Massive Chalice Reviews
Games like Massive Chalice live or die on the emergent narratives they create, which makes designing death as an inevitability for your cast of heroes an admirable risk. They're trusting that, as the wheel of time turns, players will glimpse a larger shape coming into view. The stories that stand out are family epics, like the Buendias of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude. By following the tangled paths of lineage, we're left with tales too large to be understood in terms of the lone hero.
Massive Chalice's aggressive tactical combat would be stronger without so many opportunities to lose due to bad luck.
Massive Chalice can create hilarious moments of eugenics disasters, but other elements leave a lot to be desired.
I felt like middle management making the same position appointments that a computer could make more quickly and all I got for my click click clicking was combat with bigger numbers on the same handful of stages. There is some payoff with the bloodline idea at the end, but it is not worth the rote meat grinder to get there.
Functional, but often uninspired, Massive Chalice may please strategy enthusiasts but will likely bore anyone else.
Chaotically fun in doses, but lacking in vitality
I really tried to like this game, i couldn't do it. I lost track of how many arrows my hunters fired into nothingness, while having the enemy at an arm's length. Thank god they were not nearsighted. I ran out of heroes many times because i could not generate any offspring via marriage or conquest. The combat system is far too simplistic, having to reveal enemies hidden in fog-of-war and moving characters in the grid system. Luckily, Double Fine's humor is always present in the interactions we have with the chalice and the different genetic traits of our heroes. Far from top tier games like Xcom or Final Fantasy Tactics, which is far far superior, and came out in 1997.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A smart, fun exploration of turn-based tactics in a fantasy setting.
There's bound to be some disconnect with the mortal world when you live forever, but I could have used a reminder why this war is worth spending 300 years to win.
Basically, the game asks a lot of you, and demands that you pay close attention to every decision you make. While that makes for a steep learning curve, requiring deep thought is hardly the worst sin a strategy game can commit. Slyly funny, satisfyingly deep and yet slick and simple to play, Massive Chalice is a huge return to form for a studio that is overdue a comeback.
There are many good things within Massive Chalice, but they're frustratingly kept at arm's length from me.