Recent reviews by Captain_Narol

I give this game a thumb up because overall I have fun playing it despise some frustrating moments and its many flaws, but honestly it would only have been a half-thumb if that option existed.

The game is ambitious in scope, has a beautiful map, a huge choice of playable factions and lots of interconnected systems, but most of them are half-baked, shallow or hampered by silly restrictive rules.

In addition, the game has been released in an unpolished state with some annoying bugs and is currently under total reconstruction because of the backlash (excessive but quite deserved) that it went through, so it's quite a mess but it definitely has potential once all of the problems will have been fixed.

Detailled comparison with "Field Of Glory : Empires" in the "Turn-Based Tactics" group forum :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/groups/tbtactics/discussions/0/1642043267247468391/

A very solid, deep and challenging strategy game, with some innovative ideas. Less ambitious in scope than Paradox products, but they could teach them a few tricks and overall the game feels sligthly better than Imperator at his point !

Detailled comparison with Imperator : Rome in the "Turn-Based Tactics" group forum :

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/groups/tbtactics/discussions/0/1642043267247468391/

Nice Visual Novel with an horror theme.

Slow to start and not very long, but great atmosphere and interesting story !

Can't wait for part 2, as it ends on a cliffhanger and I die to know what happens next...

NB : Played it offline so time played displayed on Steam is not correct and misleading. There is around 1 hour of content in this part 1.

A real gem, especially if you value gameplay over flashy 3D graphisms !

As a veteran Space Trader in the first Elite and later in Eve Online, this game has all I ever wanted from a Space Trading Game :

- Great Trading with Dynamic prices and enough infos to know when to buy and sell

- Lots of characters with which to interact, who pursue their own goals (like in CK2 !)

- Political factions that you can support to get advantages or play against

- Missions of all sorts all across the galaxy

- Storylines that you can follow or not (it's a sandbox, you're free as a bird)

- Dynamic universe that evolve in function of game events (that you might have influenced by your actions)

- Tactical Turn-based Space Fights and Land Fights (in 1D ala Darkest Dungeons)

- Customizable crew that you can taylor at your liking as they level up

- Ship Modules management to customize your ship

- Hostile Xenos !

- Rare products that you can only get by doing missions for some special characters with connections

- Nice artstyle and ships with cool design

Important to note, it's also not very demanding and can be played on weak configs and even on mobile.

I'm playing it offline on my old backup laptop that is more than 10 years old while running other stuff on my main comp, so the hour count that appears on my profile is totally misleading as I already spent many nights in this addictive universe so immersive and full of life... (" Just three more jumps to finish that mission" and then it's already the morning when I look at the clock, you know the song....).

The game feels is very complete at this point and I didn't encountered any bug, but the Devs keep on adding new content very often and are very attentive to the communauty feedback, and example for all companies !

In short, I cannot recommend that game enough if you have the soul of a Space Trader !


"Goodbye Earth, I've found myself a new home in the stars... Get ready to jump, Crew !"

A fascinating mix between a classic 4X and a strategic-level wargame (the Dev mentioned Panzer General as one of its inspirations) using concepts like Supply and Unit Morale.

Quite innovative on many points, complex economy (10 different types of resources), very realistic on the historical level (far more than Civ games or RTW2).

Cherry on the cake, the best AI that I ever faced in a strategy game ! Be prepared to suffer and struggle !

Strongly recommended to all strategy fans, wargamers or history buffs. This Game grow on you, especially as you discover all the little details that makes it a true gem.

Just one more turn, please....

A complex and fun management simulation where you can live the dream of being the Lanister of a team of Gladiators like in Ancient Rome !

The addition of Turn-Based fights compared to the first game (AoG 1) take the serie to a new level, and those fights can be very tactical especially those in 2vs2 or 3vs3.

Strongly recommended, this game is just addictive.... You get attached to your little guys as they grow up with your team and you shiver every time they are in trouble ! (the game has permadeath for your glads, but you can savescum if it's too heart-breaking)

Additionally, it's important to note that the Dev is very attentive to feedback and quick to fix the anavoidable few bugs, releasing updates with an impressive frequency and working hard to make this already good game even better !

Great idle game which sometimes feels a little like a puzzle when you try to find the best formation for an adventure with specific conditions.

Especially enjoyable if like me you are fan of Dungeons&Dragons, as it is very respectful of the lore and includes iconic characters like Drizzt, Bruenor and Jarlaxle.

That's the kind of cool game that you can let run in the background while you do other things, just checking from time to time to make a few adjustments if needed.

Game is Free-To-Play and not competitive, you can play at your own rythm and spend money on microtransactions for buffs only if you want to reward the Devs for their work, as you can collect all the stuff for free over time if you are patient.

At first glance, this mobile port looks like a shameful rip-off from that popular trash that is Clash Royale, but please don't run as there is a real tactical gem hidden here !

The trick is that the fights in this game are TURN-BASED and use the classic and proven template of the battles from the acclaimed "Heroes of Might&Magic" series, with units (Monsters) that you level up and who each have different skills and abilities opening a lot of possible strategic choices in building up your monstruous team.

Also, there is almost no randomness apart from critical hits and the fact that a few monsters have a % chance of dodging melee blows, so you can really calculate your moves to the point it feels like Chess !

