Последние обзоры teh_doggen

I've only played one game thus far, which I lost. It's unusually humbling to see the world be destroyed and not be able to do much about it.

I don't yet know about replayability, but thus far I'd say it's better overall than Ride Like the Wind; a worthy successor to King of Dragon Pass.

First the good. The art is beautiful. Finnish mythology is also a massively underused theme so that's good to see.

Now for what I didn't like. Looking at the screenshots, I saw a node map and multiple choice events. That immediately made think of FTL, Renowned Explorers, Shigatari, and the like. The idea of an FTL-like with dice combat sounded like an interesting take on the genre and convinced me to buy it.

It doesn't play like those games at all. First, the nodes are fixed. You see the same things every time in the same order. You can sort of choose which things to fight or whether to get a campfire or hunting event, but it's ultimately a bit shallow. The hunting events, which is how you replenish food, are also completely random. You press the button to hunt or fish and either fail or succeed. It doesn't tell you why or what the odds are. I though that taking perks from the hunting tree would give me "blue text" options for hunting, but no. This isn't a game that does resource narrative.

This one is a bit petty, but when the game starts the Unity configuration tool launches. This can set up keybinds before the game even starts, which is great! However it offers to set keybinds for "fire 1", "fire 2", and "fire 3" among other things. There is no firing in Please The Gods. You play it by clicking on nodes and cards. This definitely confused me.

In the neutral category, I'd cite the dice combat. It is fine. But any dice combat is of course going to be highly random. After completing two chapters, I didn't really feel like I was progressing. Having a few rounds in a row where, despite having a higher bonus and an extra die vs. my opponent, I lost due to rolling 1s and 2s didn't make for compelling gameplay for me. I'm listing this as neutral because this isn't an issue with this game in particular so much as with dice games generally. Some people I'm sure like those systems, so for them it would be a positive.

In conclusion, though I hate to leave a negative review, this isn't a game I would suggest that other people buy.

Shigatari is a samurai-themed FTL with somewhat simplified, turn-based combat. I definitely recommend it; it is criminal in fact that it is not better known.

My only complaint is that you see the same events several times each run. On the other hand, so it goes with a $3 game. You can't really expect tons of content at that price point. I think I would have preferred this as a $10 game with twice the number of random events but otherwise unchanged.

In any case, this is an easy recommendation.

It feels strange reviewing this in 2020, but the game has continued to get updates, even this year. It's a good game and a legendary value proposition, but you probably know that by now.

And against all odds, it even got another update in 2021!

This game is more King of Dragon Pass. If you want more KoDP, then you want this game. It is, of course, different in some ways. The setting and cultures are different. There are some quality of life improvements. There are new features also; ventures are a great touch. HeroQuests ("rituals" here) are also more flexible, which is very welcome in my opinion.

In the negative category, I found the hook a lot stronger in KoDP vs. here. It's right there in the title: become king of Dragon Pass. Here the hook is basically "accumulate wealth until the plot twist happens." The endgame was shorter here (which I actually liked better), but overall I found the goal structure in KoDP more compelling.

Overall I definitely enjoyed the game though. I will be making a few more playthroughs in the near future I imagine.

This is an amazing game. There is not much I can add to what other reviews have said, but this is a classic among storytelling games. If those appeal to you at all, play this game. Also, use the default difficulty level for your first playthroughs; games from 1999 view difficulty differently than modern ones.

The port is not great. It's not terrible, broken, or unplayable. However things like text overflowing containers, interfaces designed for touch that are painful with a mouse, and even compression artifacts on some of the art are present. These things are a constant annoyance, but not enough to seriously affect enjoyment of the game.

Civ IV, especially with the Rhye's and Fall mods, is still my favorite Civ experience after all these years.

I really love how this game does cities. It is, to my mind, the perfect mix of Paradox-style provinces and Civ-style tiles. Beyond that it is a competent 4X game with a fantasy theme.

I also like that it kept getting updates, even if some of them weren't the best.

If you're in the market for a medieval warfare themed genealogy simulator, this is the game for you.



*Edit 2018*

Still the best medieval warfare themed genealogy simulator, well over six years later. Lots of things changed of course, but most of the changes have been improvements. I'm still playing, so I still recommend.


*Edit 2019*

CK2 has finally reached end of life. If you're holding out for the complete package, you can stop waiting now.

This is a nice graphical roguelike, and you can't go wrong for the price.