Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - catch all

New game from the same developer. A surprise announcement, out by the end of the month.

It looks pretty cool, but I'm going to wait for some more details. I enjoyed Mutant Year Zero, but it got very samey very fast and I lost interest.

I'm in. The more X-Com-like games the better.

Looks like the exact same game game mechanics right down to the UI. I have reservations about this mostly because a big part of my love for Mutant Year Zero was the world and surprisingly engaging story. Given the quick turn around time (Feb 17th.) from the Mutant Year Zero expansion, I don't think this will feature much beyond tactical shooting. It's only $20 so I'll probably give it a shot.

I'm glad it's on Epic since I still have the $10 coupon from the Christmas sale.

Yeah, I'd like to know what the hook here is.

Vector wrote:

Looks like the exact same game game mechanics right down to the UI. I have reservations about this mostly because a big part of my love for Mutant Year Zero was the world and surprisingly engaging story. Given the quick turn around time (Feb 17th.) from the Mutant Year Zero expansion, I don't think this will feature much beyond tactical shooting. It's only $20 so I'll probably give it a shot.

I'm glad it's on Epic since I still have the $10 coupon from the Christmas sale.

This was my GOTY, and I liked it a lot because of the characters and also the XCOM gameplay. This one It is only $20usd in the USA, for me it appears at $9.99usd (a total steal), starting to love more the Epic Game Store....
, hope it sells a lot of copies(one pre-ordered for me)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/XzVcLcV.png)

Where are you located Sonrics? I’m in Canada and Epic hasn’t switched to regional pricing. All the other online stores do...

Vector wrote:

Where are you located Sonrics? I’m in Canada and Epic hasn’t switched to regional pricing. All the other online stores do...

Mexico... Epic has different prices over here, still in USD, but less then the USA store. Steam was also like that when it opened up store in Mexico, but as time went by it changed for worse for us, time will tell with the Epic store over here.

Minor nitpick here. Why are science fiction dates always too early? With my backlog, I’ll probably be playing this game in 2029 and thinking about how we have none of this tech yet. Should be 2039.

The game has been released Today

Sorbicol wrote:

The game has been released Today

And only $17. That's a tempting price - though they've said they're looking at getting it on Game Pass, and that's rapidly become my reason for NOT buying games. Not to mention I'm still plugging away at Phoenix Point, which is scratching that itch.

Yep, it's Mutant Year Zero without manimals. But I thoroughly enjoyed MYZ so I'm good. There seem to be a new mechanic or two (so far) but it is basically the same thing reskinned.

Edit: So far I'm not as into this as MYZ. The story comes too slowly to really hook me and there seems to be less that you can do with your squad than in the first game. You get augmentations for your cyborg soldiers but most are passive buffs.

It would be cool if this was somehow a prequel to MYZ but I doubt it. I'm still having some fun with it and don't regret my purchase but it could've been better I think.

Thanks, Nevin. I picked this up over the weekend with the $10 Epic coupon. $13 CAD seems like the right price.

I've only completed the first mission and gained access to travel. Cursory looks at the customization options makes them look lacking. It runs a lot better than MYZ did. I haven't gotten any slowdown and the characters respond faster. There's an instant lack of personality, though. MYZ had a surprisingly touching story and character interactions. As of now, your party don't even talk other than when they confirm commands.

Nevin73 wrote:

Yep, it's Mutant Year Zero without manimals.

Why would anyone not want Manimals?

....

any excuse to post that intro.

I just started Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden!

I made it through the first mission and have now been deployed to the Cabin. Holy Crap this game is TOUGH! I mean, I tried 5 times last night, and died every time. The AI is much smarter than XCOOM2, as the enemies are actively moving and then going right to Overwatch, preventing me from getting to a good flanking position. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what I can do different to bring about a successful encounter. Any tips for the early game?

ThatGuy42 wrote:

I just started Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden!

I made it through the first mission and have now been deployed to the Cabin. Holy Crap this game is TOUGH! I mean, I tried 5 times last night, and died every time. The AI is much smarter than XCOOM2, as the enemies are actively moving and then going right to Overwatch, preventing me from getting to a good flanking position. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what I can do different to bring about a successful encounter. Any tips for the early game?

I did A LOT of save scumming. If you miss on the first shot, it's possible to load a save, approach differently, and hit on that shot. I was always was finding the perfect route and picking off stragglers. See if your current gear synergizes well with your characters' skills, upgrades, and weapons. In some cases adding a point of damage or 50% higher critical chance makes a big difference. My biggest combat complaint about the game (and it's spiritual successor, Corruption 2029) is the game doesn't effectively communicate your own weapons audio range. In some cases you are far enough away and can use the louder weapons without alerting others. I believe Bormin's knockdown charge is also quieter than you may think. Anything that can disable an enemy for 1 turn will mean you can take them our before others are alerted.

