Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - catch all

I jumped in and grabbed it from GMG with the 20% off. Really enjoying it so far. Got my third companion and then had a really big fight at the crash site which I only just survived. Those med bots! Love the atmosphere and the story beats are really compelling so far.

Agree with farley as well, 20 hour campaign suits me fine. I still like Xcom 2's massive campaign, but sometimes it's nice to just have a more digestible piece of entertainment for a little while.

Whelp.

Think Attempt#1 has ended up in death-spiral. Spent most all of the money I ever got on not enough medpacks, and now I'm wandering into levels with an empty wallet , an empty first aid kit, and about a handful of health points between 3 characters.

I did have it on Hard, I guess....

Jonman wrote:

Whelp.

Think Attempt#1 has ended up in death-spiral. Spent most all of the money I ever got on not enough medpacks, and now I'm wandering into levels with an empty wallet , an empty first aid kit, and about a handful of health points between 3 characters.

I did have it on Hard, I guess....

There is a definite style to playing the game to be honest, once you figure it out it makes the game challenging but not actually properly hard. To be sure you need to ride your luck in places, and it can be a bit ‘gamey’ In places but there is a definite way to playing the game.

That probably doesn’t help much! Essentially, if you are taking on more than 4 (preferably 3) ghouls or robots at any one time, you’ve gone wrong (except in one or two specific battles) somewhere. Remember - the aim is to ambush and thin the herd before you hit whoever is in the middle. Do that and it makes the whole experience both more fun and considerably easier. If you ever blunder into a combat situation where the enemy gets the first turn, you’ve screwed up, and the game will punish you for it.

Yeah, I think that by the time I'd sussed that out, the damage was done.

Was going to start a new game, but then I booted up MGSV, and 3 hours later, I hadn't started a new game of Mutant Year Zero.

Notes to the wise. If you ever decide to replay the game ‘iron mutant’ on Very hard, just make sure you don’t get cocky. Just been all the way to the spear of heaven and got pasted because I forgot about

Spoiler:

the giant robot

Back to the start it is then

Sorbicol wrote:

Essentially, if you are taking on more than 4 (preferably 3) ghouls or robots at any one time, you’ve gone wrong (except in one or two specific battles) somewhere. Remember - the aim is to ambush and thin the herd before you hit whoever is in the middle.

Very true and I think I am starting to dislike this. It's been fun in the beginning but after doing it for a while, it's become a pretty monotonous loop - get into a new area, scout around, find patrols, ambush them one by one, rinse, repeat until all patrols are gone, have a final fight.

After you've got your process down, ambushing is not really fun - you pick a spot, use your silenced weapons, Hog Rush or EMP procs/grenades and do it over and over. You can do it in other enemies' plan view as long as their circle doesn't cover the dude you are ambushing, which kind of breaks the immersion.

In fact, the most fun fights I've had happen were when I screwed up an ambush due to being bored and sloppy.

That's a fair criticism I think and it is the limiting factor in replayability. I think while some abilities are over-powered (the emp grenade with pripp's enhancement for example) those are balanced by the repercussions of getting it wrong - if you slip up and get outnumbered or discovered before you've set an ambush, your chances of recovery are very low indeed. Playing on iron mutant (as I have been doing) certainly sharpens what you do and don't decide to do - anything below a 75% change to hit for example you rarely take.

That said though I am finding the route to those ambushes to still be fairly rewarding. To be sure I can get through to Izza and Falla now without really breaking a sweat and some of the additional squad members abilities really open up some of the later maps. But yeah, once I complete on Iron Mutant I'll be done until some DLC drops.

Filthy tag

Chatter around this game seemed to stop almost as quickly as it started. Was the game too difficult to finish? I guess most of you will know by now but it's part of the new humble monthly line up. I'm interested...

kergguz wrote:

Chatter around this game seemed to stop almost as quickly as it started. Was the game too difficult to finish? I guess most of you will know by now but it's part of the new humble monthly line up. I'm interested...