The 20 Chapters of solo adventures have 15 fights each (so a total of 300 fights) that are quite like tactical puzzles especially if you want to get 3 stars to maximize rewards (for that that you need to win in the first 5 rounds and without losing any units).

The PvP side is brutal and intense, with games lasting only 3-5 mn and just 20s for each move, so it's a little like Blitz Chess in term of tension and excitment.

There is also two other fun modes, one in which both your team and the opponent team are AI-controlled, and another in Tower Defense style where you successfully face 10 waves of Bosses and minions and can bring in all your monsters to stop them (but only 5 at a time on the battleground so you'd better choose the right ones in fonction of the immediate menaces)

Game is Free-To-Play, with the possibility to spend money to accelerate your levelling and gold income as in all recent games of this kind, but is quite generous in rewards (at least at start) so there is no real pressure to spend money immediately as you just have to play to get more rewards and improve the Monsters of your army.

Honestly, I didn't expected the game to be so good and I'm pleasantly surprised and already hooked !

There is already more than 35000 people on the PvP Ladder, so IMHO this game is succeeding in doing what Smite Tactics (for example) failed to do, ie create a popular Turn-Based Matchmaking game that is fun and atttractive for a larger audience than just the hardcore Tactics Fans like me !

Overall, considering that it's free, I cannot encourage you enough to give it at least a try and make your own informed opinion rather than judging it on its look, you could be pleasantly surprised too...

I've been playing Smite Tactics since the Closed Alpha and I believe this game has potential.

However, in its current state, it's fun and enjoyable for a few games but gets boring and repetitive fast.

I'm probably not the only one to feel that way, seeing how fast the number of Steam players for this game are falling fast.

Numbers don't lie and say something about the game :

http://steamcharts.com/app/648430#All

The game lost 51% of its Steam playerbase in just a month, that's alarming and telling us it has a bad player retention.

In my opinion, this are all the problems the game needs to fix to become more attractive and be a success and not the commercial disaster that it is threatening to be (sorry if that sound harsh but better be honest) :

1) DECK SIZE IS TOO SMALL

Raise deck size from 25 to at least 40. With only 25 cards, you just play the same cards again and again in each game, and don't have room for more variety in your deck once you have had your must-play cards.


2) BATTLEFIELD IS TOO SMALL AND BLAND

It's smaller than a chess board, there is no room for manoeuver and your units are immediately in target range of ennemy units, meaning that the player who gets its units first on the board has a huge advantage. The lack of obstacles on the battefield also limits a lot its tactical interest and favor rush play.


3) STARTING HAND SIZE IS TOO SMALL

2-3 more cards in the starting hand would allow people more choice in play, in the current state you often play the cards you have with hardly any choice due to the small starting hand size.

4) TOO MANY GOOD CARDS ARE NEUTRAL

In most of my decks and those I play against, around half the cards or more belong to the neutral faction, making all the decks feel mostly the same and lacking pantheon flavor.

Compared to previous versions of the game, you moved some pantheon cards to the neutral faction, that was a bad idea making things even worse


5) GENERATORS ARE DULL AND ANTI-THEMATIC

Generators are static and make the game static too, the game was more dynamic in the previous versions where you had a Pantheon Leader moving on the board instead of those generators.

You should stick to your mythologic theme, Pantheon Leaders were fighting in person in the Mythology and didn't need generators to invoke creatures, by Jove !

That was a bad idea to copy Cards&Castles and introduce those generators that don't fit the theme, please admit your error and give us pantheon leaders back !

6) THE GAME NEEDS MORE BOARD WIPES

Right now, the game is quite snowbally and it's almost impossible to come back when you are behind and the ennemy control the board.

You need to add more cards doing board wipes to give people a chance to come back and add more suspense to the games !

7) THE GAME IS TOO GRINDY

Dusting cards gives pathetic quantity of dust, crafting should be made more accessible.

Ranked wins only give 10 golds, that's ridiculously not much and should be raised to 20 or 30.

Some quests take too long to complete, like the "Play 30 *** gods" ones.

8) SOME CARDS ARE OP AND NEED FIXING

Just one example, the Hydra. Who in your team could ever think that such a card is balanced and not game-breaking ???


TO BE CONTINUED ?

Seriously, Devs, game is still in beta so it's still time to fix things but it needs a complete rework and a more ambitious approach to make it deeper and more interesting on the long run.

Currently the game is too repetitive and lacking in tactical complexity to retain the interest of people for long, even if you spend billions in marketing it.

Again, sorry if that was harsh, but it's my analysis and I just want to help, as I love the premises of the game and believe it has an unfulfilled potential that you are spoiling with bad design decisions.

A brand-new atypical MMO, that feels like a mix between some old-school Tabletop RPG dungeonning and a Roguelike MUD !

Tactical Turn-based Fighting, interesting Player-Run Economy, nice Crafting systeme, Gathering, House Building, Farming, etc..

The Economical aspects are indeed quite promising, as crafted items are better than most of the stuff you get in the loot, so it's worth finding good crafters in the market to get the better equipment.

Lots of different things to do in the end, time goes on and the game grows on you and becomes addictive !