Recent reviews by Sandsifter

This game is really good. I play a lot of strategy games; military, fantasy, etc. I've never played fire emblem, or a game similar to this though. I usually stay away from JRPG-type games. No particular reason. I just don't like the art-style.

I also never play one game exclusively. I rotate among 3-4 at a time. This game broke that rule. I just can't stop playing it.

I wrote this review with two chapters to go, in case the ending annoys me, and it taints my overall opinion. I doubt it will though.

The most fun I've had in a year or two. Highly recommended.

I'm really enjoying this so far. I've played a ton of turn-based games, and the different variants. The story is actually decent, the game-play is smooth as hell, very well optimized; no GPU spikes. Party management is fun. Basically, it's like a simplified and more forgiving Battle Brothers, which in my opinion, is the gold standard in this genre.

I'm not crazy about the dungeon play. It just doesn't seem to fit well. I loved Darkest Dungeons, but I just don't like those mechanics mixed in here for some reason. Besides, I absolutely hate any time of a timer in a game. Just me.

I'd prefer more encounters on the map, and less dungeons. It would feel more open-world to me that way; let me play at my pace.

I wanted to wait until I put 30+ hours into the game before I posted a review, since I'm the type of gamer that gets bored rather quickly. I tend to jump around a lot and play 5 or 6 different games during a typical 3 hour nightly gaming session.
Additionally, if I'm still playing a game which has cost me less than a dollar per hour played, I figure I've gotten my money's worth.

I bought Roguebook when it first hit steam, mainly because I was an early Faeria player, and I thought it would be similar. I refunded it after an hour, because it was obvious that this game shared very little it's CCG cousin.

I'm glad I tried it again though, because it's a very good Rogue/Card game in it's own right. It was a bit bit frustrating at the beginning, until I got familiar with the puzzle-like aspect of the map; balancing picking more voluntary fights (with more damage to my heros' precious health), with the chance of obtaining a powerful item or card to help me progress.

I rarely keep playing these types of games after I've completed the first run and unlocked all of the characters, but I just unlocked the final Hero and see myself putting a bit more time in trying out her style. It gets repetitive like most games in this genre, but uncovering the map is still quite enjoyable.

I only wish the actual design of the map would be more random, and not just the location of objects. Every level basically starts out the same: Visit the merchant, open a box, start the first fight (usually mandatory since he is blocking the way to the S>N path), walk up that narrow path to open another box and then move north a hex or two more to reveal a location. From there on, it's trying to figure out the most efficient way to visit the tower on the left and the one on the right to open up even more of the map.

The game design probably dictates this approach, since randomizing the map with something like the Boss to the West, and 2 towers to the East, would have players screaming about the bad RNG if the map proved to be too difficult to uncover.
I'm starting to hate that little path though.

The graphics are pleasant, the battles range from simple to very challenging, and overall the progression is well-balanced.

I would recommend it to the casual player like myself. I can't speak for the hardcore players and whether it would hold their interest for hundreds of hours.

This game is perfect if you like dropping into an hour or so of D&D type play. I only just started the game but I can tell that it's a game I'll want to savor, not devour. Looks good, sounds good, plays smoothly, and is actually pretty funny. I'm in my sixties, but I can still appreciate the humor. Good luck with it Devs.

I wasn't sure that I liked this game during the first hour or so. It was very generic, and I was running around a lot to complete the usual boring quests that are typical of this genre. Then it started opening up a bit, and I decided to give a bit longer.

The lack of convenient fast travel almost kills this game. You can craft potions to do it, but it takes about 1/2 hour (?) to do that, and unless you were in a Kickstarter campaign or an early donor, you can't really store many potions for later use. So many times I just drank a health potion, at full health, to make sure I had room for 2 fast travel potions to go somewhere and return.

I'm about 18 hours in now. I never thought that I would stick with the game that long. The truth is: The Pandemic has sort of dampened my enthusiasm for complex games. I keep drifting off on various thoughts while I'm playing them, and that's never good.

Vampire's makes me feel "comfortably numb", I keep leveling up, I kick some ass, and keep getting better and better, Standard formula that works well for me these days. Play for an hour, then pick it up tomorrow.

They need to improve fast travel though. I'm getting carpal just running around.

I spotted this game after following a link about "Battle Brothers", one of the best games in this genre.