I just wrapped this game up last weekend.
I enjoyed the experience but I felt like the gameplay loop got a little old as I progressed.

Reviews mention some of this but I thought that the differences in stalker’s were fairly minor and I kept the two of the same 3 party members the whole game and would sub the third based on if I was fighting organics or robots. Enemy types were fairly limited as well.

Overall I thought I got my money out of it buying it during the lunar sale, so depending on what your budget is then there is definitely some value at $12

kergguz wrote:

Chatter around this game seemed to stop almost as quickly as it started. Was the game too difficult to finish? I guess most of you will know by now but it's part of the new humble monthly line up. I'm interested...

This was my personal game of the year last year. I loved every second of it.

What it doesn’t have is a lot of replayability. It’s essentially an TBS puzzle game - once you have worked out each map location, there’s not that much more to it. I thoroughly recommend it though, it’s a fantastic game.

It's currently part of the latest Humble Monthly. Kinda interested. Worth taking $12 on it?

tanstaafl wrote:

It's currently part of the latest Humble Monthly. Kinda interested. Worth taking $12 on it?

Unless you have a pathological aversion to tun based strategy, DEFINITELY.

kergguz wrote:

Chatter around this game seemed to stop almost as quickly as it started. Was the game too difficult to finish? I guess most of you will know by now but it's part of the new humble monthly line up. I'm interested...

It's a 20 hour game when you take your time and is fairly linear. I loved it and am excited for a sequel or expansion. There's a whole lot I can wish for and decry but, really, it was one of my favourite games and I encourage anyone that likes XCOM-style or turn-based strategy games to get in on.

Jonman wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

It's currently part of the latest Humble Monthly. Kinda interested. Worth taking $12 on it?

Unless you have a pathological aversion to tun based strategy, DEFINITELY.

I'll take that as a yes. Ok, I'm in.

You won’t regret it

Maaaan, am I behind the times. Humble Bundle is a monthly subscription service now(?) Great. Seal's gonna be in my head all day telling me how time be slipping.

Recreational Villain wrote:

Maaaan, am I behind the times. Humble Bundle is a monthly subscription service now(?) Great. Seal's gonna be in my head all day telling me how time be slipping.

Wait, you hear Seal's voice in your head all day?

Well, I suppose it can't hurt to get a little crazy.

^ Can't hurt to get a little crazy?
No we're never gonna survive[,] unless

I played the demo on Steam, loved it lots and lots. The switch between (simple) real time stealth / planning and turn based combat is good.

Bought it on Humble Monthly (and could continue the save), and I can see I will have fun. It changes up a bit, but I think I will love the story driven stealth game that seems to reward careful exploration, planning and decisive (hopefully short) turn based combat sequences. Hopefully because it seems it can be hairy fast if they drag out.

(not reading spoilers at this time, playing on Hard - or the middle of three)

Yikes, I'm really bouncing off this despite wanting to love it.

First up, what I love.

  • The world-building. Simple but effective. The artifacts are always amusing, and the little quips from the team just elevate it to the next level.
  • It's beautiful. Truly a joy to witness in motion
  • The combat mechanics are like a wonderful streamlined X-Com. I particularly like that hit-chances are in increments of 25% only.
  • You have to pick your fights. It's not one of those games where you are expected to kill everything, it's about reading the battlefield and leaving some enemies untouched. This is one of my favourite philosophies, I love having that decision left to the player.
  • Stealthing around before engaging is a wonderful concept! It's so much more engaging than the slow step-by-step approach in X-Com
  • It's short! We need more <20 hour games!

So yeah, there's a lot of good. A lot of great. But there are a few key things bugging me to the point of uninstalling.

First, I just don't understand why the stealth works the way it does. With the enemy vision circles, it doesn't matter which way they are facing, or what's between you and them. I've been detected with a brick wall between us and elevated above and behind a large boulder. I dearly wish it took line of sight into account, and possibly even gave the enemies vision cones. The circles feel way too prohibitive. But despite enemy super-sight, clicking "hide" makes my team 100% invisible...? It feels really awkward.