For larger fights, remember to use grenades and heal.

You can also return to areas that you don't feel comfortable in. A lot of early places you just need to sneak through.

Which characters do you have available?

Have you encountered robots? They are actually the easiest enemies in the game if you use EMP grenades and stun mods.

It gets easier as you get more options to stun opponents but your tactics tend to narrow to just that approach. The DLC added more options, but "stun a lone guy, sneak to the next" stays pretty effective.

The main trick to this game is to silently pick off outliers so that when the full battle starts, there is fewer enemies to deal with. It is a bit harder on earlier levels from memory because you need to have the DPS to outright kill an enemy on the first round so they can't pull in more enemies.

Buzzrick wrote:

The main trick to this game is to silently pick off outliers so that when the full battle starts, there is fewer enemies to deal with. It is a bit harder on earlier levels from memory because you need to have the DPS to outright kill an enemy on the first round so they can't pull in more enemies.

You're basically looking for critical hits using the silenced weapons. The game is designed around getting into position, silently taking down the outer-lying patrols and then hitting the core group once you've done that. Very often triggering too large a battle will just end in defeat - you'll get overwhelmed very quickly.

Of course once you've figured that out it's kinda the game's Achilles heel - there's not that much replayability once you know the maps and where all the enemies are

Right, engaging in a little thread necromancy.

Once again the developers of Mutant Year Zero have released another Turn Based Strategy game with little to no fanfare.

Miasma Chronicles isn’t a name that inspires a lot of confidence admittedly, but it - apparently - pretty much follows the Blueprint of MYZ, set in yet another post apocalyptic America. It’s a £45 ($50) launch price which is probably fair enough in this day and age but feels a little steep. Maybe one for a sale.

Agreed, it is on my wishlist but I'm not in the headspace right now to play through a tactical RPG.

Yes I am marking it as a will play in the future but not jumping in day 1 mostly due to the upcoming time sink that is Diablo.

I posted some first impressions by Mortismal Gaming in the gaming video thread

Like others it looks good but I can wait for a sale because there is just so much to play already.

farley3k wrote:

I posted some first impressions by Mortismal Gaming in the gaming video thread

Like others it looks good but I can wait for a sale because there is just so much to play already.

I’ve been watching ChristopherOdd playing it. It looks like - well - Mutant Year Zero with different characters and environmental models, with a few additions to how exploration works and a very much expanded RPG style skill tree for each of the characters.

I don’t necessarily regard that as a bad thing but it’ll be a sale purchase for me I think.

Watching that now. I really love the ability to see the route you need to take. Wonderful feature.

farley3k wrote:

Watching that now. I really love the ability to see the route you need to take. Wonderful feature.

Yeah, it feels more open world and less ‘puzzle maps’ than MYZ, although it has a similar structure on the world map.

I really like what I’ve seen thus far, it clearly plays like MYZ but with a lot more options and attack styles given the much expanded Skill trees and back back system. The weapons feel more refined too.

My resolve in not buying it is wavering. I did love MYZ after all! What with this and WarTales it feels like a very good year for Turn Based Strategy games this year, and we have The Lamplighters League to come.

Nevin73 wrote:

Agreed, it is on my wishlist but I'm not in the headspace right now to play through a tactical RPG.

bbk1980 wrote:

Yes I am marking it as a will play in the future but not jumping in day 1 mostly due to the upcoming time sink that is Diablo.

This is me as well. I might be the biggest MYZ fan in the world but I'm working my way through Everspace 2 and with Diablo IV quickly approaching, Miasma Chronciles will have to take a back seat until I have time I can dedicate to it.

Hmmm. The game is eligible for the 25% discount using the Epic Store sale coupon........

Lots of complaints about poor combat balance, lack of skill choices, abusive enemies, and limit healing options between battles. At this point, I'm glad to wait a bit while the developers sort it out.

Kind of funny, Everspace 2 came in very polished (which it should considering it's length of time in early access) and I was concerned I wouldn't be able to fit Jedi: Survivor and Miasma Chronicles in-between Everspace 2 and Diablo IV. Turns out Everspace 2 has eaten up a lot of time and the other two games require a bunch of patches.

Somewhat worryingly, considering it’s not been out for a month yet Miasma Chronicles is already on sale for 40% off.

Apart from being a bit cross if I’d paid full price, I’ve carried on watching ChristopherOdd’s playthrough and there is clearly a very solid game here, but the encounters are really tough and it seems to veer a little too often into ‘fail to learn how to win’ territory. There are also clearly some abilities that become critical - without them, you’re going to struggle.

Still on my radar, but this might well fall into my ‘game I’m happy to watch someone else play’ genre.