Is this particular endless space war worth enlisting in? If you’re looking for an incredibly deep 4x – no. If you’re up for some big, beautiful, dramatic RTS campaigns with weighty, satisfying combat, and don’t mind waiting for a patch to iron out a few creases – then yes.
There’s beauty to be found here, among the stars. But it’s going to take a more dedicated role-player than myself – or at least someone far more interested in systems for their own sake – to buy into this flimsy simulation for very long.
There’s just no bite to it, and it sadly ends up undermining itself as a result. If difficulty options get patched in though, grab it in a heartbeat. It’s so close to being fantastic it hurts.
The game manages to facilitate some really involving moments, even if it doesn’t necessarily provide them.
If you're new to the series, I'd still absolutely recommend starting with the original. For fans, though, it's more Valkyria Chronicles, and that's reason enough to pop a giant red exclamation mark above your head with excitement.
Creative Assembly's love for history absolutely bleeds through.
An unsettling, deeply unpleasant management sim, drenched in waves of melancholy and nausea. My Lovely Daughter is affecting, but exhausting, and you'll likely become numb to its horrors long before it concludes.
A bright, simple turn based strategy game with some interesting unit abilities, that fails to engage in any meaningful way. Unless you've played every other strategy game out there, it's honestly not worth your time.
A powerful, rich, and exceptionally well written narrative experience, with exploration mechanics that heighten the power of its stories, Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is let down by its own central premise. Fascinating, but flawed.
A refined, masterfully executed and hugely atmospheric turn based tactics game. The framework of Into The Breach is a little light on content, but the variety of missions approaches and challenging scenarios that emerge from its elegant systems provide hours of compulsive, bug crushing strategy goodness.
An affecting an imaginative narrative game with inventive, if not particularly challenging, turn based combat. Legendary Gary’s characters occasionally feel flat, but it makes up for it with a unique, well-realised world. You probably already know whether it's going to be for you, and if you’re at all intrigued, I can’t see you being disappointed.
A visually unique, inventive tactical roguelike with a satisfying combat loop. All Walls Must Fall attempts to offer variety in mission approaches, but fails to make alternative approaches anywhere near as enjoyable as combat. At the same time, combat fails to remain tactically interesting throughout. It's not a flawed masterpiece. It's a failed masterpiece. But fragments of absolute brilliance still remain.
A genuinely funny, engaging turned based strategy with a great theme. Attack of The Earthlings has a strong core concept, but feel constricted by length. Player options are plentiful, but never required for success. Still, it's unique, well-written, and lovingly crafted. Fans of the genre should find something to love, even if it's 'game over, man' far too quickly.
Nantucket is wonderfully cohesive, a real beauty of a ship built from unremarkable materials. It's too shallow to really drown yourself in, but just deep enough to be compulsive, constantly throwing up interesting decisions. If you're all about the destination, this might not be the ship for you. If you're down to enjoy the voyage, you could do a lot worse.
With no campaign mode, and currently without the expansions that many Tokaido players consider essential to the experience, the digital Tokaido‘s main fault is a lack of variety or compelling reasons for long play sessions. I can see myself dipping back in occasionally and thoroughly enjoying myself for twenty or forty minutes, but I don’t think I could spend an evening traversing Tokaido‘s mysterious mountain, as beautiful as it is.