Recent reviews by maethlin

Just get it already. It's amazing.

kick the squirrel

Great game, and the more I play it, the more I like it. It's been interesting seeing it start off with mediocre reviews, but I think a LOT of those reviews are from die-hard fans of JA2 v1.13 that were never going to be happy unless it was just an absolutely faithful remake of that game.

I was a huge fan of the original JA games, but I also went into this assuming it would be it's own game, with that Jagged Alliance flair, and that's exactly what I got.

The game is more zoomed in than JA2, and if you really expect the gameplay to revolve around the same type of combat (creeping forward slowly and setting up chokepoints and drawing in enemies) - you'll be disappointed. I've heard some say (disparagingly) that it's XCom in a Tropico setting, and while that's not entirely accurate, you can see the similarities - and for someone like me that's not really a bad thing.

The UI takes some getting used to, and I'm hoping they'll polishing things up to be more intuitive. But as I keep playing, the game keeps growing on me. It's not going to be a cakewalk if you are frivolous with your money and ammo. Even on the regular/default difficulty settings, you can get yourself into trouble quick, which I really enjoy.

Definitely start out with a few cheap mercs, and work your way up conservatively.

Also it definitely pays to have a few experts at everything, even early on you can get a decently rounded party which includes a medic, mecahnic, someone with decent wisdom, and someone with good explosives skill (you can make your main character fill one of these roles too in a pinch).

Very much looking forward to see how the game evolves and what the modding community does as well.

Yes I did get an early preview for free but I liked it so much I bought another copy as a gift for my son.

Excellent indie game! As a big Slay The Spire fan, this sort of thing is right up my alley. It's got some interesting mechanics that are totally new to me, and lots of replayability. The humor is great, particularly if you're familiar with the game dev world.

I'm not particularly good at StS type games, but the difficulty on this one seems just right.... it is challenging to me, but not so much that I get overly frustrated.

A very worthwhile title!

Such a great game. Rekindled my love for the guitar.

10/10 would do again.

Yes, the game could use some additional bugfixing (which will undoubtedly come in the coming weeks/months).

Yes, I do think due to time pressures and sheer scope of what they've undertaken, they had to take some shortcuts. (My only serious gripe on this front is the itemization, it feels very borderlands-ish... and while I love Borderlands, I thought such an exquisitely hand-crafted world would have worked better with hand crafted items.)

But those items aside, this is honestly a once in a lifetime game for me... as a crusty old gamer who has been gaming for over 30 years. The amount of content is absolutely staggering, and CDPR has legitimately hand-crafted an entire city that you can walk or drive end to end without a loading screen. This is an insane accomplishment, and I honestly don't know if we'll see something else like it in our lifetimes, no exaggeration.

In an era where games are monetized by using fellow players as the content, and selling skins, lootboxes and subscriptions, the hand-crafted open world single player experiences are a dying breed, and this honestly may be the very pinnacle of the art. I'm over 60 hours in, and I still often find myself spending hours not even questing, but just walking around gawking at all there is to see. The craftsmanship is just out of this world.

Yes, CDPR deserves some flak for how they handled the console launches (I honestly don't believe last gen consoles should even have been attempted at all, there is simply too much content for this game to ever run properly on those). But don't let that distract you from the fact that this is truly a magnup opus of single-player gaming. Some of the side quests will just punch you right in the gut in terms of storytelling.

Amazing, amazing game.

Amazing game. I'm 6 hours in, and a bit sad since most people say it's about 6-8 hours of gameplay, though it doesn't really feel like I'm at engame yet so maybe I'll squeeze 10 out of it in terms of the campaign. Of course there is the multiplayer game which is supposed to be great, but I love me some single player campaigns and it's the reason I bought this.

Even if it was over at 7hr mark, it still was worth it to me. Great gameplay, great gun and Titan feel, solid atmosphere and level design. Really innovative.

With some caveats, I think this game is actually incredible. I've seen a very wide range of reviews, and that is quite understandable, given how daunting Planetfall is to a newcomer. Actually, even for former Age of Wonders diehards (who haven't played the series in a while), I would say the game is not very approachable at first. I absolutely love turn based strategy and tactical games, yet my first couple of hours of Planetfall were a bit of a slog.

The tutorials aren't great. They are well meaning, but really only walk you through some mechanics and a lot of game concepts that can quickly become overwhelming. I don't know if they work for other people, but for me they didn't capture the essence of what I must do to expand, thrive, and win. They didn't explain a lot of the more nuanced mechanics of combat, or what things like "8* chance of inflicting soulburn" actually mean. That said, it was worth struggling through it, and doing some quick google searches to better understand nuances.

I feel like the campaigns, while making a really good effort at introducing the world and story, don't show Planetfall at its best. This is a shame, because I love the concept. Yet, a 4X game like this really doesn't lend itself well to micromanaged storylines with a ton of specific linear story missions. 4X games by their nature thrive when letting you just go out and colonize the world and grow your empire organically.

When I started playing scenarios, that's when I really started seeing the true genius of the game. There is an incredible amount of options, so much potential for modifications, and really great flavor to boot. Amazons and Assembly are particularly memorable to me, though I found the default Vanguard guys to be a bit underwhelming (probably by design, they are the most generic and really don't bring the flavor of the other groups.)

The more I play, the more I uncover. There is just so much to like here... the pace is somehow fantastic once you get the hang of it (initially I was put off and thought it dragged, but that's really more because I had no idea what I was doing). Once you get the hang of it, development actually happens pretty quickly. The Civ-like parts of it play out much more quickly which is great (I love Civ but it's way too slow for me, I just don't have that kind of time anymore). The tactical battles feel random at first, but once you start understanding strategies and troop mods, you really start to figure out how to play each faction to their strengths.

I worry that the game is so huge in it's scope and ambition it will put most people off. I hope I'm wrong, and that enough people will perservere through that initial learning curve to get to the point where they are enjoying everything this title has to offer.

Adds more content to an already great game. People are complaining about the price but I had no issue with it, there's so little good turn-based stuff these days and I'm more than happy to support this effort at bringing the Battletech world to life.

Summary:
A true hidden gem that really hits that turn based strategy/rpg sweet spot. Gameplay that just gets better and deeper the further you get. Decievingly simplistic in appearance, but offering a very good challenge and real thought and care in building an army. This is an indie title that holds up the tradition of some giants in the console world such as Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Will Appeal To:
Anyone who enjoys meaty turn-based strategy along with RPG-like progression (similar to xcom or jagged-alliance-style buildup of veteran units). If you like some challenge in your games, and a real chance to lose if you just charge in without thought - this game is for you. If you enjoy gearing up your characters, picking who gets to wield that fancy new sword or staff or suit of armor, to best compliment your characters sklls, this is for you. If you like to customize your chars stats on level-up, this game is for you. It's even got some storyline to follow, and while it comes off as goofy at times, it's actually entertaining in itself.

Why you should give it a try:
Honestly, it's shamefully underpublicized in my opinion. If you played the mobile games in the Kingturn series, this is by the same developer. THAT SAID, this is NOT just a simple mobile port. EVERYTHING about the game has been improved - new scenarios, much improved graphics and animations, tons of quality-of-life improvements, more items, etc. Really, this is so much more than a re-tread - I LOVED the mobile Kingturn games, but I'm enjoying this desktop experience even more.

It's not expensive, and I've already sunk over 24hrs of playtime into it - plenty of campaign left to play! It is well worth the money - give it a spin, and don't just play a single scenario or two - you'll notice your gameplay options and depth just increases with each new challenge!