Having just lost several powerful characters named after folk I know online, I feel like it's time to take a good hard look at this whole experience in the hopes of convincing myself to sack it off and spend my time in other ways.
There's a triangle of elements that need to be balanced for a strategy game to really get its hooks into me: dynamic tactical combat, varied base management, and a sort of non-linear open progression. XCOM has routinely done it best, all the way back to UFO, but Darkest Dungeon makes a cracking alternative. That feeling of running an organisation which has a specific end goal but you get to choose the path that takes you there, every single step of the way, sending out crews to do the tasks that support the big picture. It's just very satisfying, it looks and sounds and plays great, and there's so much of it you could play for months on end. It's a very good game. And I'm always on the lookout for more games that fit in this box.
HOWEVER
It's very easy for this one to start feeling like a routine. A job. A chore. Often you do a bit of it, but can't see that you've made any progress. Estate's haunted, grab a musket and head on in. Ah wait we need more of two of the six currencies, better go again. And again. And again.
Slowly I realise I'm not an adventurer risking life and limb for excitement's sake, I'm the guy in the prologue. I'm old and tired and I've had enough. Time to shoot myself and let someone else manage the guild. Bye!
There's a triangle of elements that need to be balanced for a strategy game to really get its hooks into me: dynamic tactical combat, varied base management, and a sort of non-linear open progression. XCOM has routinely done it best, all the way back to UFO, but Darkest Dungeon makes a cracking alternative. That feeling of running an organisation which has a specific end goal but you get to choose the path that takes you there, every single step of the way, sending out crews to do the tasks that support the big picture. It's just very satisfying, it looks and sounds and plays great, and there's so much of it you could play for months on end. It's a very good game. And I'm always on the lookout for more games that fit in this box.
HOWEVER
It's very easy for this one to start feeling like a routine. A job. A chore. Often you do a bit of it, but can't see that you've made any progress. Estate's haunted, grab a musket and head on in. Ah wait we need more of two of the six currencies, better go again. And again. And again.
Slowly I realise I'm not an adventurer risking life and limb for excitement's sake, I'm the guy in the prologue. I'm old and tired and I've had enough. Time to shoot myself and let someone else manage the guild. Bye!