Galactic Civilizations III
NOTE: This is a review of the Final Release Candidate for the game, so it should apply to the released version.
Having been a long-time GC2 player, I eagerly signed up for the Founder’s Edition early-access over a year ago, and have followed the development of GC3 since then closely.
Let me tell you, getting a 4X game that incorporates all the features that hard-core strategy gamers want, while remaining both relevant and competitive, is really hard. As in, EXTREMELY hard. StarDock has done an excellent job with GC3. That’s not to say there still aren’t quibbles over the direction certain features have taken, but the reality is, that if you actually want to release a game, certain decisions are going to have to be taken, and you’re sure to piss off someone who wanted that feature and didn’t get it. But GC3 is a solid and entertaining game, if not a radically innovative one.
– Real player with 2842.9 hrs in game
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First of all it is critical to understand that the game is still in beta testing and therefore has some glitches. That said it has been pretty stable for me. (Four year old dell xps 8100 with 16gb and a 750 Ti video card). At present the plan seems to be to a go for a final release in May. There will be frequent patches before then and perhaps a beta 6 release (beta 5, with enormous additions, was released yesterday (Mar26). If you don’t like encountering bugs and reporting them to help the game, then wait for the release. Of critical importance remaining is tuning the AI to be smarter and more aggressive, imo.
– Real player with 2285.4 hrs in game
Himeko Sutori
Himeko Sutori is a short story about a family of sisters and a journey they are forced into. The game is all delivered by a very small group, mostly a single developer as a labour of love and some contracted elements. This does leave some rough edges, but those work well enough.
I have played through multiple variations of the game and systems since its EA release 2 years ago, and my biggest praise has to be towards Nathaniel’s (Developer) commitment to his project, fixing things promptly and engaging with the community.
– Real player with 317.6 hrs in game
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I’m quite torn about this game. The positive rating is mostly to even out the negative ratings because I think the game is worth buying. But it could be much better than it is.
My biggest grudge is the leveling system. Instead of being allowed to pick whatever perks you want you have to choose something from three randomly picked cards. This means that quite often you can only pick things you do not want on that character. Welp, there goes a wasted level. You can always reload (and that’s what I usually do) until you are happy with the result. But that is a colossal waste of time and NOT FUN AT ALL. Much of my displayed playing time is actually reloading time and as such the opposite of fun playing time.
– Real player with 120.0 hrs in game
Curious Expedition
The Curious Expedition is yet another Kickstarter-spawned entry into the ever-growing field of Rogue-Likes, but with a refreshing new twist. This time around, the player takes on the role of a small party of 19th-Century explorers engaged in a gentleman’s wager - to travel the world on six concurrent expeditions, competing to see who can gain the most fame. It’s a fairly quick and lethal game, but that’s exactly what it’s meant to be - a good way to kill a few hours at a time, running expedition after expedition off to their doom.
– Real player with 150.3 hrs in game
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The Short Pitch
TCE is one of the best games in its class, a Roguelike-inspired strategy/adventure game that will leave you wanting more. Easy enough to beat several times in one day if you’re dedicated, yet hard enough to make every victory feel like you clawed your way to it from the depths of hades.
If you’re looking at this game and you’re even half sure you want it, get it. If looking at it fills with you a warm and gooey sense of longing for the hours spent huddled around CRT monitors taking turns playing The Oregon Trail, buy it. Even if you’re a more modern gamer, but you’re a fan of FTL, Caves of Qud, the Binding of Isaac, or similar, buy it.
– Real player with 82.6 hrs in game
Deity Empires
Short description:
DE is the most faithful (playable) successor to Master of Magic. It has some
*4x Fantasy Strategy with seperate magic and civic research
*points to spend on perks at game start
*sophisticated economy
*incremential elements like resource upgrades and unit leveling ( (which you can turn off))
*Tactical battles and Rogue like dungeon diving (simplistic Rogue Like at the moment but there is more to come)
A negative point is, that this game is complex and/but has very limited manual (and no tutorial). As I understand it, the devs wait for the big and essential updates, before they spend time on manuals. The DE community is very welcoming. The forum search function is your extended manual.
