Kim

Kim

Backed on Kickstarter and now a review two things i rarely do. Unless i feel something is special which Kim most certainly is in my opinion.

First off i have never read the book but i have now purchased and it’s on my reading list.

Kim is like a geography, history and survival game all rolled into one.

The first thing that appealed to me was that the gameplay reminded me of one of my favorite ever games Burntime a post apocalyptic scavenging game ( hint for your next game pleeeease devolpers this game design is perfect for it).

Real player with 43.6 hrs in game


Read More: Best Historical Open World Games.


Normally I don’t do reviews on the games I play, but when it comes to Kim I really felt that I should do one because of two things.

  1. First is obviosuly the merit to the game itself. It is really enjoyable, unique and probably one of the best indie games i have come across. Once you start a playthrough, you just immerse yourself in the character, the beautiful settings and the writing it offers. The music is lovely, so the deluxe edition is reccommended.

Gameplay wise, having to weigh in the pros and cons of actions as well as taking into account of the limited time and resources available to the character in the playthrough is the strongest element of the game. Basically, you have to make smart choices to score high but at the same time you also get to choose the high road or the low road in making decisions and that will put your own morality to the test, which I really like to see in all kinds of games.

Real player with 19.1 hrs in game

Kim on Steam

WARSAW

WARSAW

Some words to describe this game in the first place: dark, difficult, sad, beautiful and mind-blowing.

-As a history fan myself, I love this game; it contains beautiful artworks and a sad background, characters and encounters' artworks are worth collecting. You can see those faded historical moment vividly, while not as grand as those moments of Normandy, Pacific or Stalingrad, it gives people that feeling.

-As for the gameplay, not only the combat is difficult, player also has to manage the resources and ammunition they’ve got (yes, there’s an independent “supply” consumable item for purchasing stuff); unlike other games, this one is based on a true history event, with the ending of the story set, a heavy-hearted player must try to help those men and women to survive longer before they meet their ultimate destiny of doom. For me, it is like a mixture of darkest dungeon, this war of mine and valiant heart.

Real player with 100.1 hrs in game


Read More: Best Historical Difficult Games.


(Hopefully) FINAL UPDATE:

One month ago I said that I would keep my WARSAW review negative until more changes for the better were made to the game. I saw changes being made, MANY changes, so here I am again. So, with that being said, let’s (again) get to the bulk of it now (this time trying to not let emotions get too in the way of things like in my original review).

WARSAW had a VERY rocky launch but now it has been polished and updated so much that it can barely be compared to the way that it launched in. Game became better in basically every department, along with getting more content too.

Real player with 87.5 hrs in game

WARSAW on Steam

NovaMundi: The Spear of Chaquén

NovaMundi: The Spear of Chaquén

I love the game. It is very refreshing to find a game in a new world and based on a new-old mythology and set up. This is not a medieval fantasy or your generic story. This is about real events, with some changes in order to improve gameplay and storytelling but in such a way that is interesting. Of course, because it is in early access it has a lot to improve and tweak but I recommend to give it a chance and help the developer to develop…

Now, gameplay wise you have a party and you need to explore the (huge) map to finish missions. There are towns with markets where buy supplies and hire party members. At least for now and for me, the game can be hard. But there is a lot to learn that scratch that final part.

Real player with 8.6 hrs in game


Read More: Best Historical Early Access Games.


I’ll update my review as needed, but so far…

The game has huge potential. There are a few bugs, but it just released in early access, so give it a minute. Other than the bugs, I really like some of the game concepts.

The map is pretty big. I’m in day 35 or so and have only explored maybe 1/3 of it. Combat can be optimized, but it’s still pretty rewarding to watch 40 dudes just melt to your warband.

Excited to see what the coming months bring.

Real player with 4.5 hrs in game

NovaMundi: The Spear of Chaquén on Steam

Be the Ruler: Britannia

Be the Ruler: Britannia

Gameplay

In this game, it’s up to you to create your own story. Be the Ruler is an RPG in which the player takes on the role of a king and leads his dynasty through the ages. Every decision has its implications in the living world. Similar events can have dramatically different consequences. What kind of king you are determines what you can do in the world. Whether you prefer diplomacy, intrigue, conquest - it’s up to you.

Living World

To make Be the Ruler a true Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game, we built a living world where events happen regardless of your decisions. Your actions can influence them - often in unexpected ways. The elements of a living world consist of:

  • Randomly created nobles and other NPCs before the start of each game, with different attributes affecting their actions. Noblemen will marry, build their dynasties, and have their own goals. How you respond to them (or not) will determine the consequences of your actions.

  • Other kings have their own policies - conquests, alliances, state expansion.

