So many good games in the pile, there's no need to try to force one.
I would probably think of 'done' as either completing a single planet (either as a standalone skirmish or as part of the Galactic Empire mode), or completing the campaign (which I don't know how many will do). Finishing a single game was enough for ES2, so I would assume the same is true here.
So if you've finished a couple planets as part of the Galactic Empire, that seems like it would qualify as done under that framework.
I got 6 1/2 hours does that count? I don't feel the original game but want to try the expansions and maybe not be so disappointed. I like provinces, I like the mods. I find positive things in the main game and still find it unfocused and slow.
Played through a couple of tutorial scenarios before getting completely out of my depth in the Galactic Empire mode. It was daunting but suddenly became an easy sell after choosing a Biggs Darklighter lookalike complete with cloak, aviators and 70s porn-stache.
Here are a few of my takeaways
- Don't try to paint the map. There doesn't seem to be scarcity of resources or territory in favor of positioning across a limited number of super-advantageous tiles. i.e. This ain't Civ.
- Per the above, don't piss off your neighbors by surrounding them with Forward Bases unless you've got several alpha stacks ready to muster when they finally get tired of your sh*t and declare war. ( I made this same mistake with GalCiv 3 and cultural stations )
- Stupid choices during tactical combat against quest objectives can set you back dozens of turns
- I need a Story Mode or something after losing on easy
I do plan to retry. I finally got into a 'Just one more turn' groove after a couple of sessions with this mode, so I know there's something there. Just need to invest some time to learn the mechanics and be more patient and deliberate about expansion.
Looks like Pedro Pascal from his days on Narcos.
I’m still stuck into it. Scratches the Civ itch with the addition of tactical fun.
I started a little late but I'm enjoying my first run-through. Plenty of tech-tree choices and fun tactical battles, so far I'm doing ok picking my battles and alliances. Plenty more to explore so I'll definitely be putting a few more hours in.
I've dipped back into this, and played an "easy" campaign as the Vanguard just to remind myself how to play it. I really want to move on though and play as the latest faction with the enormous robots, as they look kinda cool. I'll keep you posted.
So I completed my "refresher" map from the campaign and remember just what a good game this is - certainly a lot better than the time and attention I've given it.
it manages that rare treat of having fairly simplistic mechanics provide a much deeper strategic system witha tactical combat layer that's really the best I've come across in any 4x type game. Factions really are different, and play differently too on the map. I'm really going to have spend more time with this game soon, I'm fairly sure I've underrated it a little in the past.
The new "Empire" systems looks more than worth exploring too (where you pick which every faction and hero you choose but the game then gives a top layer strategic "campaign" for you to follow and bring your galactic empire to victory) and give the game some focus and goals to reach beyond just "winning" the game. I can't help thinking that alone is an innovation a lot of other games could be taking a long, hard look at and wondering what they could do with that sort of implementation.
So long Planetfall. I never really got into you, but your battles sure are pretty.
So, since I completed that refresher game I've gone on to explore the Empire mode, and I've now played through one complete campaign as the OathBound, because who doesn't love gigantic walking robots pretending to be Knights of the Round Table (that's how I've been playing it) and I have had an absolute blast.
Once you start to get your head around all the different damage types and "secret" research types, and start to get a feel for how they all interact with each other the game really starts to live and breath more. It also allows you to get a much feel for the strategic layer and how all the resources and sector exploitations work as well. I managed to complete the first planet by finishing the special empire objectives - eradicating the map of those evil, evil penguins and putting the promethean flammable weapons out of reach of everyone else.
Where it fails is that it really, really doesn't explain itself very well at all. The campaigns are a great way to break yourself in gently, but I'm coming up on 100 hours in this game and only now do I feel like I've got a grip of how it all works, how to build out from your starting base and how to get all the tactical options and operations to integrate and syngerise with one another.
I do think this is one of the best 4x's I've played in quite some time though. It's not the standard 4x model - it's focus is much more at the tactical level rather than the strategic, but then again there is enough in both layers to work with and makes for a compelling experience across the board. It's game more than worth the time required to learn it properly, but you really do need to be prepared to sink that time into it.
I wonder if we need to give a little more time to our games. I've already started a new game on a new planet to continue my empire - I love me some robotic knights - it's certainly got it's claws in me at the moment!
Definitely true that strategy games are not turn and burn. We've already lengthened the period for Imperator. Maybe we should consider that, as you say, for the long-form choices.
Pages