– Real player with 783.5 hrs in game
This review is from the perspective of someone who has played a significant amount of the Age of Wonders series and the Fall from Heaven 2 mod for Civ4. I’ve also dabbled in Endless Legend, Fallen Enchantress, Dominions, and Master of Magic.
Right now this game feels like a cross of Age of Wonders and FFH2, and I love it. Below are some of my thoughts:
City Development (Tall vs Wide):
Cities start weak but can become incredible powerhouses given time and investment. For example, a starting city will produce approximately 100 gold per turn, which is enough to fund a low tier army or a level 1 improvement every 5 turns. My capitol in my latest game, however, produces 4000 (!) gold a turn, and is still not yet fully developed. I basically don’t have to care about income because this city is basically El Dorado.
– Real player with 357.3 hrs in game
Old World
Old World is a historical strategy game where you lead your empire through multiple generations, building a grand legacy to last beyond your own years. This is an era of great leaders, from the revered to the feared. Which will you be?
Marry for politics, raise your heirs, and manage your relationship with the families of your kingdom. In the fast and furious world of kings and queens, family matters.
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Each of the 7 kingdoms has four noble families that provide various benefits when put in charge of your cities.
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Manage family ties through events, actions, and marriages to keep them happy and reap additional benefits. Upset them, or make them too powerful, and you risk their ire.
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Maintain a strong family unit, or distract yourself with more illicit adventures.
The world is full of great characters with distinct personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Use them to forge your kingdom, defend your borders, and build ties with other leaders.
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Seek out and recruit famed warriors, philosophers, builders, and more. Have them tutor your children, lead your armies, and further your reign.
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Different personality archetypes allow your court members to perform different tasks in similar roles. Find the right combinations to take full advantage of governors, diplomats, spymasters, and even your spouse.
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Characters develop new personalities and traits over time, growing old, gaining experience, and finally falling ill and passing away, leaving room for the next generation.
Unsettled tribes, barbarian marauders, and remnants of previous cultures are all waiting in the vast unexplored wilderness.
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Discover artifacts and great heroes of the past at ruins scattered across the map.
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Experience over 3,000 unique events inspired by history and mythology.
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Contact with foreign dignitaries triggers event chains, stories, and courtroom drama.
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Pursue ambitions and legacies related to conquest, development, faith, and more.
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Historically inspired scenarios, weekly challenge games, and a choice between randomly generated and handcrafted maps to explore. Lead Carthage to victory as Hannibal in the Punic Wars, hold your own against Barbarian Hordes, or compete against other players in tackling fictional scenarios.
Why do things the way they’ve always been done? Old World brings a new take to key elements of the 4X strategy genre:
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Go beyond the traditional resources. Buildings are made of wood and stone, not “industry.” Population doesn’t grow off “food” alone.
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Orders are a resource shared across your realm. Instead of moving every unit once per turn, each unit can be moved multiple times until fatigued or Orders are depleted.
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Technological advancement is not predetermined. Randomization helps keep technology trees feeling fresh with each new playthrough.
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Quality of life improvements, such as the ability to undo mistaken commands and nested tooltips, ensure you’re always making informed decisions.
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Play with friends in countless multiplayer modes — from hotseat, to asynchronous, to cloud play.
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Mods further open up infinite options for new worlds, empires, and dynasties — inspired by our real world, and by works of fiction as well.
Combined Arms Operations Series
IMHO, I can recommend this game with two caveats. The first is that this product is not for players new to wargames. For those gamers, Panzer Corp 2 might be a better, albeit more expensive, choice.
For experienced players, the game comes closest to Matrix Games' The Operational Art of War III-IV, although CAOS is much simpler to pick up and play.
Here’s the short-list of positives for this product:
1. The OOBs are exhaustive, and the historical units will be familiar to wargamers. The NATO symbols are a delight.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Very fun game, 10 times better with friends. Worth every euro.
Also the developers are active and extremely nice. They’re a role model for other developers.
– Real player with 12.7 hrs in game
Sid Meier’s Civilization® V
I played as the Iroquis, befriended the Incans, Aztecs, and Shoshone and then destroyed America, Spain, France, and England.