  • You have unique relationships with each character in the game. These relationships are affected by your history, as well as how you relate to a particular group (i.e. nobility, priesthood, family).

  • If you choose to take action, the consequences will be felt in every aspect of the game - your resources, your relationships, the consequences of your decisions, the options available to you.

You, as king and as dynasty - create your own history in the medieval era.

Features

  • Start a family and create a dynasty - raise your descendants. Beware of your siblings, who are waiting to trip you up. Beware of romance.

  • Manage an early medieval kingdom based on personal relationships with your vassals. Solve their problems, judge them, punish them. Build relationships based on trust or power.

  • Create alliances, conquer provinces.

World

Welcome to the world of early medieval England. Many small kingdoms, which were formed on the ruins of the Roman Empire and the migration of the Saxons to Britain. You will be the king of one of them - Wessex. There are many castles to visit and conquer, towns which will pay you tributes. Mines that give you currency and farms that supply you with grain.

Be the Ruler: Britannia on Steam

Eiyu*Senki Gold – A New Conquest

Eiyu*Senki Gold – A New Conquest

Challenges became more varied compared to Eiyu*Senki: there are battles where you move forward (“scrolling” battlefield to reach new enemies), there are more optional challenges like Shambala, debuffs are more varied, you get one ancient hero from the start and bonus troops at the end of the battle now depend on factors other than speed. But all of this suffers from one huge problem: you don’t know what kind of challenge it is until after you chose units for the event, went through event dialogue and placed units on the battlefield. You didn’t want to engage in a lengthy scrolling battle without a healer? You absolutely needed someone with Curse or Grudge debuff for this boss? Too bad! The game basically mandates to either save-scum, consult the guide… or use a debugger to give everyone 1000000 troops or something. 6th layer of Shambala is flat-out unbeatable without this extra knowledge you cannot get in-game and a lot of other encounters feel frustrating as you try to power through the challenge with a suboptimal team.

Real player with 176.7 hrs in game

Playing Monopoly with your waifus

“In this game our brother conquers all the waifu in the world, Bwahahahahaaa!”

“True, but I am our brother official first imouto waifu”

“Me ke aloha, hau’oli honi honi no suru”

“Gawrr gawr! I bite cause taste good”

“Ewwhya! We need more ammo to conquer the world, get more dough and get even more ammo!”

“Baka Billy, f*ck you!”

“This game is only good because I, Marie Antoinette, am in this game!”

“Love overcomes all barriers in this world”

“Bwahahaha! I learned a lot in this game, now I want to put my name in a game too and record my name even more in the story!”

Real player with 68.2 hrs in game

Eiyu*Senki Gold – A New Conquest on Steam

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

It’s sort of a medium-heavy version of Gary Grigsby’s War in the East, some of the more arcane details tracked in WitE are extrapolated here. But not many, the logistics system is still very realistic in that if you don’t pay more attention to it than about anything else, your army groups are going to grind to a halt.

It also has considerably more internal political realism that WitE, you have relationships with all the generals in OKH/OKW and your theater commanders and of course Hitler, and how good or bad those relationships are can significantly alter gameplay. There are even small story lines, like your Chief of Staff is being a jerk and pissing off all the theater commanders, but he’s von Brauchitsch’s (your CO) nephew and you have to figure out what to do with him.

Real player with 1209.0 hrs in game

I am a grand strategy junkie. I love world military history and am a master of Hoi 1,2 &3. I also have played ck2, panzer corps and other games in the multitudes of genres to death. I have stayed away from these Decisive Campaigns because of what I perceived as a limited scope. I said to myself, I don’t want to just fight to paris or just to fight the eastern front then have the game be over. This kept me away for years from these types of games and damn I’ve been cheating myself.

This game is the perfect mix of strategy, tactical combat and role playing. It is a an excellent addition to any fan of military history, strategy, tactics or lovers of the turn based game. What is so very unique is the multitude of decisions you get to make as the overall commander of operation Barbarosa. I can not stress enough the journey you get to make as both officers above and below you haggle, beg, demand and interfere with how you execute the war. While these games have been around awhile, they are relatively new to steam and this is absolutely a fresh take on ww2 that I’d like to see more of……what this game does absolutely better then another other is put you in the generals chair.

Real player with 677.5 hrs in game

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa on Steam

大江湖之苍龙与白鸟

大江湖之苍龙与白鸟

The 11th year of Shaoxing in Southern Song Dynasty (1141 AD)

The Song and Jurchen-led Jin Dynasties were divided by the Huai River. The north of the river belonged to Jin and the south belonged to Song.

Song ceded many of its prefectures to Jin and paid tribute annually.

With even its emperor announced by Jin, Song became a client state.