Adding to that, enemy alerts feel inconsistent and too punishing. I expect to take some heavy losses if I mess up a stealth turn, but there doesn't seem to be a firm indicator of noise range. Far too many times, I've gone for a quick kill and had everyone in the near vicinity turn and gun me down in a turn or two. It's punishing to the point where I genuinely don't feel like you have another choice -- which is fine, but with how vague the systems are, leads to a lot of frustration.

This is compounded by further inconsistencies with roaming squads. Shortly before posting this, I'd picked out 2 enemies, scouted around for a bit to make sure I was "safe" and planned to take them down quickly. As soon as I engaged, 3 more enemies started running at me from 2-3 screens away and slaughtered my whole squad. I'm sure I'll get a better feel for how to scout in time, but that felt like a big kick in the teeth.

To me, it's got the beginnings of a fantastic game. It just feels a little half-baked, like it could be so much more. I've only put 2 hours in, and I'm going to try for more soon, but I'm glad I "only" bought it as part of the Humble Bundle, despite it being the reason I put my money down this month.

A_Unicycle wrote:

Yikes, I'm really bouncing off this despite wanting to love it.

First up, what I love.
//Snip list//

100% Agree.

So yeah, there's a lot of good. A lot of great. But there are a few key things bugging me to the point of uninstalling.
First, I just don't understand why the stealth works the way it does. With the enemy vision circles, it doesn't matter which way they are facing, or what's between you and them. I've been detected with a brick wall between us and elevated above and behind a large boulder. I dearly wish it took line of sight into account, and possibly even gave the enemies vision cones. The circles feel way too prohibitive. But despite enemy super-sight, clicking "hide" makes my team 100% invisible...? It feels really awkward.

I've explained away the circle as an abstraction. The enemy is constantly looking around, more than depicted in the animations. The wall / above part is harder though. Perhaps an oddly specific sense of smell, or a strange mutant-ish sixth sense?

Hiding can also be hand-waved by it being an abstraction, as in a pen and paper game you'd "hide" and roll the dice. Though then the smell/sixth sense thing goes away.

Oh, well. I'm not sure more realism would've worked here. Making walls and/or higher ground block line of sight would have helped.

Adding to that, enemy alerts feel inconsistent and too punishing. I expect to take some heavy losses if I mess up a stealth turn, but there doesn't seem to be a firm indicator of noise range. Far too many times, I've gone for a quick kill and had everyone in the near vicinity turn and gun me down in a turn or two. It's punishing to the point where I genuinely don't feel like you have another choice -- which is fine, but with how vague the systems are, leads to a lot of frustration.
This is compounded by further inconsistencies with roaming squads. Shortly before posting this, I'd picked out 2 enemies, scouted around for a bit to make sure I was "safe" and planned to take them down quickly. As soon as I engaged, 3 more enemies started running at me from 2-3 screens away and slaughtered my whole squad. I'm sure I'll get a better feel for how to scout in time, but that felt like a big kick in the teeth.

For now I've not noticed this much, but the one rule I've picked up is: If you kill all enemies that can see you / have been shot at before they can act, then it is stealth. If the enemies see you before you start the ambush, or survive to take a turn - all hell is loose.

I did do one thing that bit me (and I felt was unfair) though. At one point I sneaked past a group of enemies near a map exit, and left. When I later returned my squad popped up within the sight radius of said enemy group and were outmatched in the open at once.

Solution to that was to load in the autosave, and hammer the ambush button just as I got control. That allowed me to run all characters away from the detection zone and end combat before it begun.

To me, it's got the beginnings of a fantastic game. It just feels a little half-baked, like it could be so much more. I've only put 2 hours in, and I'm going to try for more soon, but I'm glad I "only" bought it as part of the Humble Bundle, despite it being the reason I put my money down this month.

I also got it at the Humble Monthly, also just for this one. I'm just over 4 hours, and I know I will get my money worth. It is slow going, mostly because I haven't been... I might have bought a few too many games in March. Ooops.