10/10 game the only historical game where I can undo white people crimes
– Real player with 842.6 hrs in game
It’s old…but, awesome….been playing this game off and on for well over 10 years…
– Real player with 655.3 hrs in game
Age of Wonders III
EDIT:
I have well over 1000 hours into this game (drat!) and every time I think of putting it down, I keep coming back. It’s been a long time since a game grabbed me like this one. Great game! replayabiliy is insane.
WOW!
Short review: If you have any doubts from the trailers and are thinking “Yeah, I want to get this game.” You are probably right and do so immediately.
For a bit more detail:
I’m not even more than 170 turns on a big map,I can already tell you that this is an awesome game.
– Real player with 3507.7 hrs in game
This game is absolutely incredible. It stays true to the style and feel of the previous games in the series, while also embracing some of the more modern elements in the 4X genre. Some may find the game a bit “simplistic” compared to other 4x games, but this is misleading. While this game is very easy to learn, and keeps most of the numbers and math pretty simple, there is an incredible amount of strategic depth to this game, and even after over 500 hours played, with 90% of that focusing on just one class, I am still learning new things.
– Real player with 938.0 hrs in game
Alliance of the Sacred Suns
A thousand years in the future, humanity’s last empire stands on the brink of collapse. Noble Great Houses compete for control over the decaying feudal state, while the lives of ordinary people have already begun the descent into an interstellar dark age.
You are the young emperor or empress, preparing to ascend the throne. You carry the last glimmer of hope for a brighter future among the stars.
Alliance of the Sacred Suns immerses you fully in the role of ruler. You will create your character, selecting from a variety of backgrounds and abilities. You will engage in conversations and develop relationships with your officials. You will make hard choices in illustrated narrative events, some threatening the stability of your fragile reign, others shining the faintest hope of a new dawn for your dying empire.
Your empire’s long decline means that you begin as ruler in name only. The nobility has coalesced into a handful of Great Houses, and their power has been growing for generations at the expense of imperial control. Members of the Great Houses dominate the imperial bureaucracy and complicate your rule. Yet, the strength of the Great Houses also provides critical support to your empire. A council of nobles serves as a check on your authority, but also a chance to build consensus for your policies.
You cannot micromanage the daily affairs of each planet in your empire, and you do not have omnipotent control of the economy or military. Instead you can only wield your authority as a real emperor or empress would, by managing relationships and politics to rule through appointed officials. Some serve as your governors, ruling planets and star systems in your name.
There are no build queues to micromanage. Instead, exercising wisdom in whom to entrust with official appointments will be critical to the development of planets within your empire. But you must tread carefully, and you cannot make appointments on merit alone. The scion of a powerful House may prove an incompetent governor, but stripping them of position may have consequences far worse than a badly run colony.
You too are a member of a Great House. Your House and those of the other noble families will each employ a unique playstyle. For example, Houses with a technocratic tradition will research advanced technologies to grow their power, while those with a mercantile culture strengthen their rule through economic growth and trade.
These factors will play out differently depending on which of several available scenarios you choose. Each scenario includes unique political situations and victory conditions.
Mods
Alliance of the Sacred Suns is built to support modding. Players can access much of the game mechanics and content through text and XML editing. We are excited to see what worlds modders will create using our politics-in-space framework.
Order of Battle: World War II
I would like to start off with saying I a form of dyslexia from a head back tramua I received in 2004 so excuse the grammer and spelling ,with this being said I want give this game a fair honest review . I am the person when reading reviews I look at how long the player played the game , amount of games as well as how many reviews .
I have been wanting this game for 6 months or more but could not afford the full price . I pay for my games do not get them in exchange for a 30 minute play and possitive review.
– Real player with 3926.0 hrs in game
I own all the current dlc for this game. In general I would reccomend this game for most strategy players. At first this game came with both sides playable. In the Pacific you could play as the Allies or the Japanese. Then the Devs decided to narrow the focus.
You then got some nice little dlc’s that were under appreciated areas of the war. The early Japanese vs Chinese conflict. This was great, but would have loved to play the Chinese, both Communist and Nationalist vs the Japanese. But due to the Devs choice to give less for the dollar and narrow the focus of the games to only one side. It was sad. But the campaign is lots of fun.
– Real player with 1128.3 hrs in game