Now, ten years has passed. Despite the seemingly peaceful relations between Song and Jin, there have long been turbulent undercurrents in the world of Kung fu.

The martial arts world is full of chaos, with numerous heroes standing out. Among them, there are the Four Wonders overshadowing all the others, named ‘East Shu’, ‘West Bo’, ‘North Gu’ and ‘South Po’…

[Classic pixel-art RPG for Chinese Martial Arts]

This is an SFC/MD-styled-pixel-art game. In-game scenes were inspired by Song Dynasty’s ink painting style, this game depicts an original traditional Chinese martial arts story, which takes you back to 1990s, the golden years of classic RPG games.

[High level of freedom for exploration]

With reference to the real ancient river terrain, we designed a huge map containing Jingzhou, Xiaoxiang, Bashu, Jiangdong and the central plains. Countless sects scattered amoung the map, with ancient towns and labyrinths. There is no fixed route. Go wherever you want and explore the world at your own pace.

[Multiple story plots, routes and teammates to meet and experience]

Experience stories with over 10 thousand words in text. Meet with different people along the journey; prodigals, talents, officers or bandits. You can choose to enjoy and relax in this world with friends, or work hard to gain the ultimate power. Choices are up to you.

[Many sects for martial arts cultivation]

There will be Sects to enter and hundreds of scriptures to learn. Sword, broadsword, staff, fist, palm, finger, dagger, musical instrument… Each Sect would have its own strengths.

Different attributes may end up in forming completely different KungFu sets, withover a dozen martial arts routes for you to develop.

The free trial version is open, add to your wishlist if you like it!~ヽ(∀゜ )人( ゜∀)ノ

大江湖之苍龙与白鸟 on Steam

Collapse: A Political Simulator

Collapse: A Political Simulator

The game is getting ridiculously hard with the new updates and the game balance is very poor (there are no proper tutorials on a game with such complex mechanism). Old bugs are unresolved and there are now lots of new bugs (such as the automatic override of your old save when you start a new one unless you exit the game and restart it from Steam, which would wipe out the save that you spent 10+ hours to play). Also, the game made no mentions about the conditions of the new crisis event ‘Mining Strike’ and my approval rating suddenly slides into the bottom after that event. Not to mention that the game was already very hard before these new updates, it is just unplayable after all these new updates that made the game mechanism even harder and more complicated. Bugs like ‘Russian requirement’ event freezing and Prime Ministerial maximum operability is only 75 made this game even worse. This game wasn’t ready to be released and need a total overhaul and rework

Real player with 164.0 hrs in game

The game is brutally hard I have spent over 90 hours trying to understand the game mechanics. even in sandbox mode the game is hard and since the last few updates the game in my opinion isn’t worth it at this moment. maybe in the next update i will reconsider. Also the game needs to have better english translation it is very hard to understand what you are doing in the game.

Real player with 90.9 hrs in game

Collapse: A Political Simulator on Steam

Kratoria

Kratoria

City-Building

Build cities with in-depth economic systems, resource chains, taxation, streets, decoration, and an unbreakable fortification.

With up to 100 different structures, the opportunities seem endless.

RPG Roguelike

Take off on your journey with your customizable, personal character and refine him throughout your countless runs.

Classical RTS

Battles in the style of classic RTS games, with a wide variety of units.

Defend your base from the oncoming hordes of enemies.

Over 8 Factions

Various asymmetrical factions from all over the ancient world with a touch of fantasy.

Face numerous Generals and Characters from different civilizations with specific traits and specialties.

Kratoria on Steam

Nautilus Epoch

Nautilus Epoch

On a small island in the Adriatic Sea lives a girl called Lily. Her world is turned upside down when she comes upon a strange sea shell. Upon making contact with it she finds herself in the future where the seas have all but vanished and fearsome creatures from the deep roam the surface. 

In her dreams Lily is visited by a being called ‘The Wonderer’ who tasks her with restoring the seas, the only way to save her family. But in order to do so Lily must first travel through time, confront unimaginable dangers, befriend creatures of the sea and ultimately learn the truth behind all life on earth…

FEATURES

Inspired by titles such as CHRONO TRIGGER, TERRANIGMA, ECCO THE DOLPHIN AND ABZU, NAUTILUS EPOCH combines the best of story-driven RPGs with endless mysteries of the deep

A unique turn-based battle system based on BIOLUMINESCENCE, which allows you to learn special skills and interact with the world using the power of light

EXPLORE multiple time periods from the Cretaceous to Ancient Greece to modern times, all realized in a beautiful watercolour style

TEAM UP with and control a wide variety of characters including humans, sea mammals, and even merman

Nautilus Epoch on Steam