The Banner Saga
Fantastically well done story and presentation, but one of the most AWFUL gameplay designs imagineable.
Story+Dialogue: 9/10
Presentation: 10/10
Gameplay: 5/10
The banner saga tells the epic tale of individuals fighting for survival in a dying world that dead Gods no longer watch over.
The story was great, interesting characters, dramatic plot twists, and serious consequences you wont see coming.
Your choices DO matter. And while watching the overworld slowly crumble under the pressure of enemies, there are many fun choices you’ll make.
– Real player with 34.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy RPG Games.
I have mixed opinions about The Banner Saga, but I’m still very happy to have played it. Most of the time, when I find games to be surprisingly brief, it’s generally to their benefit. However, this is one title where I felt like it ended before it could really shine. I’m appreciative that it didn’t drag itself out, but at the same time it’s always a bit jarring when the end credits sneak up on you.
The Banner saga is some weird mesh of grid based strategy rpg (Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, FFT/A) and…the Oregon trail. And Vikings (or something resembling Vikings). However, only the first part of that hybrid combination does the game feel polished, gameplay wise. The game’s most notable feature when it comes to the primary battle engagements is the Armor/Strength duality, as well as Willpower and Exertion mechanics. In order to deal a lot of damage to most enemies, especially Dredge, you first have to spend time working down their armor instead of trying to outright lower their health to zero. This is only a small wrinkle to the normal rpg standby, but it is implemented well enough to have two interesting results. One, it creates some very real consequential moments where you’ve got a unit able to do decent armor or strength damage and you can’t be certain whether you should really strip the armor down further or if you should take a chunk out of the enemy health so that they might be finished off sooner. Secondly, it creates much needed class specialization where certain units are much more adept at stripping armor while others are better set finishing weakened foes. The game then allows you to use some basic accessory-equipment to either further specialize (giving an armor-break boosting equipment to someone already well equiped to break armor) or to make certain units more versatile. One thing that I suppose I wasn’t used to is that the class-roles are specified and listed on the heroes pages, but they still don’t seem as iron-clad or strict as those in games such as the Japanese srpgs I listed earlier (where the class given to a unit is much more defining). I couldn’t tell you which units were which class off of the top of my head, only what each given unit was good at performing in battle. I suppose it feels a bit more organic this way.
– Real player with 33.6 hrs in game
Fallen: A2P Protocol
I watched the trailers, and the thought that went through my mind was “Awwww Yeaahhhh, post-Apocalyptic X-Com!!”. I waited for a while until it was on sale, because I’m a miser like that, and I got at at 75% off. Whoooo boy, that was probably the best decision I made. Quickie run down, Do I reccomend it? No. Also Yes, but then more No.
Here is the thing. The mechanics work simlar to X-Com, maybe even slightly better because instead of 2 actions each round you may be able to run, shoot, and then run, or stab someone three times, or other options. Its actually a superior action point system in my mind. The graphics while not stunning are surpisingly good too.
– Real player with 86.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy RPG Games.
SHORT VERSION
Short, unfinished, unbalanced, not well optimized, bugged and last but not least - abandoned (there are no more signs of life from devs at all since 2016-01-27) turn based tactic with very weak AI and a lot of weird stuff. Get it on sale for 5 bucks if you are really interested in such kind of games and don’t mind to support a developer/publisher, who basically has thrown a “half baked” product out on market and disappeared after that.
LONG VERSION
Discovered this title while in early access and went for it in October 2015 after it was officially released and got a couple of patches/updates. Now after 70 hours spent I am pretty sure that I have seen and done everything possible within this game, so for all those of you who ask yourself “should I get it or not?” I got an answer. The answer is - no, unless there is a discount like -80% or better. Now some of you may ask “hmm, but what’s wrong with it? Trailer looks promising, screens are looking good… okay-okay there were some bugs, but devs are fixing it, right?” and this question is legitimate for sure.
– Real player with 70.3 hrs in game
Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure (Chess)
TL;DR A game of chess and chess-puzzles, with an extremely high-cliché fantasy theme. Quite engaging, highly-polished and very enjoyable.
Full Review
I discovered this title by accident, but wow… what a surprise! I quite like chess, but it does tend to be a) quite clinical and b) too difficult. This game, however, fixes that! Chessaria comes with a quick-play mode against the computer with a few chess variants (standard chess, plus some asymmetric variants and other unusual scenarios). It also has a multiplayer mode, that lets you play against friends online. And then there is the “Adventure” (the single-player campaign). The Adventure takes you on a journey through the land, and presents 100 varied and engaging chess puzzles (and the occasional full game of chess).
