Recent reviews by Tree

I don't know how these games keep getting worse. There are so many stripped features for no reason. It is literally more work to remove them so why do they? Moreover, the UI looks like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Unironically, I could design a better UI than this. YOU could design a better UI than this.

I'm really trying to finish this game, but it's really testing my resolve. The gameplay loop itself is fun and rewarding enough to keep you entertained. Moves and abilities fit well with the characters, environmental damage is encouraged. The only problem is that the mission variety as well as the downtime are very bland and monotonous.

In particular, the downtime is a slog to get through. It revolves around talking to the heroes in the abbey, forging bonds with them. Which shouldn't sound all that bad on paper, but those interactions, even with characters you might love, is mundane. Completely devoid of substance. You talk about... life? Hobbies... other random topics. Which again, shouldn't be all that bad on paper, but that is 80% of what you will be doing in this game. No, I am not exaggerating.

This is why writers will stress that interactions should be meaningful and only happen if it moves forward character development in some way. In a "dating sim"-esque game, even more so. Some of it does, sure. It just sucks that it's absolutely SWAMPED with the most forgettable conversations you will ever have the displeasure of hearing.

Don't even get me started on the "clubs" that feel really out of place and pointless.

I'm changing my review to a positive. It is amazing that they ironed out issues that I think most people would have been fine with, and are still continuing to do so. Amazing.

I bought this game partially because I want to see more from this dev, possibly a sequel of this game in the future— and partially because the game has a strong premise. It's a little rough around the edges (many bugs), a lot of the core systems are bare bones. However, it makes up for it with an abundance of systems. There is a strong foundation here, and I hope to this improved on, if there is any sequel.

Age of Wonders 4 is built on a throne of bugs and has the audacity to launch their upcoming expansion pass DLC. I've never played a game where the bugs are as bad as the reviews make them out to be, but somehow this game takes that and makes it far worse. Some are minor bugs that will casually make 10 turns disappear in the blink of an eye, as you try to work around it, and others are severely game-breaking, rendering the game unplayable. I have not even been playing that long, and I've run into at least 5 really bad bugs on each playthrough. I have to wonder, since some seem impossible to miss— did they playtest this? Aside from the core mechanics that seem fine, I genuinely wonder if anyone played through a game over 100 turns. I mean, on one map you cannot attain a magic or expansion difficulty based on its no empire clause, and yet the AI will build towards exactly that or a magic victory (which you need to have multiple cities for)— and pretty much make the game unwinnable for them.
There is a fundamentally good game underneath all of those bugs, but unfortunately, it's not just the bugs that make for an unpolished game.

The AI is abhorrent, having little to no direction on how to win. They do cheat, on every difficulty. Easiest to hardest, it doesn't matter, and really, it doesn't... because the AI will generally play the same on every difficulty. I started myself off on normal, realized how braindead the AI was, and switched to the hardest. The AI is more proactive, I'll give it that, but it does nothing with that productivity. The most it will do is besiege your province and ruin some of your developments, but it somehow fails to actually start a siege with more than one stack of units. Well if the AI is this ♥♥♥♥, I understand why it needs to cheat. Since it does cheat, it makes playing on the "hardest" difficulty feel cheap, since it can spawn units indefinitely— no matter how hard I swing at them. The combat AI, in comparison, is a lot better— far from perfect, but I'll take it.

Again, the foundation of the game is great, other than the AI. Squash the bugs, overhaul the AI, and the result is a phenomenal game.

Buggy broken mess.

G

Oddly enough, the MC just fits. Spectacular game, with great humour and gameplay.

Solitaire is really boring.

I thought this was Solitaire.