Looking forward to hearing how you find this when given more time with it.

I started this up, also from the Humble Monthly, and put three hours into it yesterday. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far and definitely recommend giving it a try if you have Game Pass or it sounds like something you would like.

Probably my biggest disappointment is the Ark is not more interactive, I would rather it be like a regular map you walk around and it have a few more flavor NPCs, maybe a quest giver or two. This is a minor thing though.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I started this up, also from the Humble Monthly, and put three hours into it yesterday. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far and definitely recommend giving it a try if you have Game Pass or it sounds like something you would like.

Probably my biggest disappointment is the Ark is not more interactive, I would rather it be like a regular map you walk around and it have a few more flavor NPCs, maybe a quest giver or two. This is a minor thing though.

After playing Anthem, I am VERY GLAD they went this route.

I started playing this today. Got a 3rd party member and ran into my first fight where I'm severely outnumbered. I failed the first couple tries and then succeeded. I think I'm around level 13.

It doesn't seem like the unit abilities will be as varied as the new XCOMs, but I'm enjoying the battles so far. It excels with the characters, dialog and beauty of the maps. I may hit the wall at some point, but so far it's still good.

It varies more when you get get more party members, although your total combat party is always three. There are a few too many skill crossovers between characters, however.

I'm glad the party size stays at three. It keeps the pace moving.

After taking a bit of a break I played some more over the last week and am up to level 29. I did the branch of missions that took me to the northern area of the map (not the level 35 ones) and am now going south to save Hammond.

I think I am tiring of this a bit. I still like the setting, but am tiring of needing to sweep an area to thin out the herd. It will probably go back on the back burner and I'll see if I pick it up again. Glad I got to play it via the Humble Monthly.

I'm glad you rezzed the thread so I didn't have to search for it to post this.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/0848tFz.jpg)

They've announced an expansion! Seed of Evil!

Will be released only July 30th! They are very clear it is post-completion content.

-Seed of Evil brings a wide breadth of new content to Mutant Year Zero. Discover huge new maps, battle new enemies, improve your mutations, equip new gear, and face off against a vicious new adversary.
Continue the main story

-See what happens after the ending of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. The lives of Bormin, Dux, Pripp and the others at the Ark continue. New events are unfolding as the weight of their new knowledge weigh down on them, and a new enemy appears from the shadows of the Zone.
Meet Big Khan, a brand-new playable Mutant

-Buying the Seed of Evil expansion lets you add an entirely new Mutant to the team: Big Khan the moose. He is a veteran Stalker who has been exploring the Zone on his own in self-imposed exile. His size and strength make him an excellent fighter, capable of landing highly damaging critical hits against enemies. His unique mutations are Ground Pound and Flame Puke, attacks that make him effective at dealing with groups of enemies.

-The Ark has become enveloped in mysterious roots, and many of its inhabitants seem different from their normal selves. Even the Zone Ghouls seem to have changed. This new menace threatens not only the Ark, but the entire Zone, and it’s up to your team of Stalkers to set things right!

-The new storyline in Seed of Evil offers new challenges in brand new maps. You will visit the Hall of Electric Coffins and the Mausoleum of Suburbia, to name a few. These areas are populated with new enemies, forcing you to rethink your regular tactics.

-We’re introducing a brand-new mechanic in Seed of Evil that will allow you to upgrade and improve your mutations. Upgrade Bormin’s Hog Rush to a Bear Smash for increased power, or change Corpse Eater to Corpse Feaster, so recovering HP no longer costs an Action Point. Dux’ Moth Wings can be upgraded to Wings of the Sniper, which removes all range penalties from shots when flying.

-Zone Ghouls and Polis Bots are once again encroaching on places like the Spear of Heaven or the Sea Titans. This time they’re stronger than ever and your Stalker team is tasked with clearing them out. Beware, though, the enemies are stronger than before!

I'm about as excited as can be!