Reus
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Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Reus
Reus is a pleasant little God sim that starts off simple enough but soon becomes deeper and more complex.
Reus is a great looking, colourful game with decent music. The art style is distinct and the giant designs are all very well done. It is one of those games you would put on when you have a bit of time to kill because it is so easy to get into. You’ll learn the systems quite quickly as you chop and change the world to meet the requirements of the people, though it will take quite a lot of playing to unlock everything and beat the challenges that Reus has listed in it. At times though you can’t help but feel you’re just doing the same thing over and over, and a little bit more substance would help flesh out the experience Reus offers.
Despite this reining in on being a tyrannical god, Reus is phenomenal. It has that right balance of allowing players to move as quickly or as slow as they want for newcomers to the genre or seasoned god veterans. The only time I felt overwhelmed is when I let myself become that way by growing too many villages. With the number of unlockables for abilities and developments, even these veterans will find plenty to do in Reus for several hours, and better yet, they’ll enjoy that time as much as the newbies.
REUS presents the world as if the almighty was an accountant. It is as much a game about crunching numbers as it is about creating a paradise for humanity, but its beautiful setting helps to mask how logic-driven it really is. It's both confusing and addictive in equal measure and manages to find a great balance between continuously providing a challenge and not overwhelming players. Once you get to grips with the minutia, everything begins to make sense. It's not always easy to get everything running smoothly, but when you do it is immensely satisfying.
Playing as a planet might seem uninteresting or bland but having control over four elemental giants makes the experience quite enjoyable.
All in all, Reus is a deceptively complicated game that seems to get more complex the longer you play. Completing more games and earning achievements allows longer play times, unlocks new abilities for your Giants, and generally gives you a deeper experience.
Reus tries to give back dignity to the "God Game" genre, landing on console three years from the original release on PC. A certain repetitiveness and the absence of incentives to keep high the player's attention undermine the - still fascinating - experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Don’t let Reus’ cute art style fool you; Reus is a challenging god game which will have experienced strategy player scrambling to keep on top of resource demands. It’s a strategy game for both more casual gamers and long time strategy fans.
