the game.
Review of 60 Seconds!
https://steamcommunity.com/id/NajMad2000/recommended/368360snr=1_5_9__402
Two endings have been added, which are long-term, meaning that we have to play a few games and count on luck to unlock them. Also, the game interface has been changed in the menu, and also in the bunker. The book has several tabs, which we can operate without clicking arrows. Additionally, we have some new events.
– Real player with 32.9 hrs in game
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story
I am a huge fan of the Valthirian Arc flash games on Kongregate, and I will sink hours into them, creating stories for my students and being really eager to see how they grow and evolve- I truly love those games. So with flash no longer being supported after this year, I was thrilled to discover I could buy the next iteration on steam and show my support for the developer.
Coming in with this high expectation, I was deeply disappointed. Playing through the game, you can see the seeds of fantastic ideas- a Game of Thrones style division of kingdoms, diverse maps and styles of missions, unique student classes and trees. However, none of these ideas come to fruition, and are stunted by a number of bugs in the game itself. There’s no personality to the kingdoms until the ending cutscenes- and no bonuses or reason to ally with any of them other than using their missions for leveling your students. The maps become highly predictable and tedious, and the random generator was constantly giving me strength based students - and without individually clicking on each recruit, no way to scroll through recruit options- so my teams were terribly unbalanced. Which, I discovered, didn’t matter at all, so long as my students had high level weapons, which I could use to artificially boosts student stats in their weak area (You’re dex based? Take a dagger that adds 200 strength). At the same time, I had no idea of those stats affected them (why does a Knight or Scout need MP? Does Dex boost attack speed for all classes? Does strength boost my Mage’s attack power, or only their intelligence?). Moreover, besides their special ability, I don’t understand the differences (if any) between the top tiers of students- why would a paladin be more useful versus arc draconus of the same level? The difficulty systems means nothing after the first chapter, because one or two star missions can be just as difficult as four stars, which can also be pitifully easy. This is frustrating because when I (am FORCED to, as opposed to previous systems where you could stockpile Fame for the next requirement) graduate my high level students, it’s really hard to get my new apprentices up to a workable level when the only options for grinding exp is the two “training” missions that don’t award XP for completion (and you earn a pitiful amount for defeating every creature on the map). These are things I could learn to live with, even enjoy, but the game itself is terribly bugging. If my students level up on the mission, there’s a good chance they glitch and cannot attack or interact with items, although I can control and move them, which makes the game think I can still finish the quest when I can’t. Several times the game crashed when I loaded it and started specific missions. Many of the arrows that allow you to scroll through menus don’t actually work, and I have no way of scrolling through my buildings, rooms, or floors. The list goes on.
– Real player with 49.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choose Your Own Adventure JRPG Games.
I backed this on Kickstarter and they delivered a decent product. It’s not a terrible game. It’s just middle of the road and you could probably be playing something better.
The game play loop has you level up heroes, make a skill choice or two, and then change to an advanced class and start leveling up again. Every “semester” you’re supposed to graduate at least 1 student in exchange for getting a ton of money and “fame” which allows you access to the advanced classes. As the game goes on, a character’s max level for different classes gets higher which gives them access to more abilities within that class. You’re encouraged to graduate characters at max level, so you need to be earning your graduates a lot more experience as the game goes on.
– Real player with 31.0 hrs in game
Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Facts:
One time I played this game instead of studying for midterms. I never did better on midterms in my life.
Opinions:
This game is minigame-based-game-making done right. Sailing, naval battles, land battles, swordfights, dancing, sneaking into and out of town, and searching for treasure are each done in distinct minigames which are (except for sneaking and searching) engaging enough that I never think, “Aww, dang, THIS again. If only I could skip this.” (and sneaking and searching are only needed rarely enough to be a nice change of pace 90% of the times).
– Real player with 227.4 hrs in game
“SAIL HO!
The lookout reports a sail on the horizon.
Shall we?”
…
I don’t know how many times I saw that phrase in the past. I must tell you, that I’m in an easy, yet really hard position to share my view about this game. Because how could I write a subjective review, while being an ultimate fan of “PIRATES!” C64 version? Just look at my avatar here… :)
Some reviewers here already shared some really useful and detailed information about certain parts of the game… “pros and cons” are known for now… so for this time, let me please share my feelings, impressions, and express my passion for the game with you instead. Hence this won’t be a “generic” game review.
– Real player with 76.2 hrs in game