– Real player with 53.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Turn-Based Strategy Tactical Games.
Disclaimer: I received this game for free, full disclosure on the full Review
Video Review:
On Steam I was browsing and saw someone had a game called Chessaria on a wishlist or had just purchased it. I took a look because I’m a fan of chess. Maybe not the biggest fan but I’ve played over 100 games on lichess.org (my profile page) and more elsewhere, so I know what I’m doing. Chessaria brought back memories of when I first got into computer chess and promised tactical puzzles with Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure. Alright, it had my attention.
– Real player with 14.8 hrs in game
Colonial Conquest
First off, yes, this is a rather simplistic Strategy game and will not appeal to some. That said, you have to take into account that this game is a remake of a 1985 classic SSI game of the same title. I played that game ALOT and it was always a lot of fun back them.
If you do not have the time to sink into a massively complex game and still want the satisfaction of crushing those who oppose you, this will be a fun game.
If you want to micro manage your forces every move and take days playing, this will not be the game for you.
– Real player with 60.8 hrs in game
The visuals are quite nice, with a lovely boardgame-like map to play on, and nice detailing and backgrounds on the menus. They certainly got their hands on a good artist. What you see in the screenshots is exactly what you get. Unfortunately that is the ONLY thing you get.
What the game promises, and what it delivers, are two very different things. The video on the store page suggests a cunning and strategic game of influence and military control over the uncivilized regions of the globe, but don’t be fooled: The game itself plays rather like a game of Risk where you can’t see your opponent’s pieces and every coastal territory is adjacent.
– Real player with 57.0 hrs in game
Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut
August 22nd 2017: W2 Review by Tandberg_J (steam account name) (tandbergj@gmail.com )
Summary:
“The absolute dream for fans of the classic style of Fallout 1, and Fallout 2, and it’s still a good game even if you are just casually familiar with Bethesda’s Fallout reboots.”
This review is for the Director’s Cut Edition, which in 2017, has been mostly debugged, and is very stable. I play on a PC for the record, and can’t comment on the console ports. But, I’ve played and beat the original PC version as well, before the director’s cut was released, so I’ve seen the game’s development and refinement. (I recommend learning how to edit your save game files, [they are plain text .xml files,] as this allows you to avoid some glitches that might affect your game in purely mundane minor ways, and you can avoid little annoying bugs like not getting credit for a small side quest) Also, you can edit your characters and give them some clothing and aesthetics that are not available in the vanilla game. But this is optional of course. Also there is a huge mod scene for this game, which I can’t really say I’ve tried.
– Real player with 393.8 hrs in game
Did they pull it off?
I don’t quite know what I was expecting when I first backed the Kickstarter. Wasteland was a beloved classic, my first proper PC game, and it showed me just what games were really capable of. Problems with more than one solution, missions that could be failed without forcing a game over, the player’s responsibility to build a balanced team, the combination of descriptive paragraphs with the limited graphics to paint a more vivid picture; the experience blew my fragile little mind at the time. A contemporary title can do many or even all of those things, but whether they can match that feeling - the impression that I’m playing something truly groundbreaking - is a much more loaded question.
– Real player with 165.0 hrs in game
Shadowrun Returns
Let me start out by saying that this is the first Shadowrun game that I have ever actually played. Yes I have tried the 1993 Shadowrun for the Super Nintendo but I could never get into it due to it’s… Interesting controls (read point and click with a controller). But the game concept and the universe intrigued me, Over the years I forgot the name of it several times but would bring it up every few years and try to find the name of it and feel that they should remake it for the pc where it ultimately belonged. Well a few months ago was one such time that It popped into my head, I did a quick search for it and what did I find but a new Shadowrun being made for its proper platform (psst its the PC). I instantly fell in love with the style and everything I say was just the best thing I have ever seen.
– Real player with 42.1 hrs in game
Heads up, I need a runner and you need the Nuyen, are we on the same page? Good. If you’re used to quick and easy jobs, well you’d better strap on tight. This one’s a slap to your senses, a bug in the system, a pair of fools in an all-star hand.
If ‘get the job done’ is your middle name, then that’s all I need to know.
Whaddaya say, chummer?
Shadowrun Returns is a lone-wolf style, turn-based strategy with RPG elements, set in the year 2054 within the gritty underbelly of Seattle, combining an urban cyberpunk fantasy with the abrasive narrative of a seasoned crime novel.
– Real player with 25.5 hrs in game