Recent reviews by Mathias (ValiantKnight)

The sixth installment of Civilization lacks a fair few fundamental parts, that its predecessors had. The one thing I really loathe is how one-dimensional and one-sided you have to be to win (min/maxing things), since most of civs really only have one strategy that works for them. In earlier installments you had alot more freedom and could change strategy. Not here. It makes the game boring very quickly.

The AI isn't too bright. To counter this they get huge bonuses on science etc, which means that you need to go all out warmongering to stop them from early science, culture victories. Again, you need to do this. There is no alternatives.

Very nice story-style click-and-point adventure game. It reminds me of the best click-and-point games of the yesteryears with Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, The Dig and many others.

Do not buy a subscription through Steam. I will not activate, and you won't get your money back.

SCAM

Massive game in content and lore. Building on D&D 5:th edition rules and the wonderful Sword Coast.

If you like partybased, roleplaying games, then this is for you. Bonus - play together with your friends.

Larian Studios have delivered a veritable masterpiece. More please!

Extremely well crafted game. Hats off from me. Masterpiece!

This is a very good game. It features a great story, and a nice selection of playable characters, each with their strengths and weaknesses. The graphics are very fitting to the overall feel and look of the game, with its lovely hand painted cartoony style. The gameplay consists of careful management of your travelling company, character development and interesting turn-based fighting.

Imagine the gameplay as an interactive novel where your choices matters and takes you to different places in the story. Put in randomness in dice and voila you have Citizen Sleeper. That sounds crude, but its really elegant really. The story is way beyond what you normally got fed gamewise. It is interesting and compelling. The gameplay actually quit deep. Top game!

I can't shake the feeling of playing a special edition of The Sims - After the catastrophe. Your main character is quite like in the sims, just your first sim so to speak. If he/she dies and you have managed to start a party of more than one individual, well then the game isn't over yet. The game is Kingdom crusader like in that aspect.

Your first "sim" is horribly weak at the start (well there's a few different starting options, but here I am describing the intended regular start). If you try to attack a small herbivore like a goat, well kiss your "sim" goodbye! A pack of goats is actually quite a tireless killing machine.

Stay low. Sneak. Run away. Keep it simple and you just may survive the early game.

Build on what you have. Buy a house. Do your science work. Over time you get to manage your own "pack". That is when the game turns from being The sims, to a strategy war game in pausable real time.

Is it fun? Yeah it is, although there are passages of play that are less enjoyable. Overall a nice game!

It's too simple

Hear me out. This game is decent but at the same time it is too simple.

The gameplay (fighting etc) is repetetive and boring after a few hours. The story is not very compelling. Neither are the stories in the DLC's. The companions feel robotic and not very fun to interact with. Some reviewers feel that Parvati is sensational as an asexual, bi crewmember; I am sorry but I feel that she is just annoying. It is like reading a teenage magazine full of questions of love and no experience whatsoever. As I am 47 years old, this feels really trivial and non-interesting. And thats that really. I feel like a poor fit for this game. It probably would suit my 13 year old son better.

Where are games made for adults?

I was one of a couple of thousand of pledgers to Humble Games kickstarter campaign in april 2017. Five years later and here we are in early access on Steam. So five years have passed since they succesfully pitched their kickstarter campaign and now I get to play the first, published game.

I will straight away say that I have followed the game creation process with not much attention; So I cant say anything about that.

Why did I pledge in the first place? Well I love tactical, turn-based games, and The Iron Oath is just that. It comes with lovely, hand crafted pixel graphics that suits the game very well. The music is very atmospheric and serene. The fights are so far interesting, with a good variety of evil npc's, monsters etc.

As the game is in early access, I wont be too harsh in this review. That said: Even though the main story is well written and quite interesting, I cant help but feel that I am a passenger as I cant make any real choices at important points. That have to be ironed out, and the player has to get more freedom taking their selected path for their company.

I am glad that I pledged. Humble Games have created a fine and enjoyable game right up my alley!