Recent reviews by jnunn23

Fantastic game. Faction creation passes the time very quickly it seems...

I get it. I get the obsession. Solid game. I hope the franchise continues and develops.

It's part of the most recognised battle simulator franchise out there for a reason. Tons of replay value and variety. Obviously, huge shout out to the modding community for bolstering that ten fold.

I'm aware there have been mixed opinions on this game's direction/maintenance - however you wanna put it - but all in all a great deal of people have worked so hard to put this game where it is today and you love to see it.

If you want to gather up an army composed of fantasy infused units, and lay waste to a battlefield using an endless variety of formations, you should probably give this a go.

This is the true Heroes of Might and Magic successor.
I can't speak for everyone, but I haven't found a game that quite did what Heroes did in the same way - until this game.

Pros:
- Charming graphics with delicate touches like slo-mo finishes in battle,
- Beautiful soundtrack that really helps with immersion in a high fantasy world,
- Superb upgrade to strategic combat in comparison to Heroes; even basic units have actionable abilities that sometimes improve along with their upgraded unit,
- Choose between randomly generated maps or a select list of well-made presets,
- 4 factions with unique 'wielders' (heroes) that have buffs dedicated to certain units offering a little more replay value,
- MAP EDITOR! And Community Maps to choose from,
- Multiplayer with no bugs or syncing issues (this is in my experience, could change for some people depending on network bla bla bla),
- Three different victory types adds interesting flair to the gameplay (details below),
- Settlement expansion and discovery is really cool! You can upgrade your settlement to unlock extra building slots, and even though you cannot build all your factions buildings in one settlement, you will find small or large vacant settlements across the map. This boosts your overall economy and allows for extra builds.

Cons:
- Economy can be tough to manage at first - recruiting mid to late game units obliterates your dollar. I highly recommend testing it out on an easier difficulty to get to grips with it/map our your path,
- Sometimes the terrain can stunt your movement pretty quickly i.e; box you in, cut off pivotal resources - but this is more so with randomly generated maps and partially to be expected from time to time.

Extra info:
The game is a blast, solo or multiplayer. The fact that I can sit here for a day with a friend and play for a good 80 rounds unimpeded by syncing issues or network problems is a huge thumbs up, and this was on one of the larger maps. It is essentially the successor of Heroes of Might and Magic I've been wanting to see for years. Not to say there hasn't been any decent attempts out there, but nothing comes close to this.

I am yet to test this on the higher AI difficulty, so that is the next step for me before I review it again, but at this early stage it is clear to see what a f****** gem this is!

The three victory types are as follows;
1. Defeat all enemies
2. Capture/claim all the Beacons (towers that are normally guarded by a foe), there are multiple on each map - I believe the total number depends on how many players are in the game
3. Find the secret item/artefact

I hope this was helpful. Enjoy <3

Thank you Lavapotion - awesome game!

Wondering if this will help running TTRPG battle maps? Here's my review aimed at anyone asking themselves that question.

(Quick review)
Highly recommend for those who like to jazz up battle maps and utilise interesting terrain and obstacles for their players. It takes 1 minute to generate a decent sized map with any sort of terrain you want. Desert, grassland, mountainous steppes with an ancient ruin rucked away in a cave? You name it.

One time payment and unlimited potential. Looking forward to the future of this. I will be jumping in with both feet!

(More detailed review)
Terrain Options
- You can generate a map up to about 60x60 grid tops (probably depends on your setup, that's mine with an average PC).
- You can manipulate the terrain to raised hill-like terrain, include rivers or lakes, or both, you can even add caves with walls and rocks for obstacles, all on the same map.
- At this time (13/10/2023), you cannot punch holes into the terrain for natural bridges, but there are a decent amount of man-made bridges in the 'Place Object' tab.
- If you really wanted, you could make world maps on here also. There is a nice border in the app and a couple of choices for text labels. Very limited amount of these to choose from right now, but, in all honesty, because everything looks fantastic, you could definitely create a gorgeous world map in here if you were willing to put the time in. It is not designed for that in these early stages, but it is possible.