It's definitely a "BB" clone, but that's not a bad thing. Since development has stopped on "Battle Brothers", there is a void that needs to filled. This might do it.

Just throwing a few suggestions out to the Devs. If you want carry on the "BB" style:

- It would be nice to drink in the Tavern...expand it a bit

- Have some "overall" goal from Day 1. Not just quests in towns, but something like "get to friendly status with a faction (BB)" That simple goal makes it more immersive from the start. I haven't played long so it may kick in later in this game, but it's better to get us involved in the lands quickly.

- Just subjective, but I spend too much time camping; it gets a bit tedious. My crew is in pretty good shape; they don't need to rest that much.

- At least give a general indicator about the quest area. If I get a quest in Deles(?) to hunt Boar, I shouldn't have to trek to the top of the map to find one (Unless it was an NPC specific quest) Seriously. I spent a week around the quest area without spotting one pig.

- Expand the Inventory. Maybe I missed a perk somewhere, but I didn't see how to carry more.

- Once again, maybe I'm not far enough into the game to judge but I've been to at least 8 towns, and haven't seen any kind of rare or epic item for sale. I also haven't seen a high level mercenary for hire, or at least one with a good perk. All I've seen is generic level 1's with none, or negative perks.

Anyway, Happy Holidays to you all !

Sandsifter

Wow! this is so much damn fun!

And I'm still in the tutorial. I did the tutorial twice because I enjoyed it so much. I usually dread having to play a tutorial again. Not that the tutorial was good. It was mediocre at best. But it took me two trips through it to figure out what I was doing. Still don't know much, but it's not a bad learning curve. A solo Campaign would be incredible.

I just wanted to drop a Kudos to Drodd Studio. Very interesting design. I feel like I'm playing MTG as an outsider, and just watching the results of my deck choice play out like I was a deck coach, and not the player of the deck.

Gotta chastise Valve a bit here though. If you could put this game together so smoothly and quickly, how the hell did you totally screw up Artifact? You worked on that for years, and it's still in Limbo. Make that mistake right, and combined with your apparent success with Underlords, people might actually liking you again.

Sandsifter

This is just a Kudos to the Devs and support staff. I had a minor issue that no one else was experiencing, and Rebellious worked on it every day, all the time keeping me updated, until it was resolved. I've played games for a long time, and one thing I've learned over the years is the importance of customer support, especially in an early access stage.

I'll definitely update this into a proper review when I've had enough playtime. But first impressions are crucial, and I just wanted to let you all know that I have a "gut feeling" that this won't be Abandonware...like so many of the CCG's I've played in the last few years. Rebellious seems committed to listening to the players, and if they keep that up, I think that they will eventually come up with a quality offering in a very crowded field.

Thanks again guys,
Sandsifter

Two hours played; obviously this is not a review. Just a suggestion.

I like the game so far. I quit Hearthstone years ago. I'm not a good player in digital card games, but I've played just about all of them a bit. Currently; Eternal, which is by far my favorite, and MTG Arena. This is sort of a more relaxing game, and that's not a bad thing.

I almost decided it wasn't for me though, because of the UI. Most folks on steam don't play all that much on phones or tablets (I guess at work or commuting would be the exception). I could be wrong, but when we play a Steam game, we usually expect options for higher resolution, keymapping, etc. This really feels like I'm playing a phone game on my nice PC rig. It kinda defeats the purpose of going PC vs. Mobile when you decide what you like to play.

Anyway, I'd recommend this to anyone looking to get away from Hearthstone, but not ready to get into very complex digital card games. If they fix the graphics and UI up a bit, this could be a winner.

I rarely review games on Steam. I have 400+ games and a only handful of reviews, but I felt obliged to give a very positive nod to Eternal.

A very relaxing, chill interface. No "blinking icons". No "promos" to buy stuff. Just a simple "what do you want to do?" interface.

I've played most of the Digital card games out there, and Eternal is by far the most beginner freindly. I'm a casual player, getting a bit old now, and only have so much times for games. I've played this for hundreds of hours now...and I still start out each month at the lowest Rank.

And the good thing is I don't care. I learn more more about the game each time I Iog in and have a choice to face a puzzle match, play a free gauntlet try against the AI, or try my hand at a real match. If I win one real match I get a free pack of cards!

Less complicated than Magic...so much more challenging than Hearthstone. Try it.

Sandsifter