Room Options
- You can choose which 'level' to place your rooms at. This ranges in 3 variants; water level (lowest) plateau (middle), or Mountain (highest). At this moment in time, you cannot mix those levels in a single map.
- There are not multiple floors at this time. But, because it is so quick and easy to make rooms in this app, you can do a little extra leg work in your respective VTT and do the multiple floors on your end. Honestly, it is worth it.
- There are tons of decent assets, and even more if you download from the workshop. Some really great ship assets if you are looking to build a harbour, for example. There's even some incredible sci-fi assets you can download. Essentially, allowing people to upload, and download means this app is going to have no short of potential in the next couple years.

Function
- It loads incredibly fast.
- It loads super duper fast.
- I tested this in a game of Pathfinder 2e recently, and did a random encounter. I made a map and uploaded it in maybe 60-90 seconds. Told the group I was going to randomly generate a map based on the terrain they were in and the results were great. Party couldn't believe it until I shared my screen and did another one!
- As I said up above, I have been able to generate maps up to about 60x60. That is an obscenely big map though. You really don't need anything quite that big.

My biggest take away from this is that most map making tools take time, and this does not. You can use Inkarnate to make some crazy stuff, but it will take hours in what this app allows you to do in minutes. I'm not saying it is better at everything, but it will be. The terrain is really good as well. In my opinion, not enough make making tools allow for interesting terrain or objects to create terrain advantages and disadvantages in such a short space of time. This tool does it by default.

In my opinion, this will be the best map making tool out there unless something else comes along that can do the same thing but better.

Hope this helps.

(EDIT)
I said up above that it takes 1 minute - that is including the save, the export, and getting it into Foundry ready to play. The actual map generation itself takes about 5 seconds...

Definitely the best TTRPG adaptation ever made for the video game medium.
Incredible flexible gameplay, untold choices for the player adding crazy replay value, and beautiful visuals. The story is nothing to scoff at either. Really nice pacing. Random cut-scenes that catch you off guard with teasers and hints as to what is happening, and they don't interrupt the flow either. You could be having hours of combat if you really wanted to and managed your resources properly before being hit with another reveal. Definitely keeps you invested and immersed.
The small amount of bugs I have encountered are overshadowed by the game's overall quality.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you already know, it's a top tier RPG. One of the best ever made, in my opinion.
Top marks from me.

Very easy to pick up and play, very short overall (not to its detriment though). Highly recommend if you want a spooky game to chill to one evening. Very entertaining to watch as well if you have a partner or friends over and wanna show them something cool.

The game can be split into 3-4 sections, but you can complete it in under 4 hours with ease. There are collectables if you want to really dive in and explore but the biggest and best part of the game is the quality in graphics as well as structure/narrative. Very very well put together to draw you in and scare you when you even though you almost always expect it. That being said, a couple of jump scares as well. The sense of scale in this game is great too, you truly feel tiny and that everything is against you, but you might just be able to survive...

Lovely twist that gradually reveals itself also.

Charming, soothing, lots of fun. If you wanna play something with little pressure and help you forget about a hard days work, this is it.

If you like open world and building/crafting/gathering then I strongly suggest you give Valheim a go. Incredible atmosphere created by a good colour pallet and endearing music. The graphics are not out of this world, it is pixelated mostly, but it adds to the charm. The gameplay has enough to keep you hooked and the map is bloody enormous!! Sailing across the ocean is something else, truly epic adventuring when you run into a storm!
Please try this out if you enjoy this genre. To me it reminds me of Conan but with the rough edges smoothed out. Can't wait to see how this game progresses in the future.

Fantastic game with some of the highest replay value I have ever experienced personally. If you like strategy games with multiple avenues for victory, this is a gem. I also believe the DLC to be worth every penny. Gathering Storm was a cracking addition which mixed up the standard style of play massively.