Crying Suns

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 50
  3. Negative: 2 out of 50

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  1. atreid
    Oct 1, 2019
    8
    An excellent, atmospheric science-fiction strategy game that's hard to describe, and doesn't fit well into existing categories - certainly not 'FTL clone' or 'roguelike', which I've seen thrown around in many reviews. Crying Suns has a beautiful pixelated graphics scheme with great music and sound effects to match. The game is heavy on story from the outset and is spread over fiveAn excellent, atmospheric science-fiction strategy game that's hard to describe, and doesn't fit well into existing categories - certainly not 'FTL clone' or 'roguelike', which I've seen thrown around in many reviews. Crying Suns has a beautiful pixelated graphics scheme with great music and sound effects to match. The game is heavy on story from the outset and is spread over five chapters, each of which consists of three maps, including two mini-bosses and a final boss at the end of the third map. You can progress linearly through the five chapters, but your 'run' (if successful) ends at the end of the third map, and you'll need to pick a new battleship and crew for each chapter. It's run-based and you might unlock the rare new officer that can benefit you in future runs, but otherwise there's not much in common with the rogue-like genre. Reviewers often compare it to FTL, and there are superficial similarities such as the chase mechanic, nodes on each map, and graphically very similar ship upgrades screen, but gameplay is completely different, particularly the hex-based ship combat events. The main detraction is the repetitive events - made even worse that they repeat across different chapters, and many of them are pre-defined with no variable outcomes, something I had hoped would be fixed from the beta. There is some questionably-written dialogue, but overall it is well done. If you're looking for more FTL, or a roguelike in space, you might be disappointed, but on its own Crying Suns is a great game and well worth trying out. I've had a blast with it.… Expand
  2. Angelhelm
    Nov 26, 2019
    10
    This is a wonderful game a spiritual successor to the mtl formula with a new layer of squadron based combat. Crying suns has a deep and moody story that I fell in love with instantly. I recommend this game to anyone who like FL or skirmish style combat.
  3. Blaystro
    Oct 14, 2019
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ce jeu est une énorme claque!

    Il est beau. Il est bien écrit. Il est bien pensé. Il est unique. Il est dans l'espace. Mais surtout: c'est une expérience narrative et une atmosphère avant d'être un vrai rogue-like (lire plus bas).

    Alors oui, j'ai tout de suite pensé quand j'ai vu le jeu "encore un mauvais recyclage de FTL en pixel art". Et puis quand on s'attarde deux minutes, on voit qu'en fait, c'est bien plus que cela.

    Déjà niveau graphisme: C'est du pixel art de haute volé. FTL et 95% des grands jeux du pixel art sont simplement laid à côté.

    Ensuite niveau gameplay: Malgré la campagne kickstarter centré sur les fans de FTL, le gameplay est très très différent et bien plus profond. Il y a un côté gestion, un côté combat tactique sur grille avec pause active, il y a un côté stratégie RPG avec un équipage qui possède différentes compétences, et il y a un côté scénario interconnecté avec le gameplay. Etonnamment pour une liste aussi longue, toutes faces du jeu sont réussies !

    La plus grande réussite reste le scénario qui permet d'intégrer parfaitement le style "Rogue Like" tout en justifiant le côté redondant. Il faudra en effet finir le jeu au moins 6 fois pour voir tous les chapitres et chaque partie est très différente (différents type d'ennemis, différents équipage, etc.). Et c'est là où vous allez peut-être être déçu: il y a moins de baston que dans FTL et BEAUCOUP BEAUCOUP plus de texte. Perso, j'apprécie grandement.

    Le seul défaut que je vois est le fait que certains événements ont des résultats déterminés donc quand vous rencontrer le même événement une seconde fois, vous savez déjà à quoi vous attendre. Cela ne représente pas tous les événements mais suffisamment pour que cela soit redondant . J'espère que les développeurs vont régler cela lors des patchs suivants. Il leur suffirait "juste" de mettre deux ou trois possibles résultats pour un même événement afin de garder le joueur attentif.

    En tout cas, bravo aux développeurs français d'Alt Shift, vous avez fait un chef d'oeuvre !

    PS: si vous aimez pas lire, je ne pense pas que vous pourrez apprécier le jeu car la pièce essentielle est la narration (si vous ne l'aviez pas compris en lisant le texte ci-dessus). Mais bon, si vous êtes arrivez jusque là dans ma review, il y a de grande chance que cette partie ne soit pas un problème pour vous ^^

    PS2: Les développeurs ont posté une roadmap des fonctionalités qui vont être intégrées dans le jeux dans les prochains mois (des DLC, la fin des événements qui se répètent, etc.).     … Expand
  4. Muyrka
    Mar 17, 2020
    6
    It is a fine game for couple of hours, then it gets boring and repetitive.
    If you like this kind of genre I would recommend FTL or Into the Breach - those are real masterpieces. This one looks like sloppy clone of FTL.
  5. flameysauce
    Sep 25, 2019
    8
    As much of an art project as a game, Crying Suns is a winner in the overall experience. As a captain of a space battleship trying to reconnect to a broken empire, this game is an FTL-like journey across vast stretches of space, but updated in many ways. The strongest points are absolutely the art direction and theme. It is a story heavy game, and from its onset, Crying Suns sells a mood,As much of an art project as a game, Crying Suns is a winner in the overall experience. As a captain of a space battleship trying to reconnect to a broken empire, this game is an FTL-like journey across vast stretches of space, but updated in many ways. The strongest points are absolutely the art direction and theme. It is a story heavy game, and from its onset, Crying Suns sells a mood, and sells it very well. If "space-cyberpunk" sounds like something you might be interested in, look no further. There are some interesting mechanics, and in general the gameplay is more functional than fascinating. There are some criticisms of repetition as well as sloppy balance here and there, but in the end I found the overall experience very positive. For a story driven game more interested in art and mood than tight gameplay mechanics, it is an excellent performance.… Expand
  6. ProfAmateur
    Jan 11, 2021
    7
    What I liked:
    + Story
    + Game makes you feel like a real Captain
    + Mix of funny/serious/tragic Moments

    What I didn't like:
    - Difficulty for Battles, if you are not a very addicted rogue-lite gamer like me
    - The Price compared to the scope of the game

    Altogether a welcome diversion, but i played only a total of 5 hours.
  7. RenardChenapan
    May 14, 2021
    10
    Perfect! Juste love this bloody game. Ridiculous Price and Replay value. Great atmosphere
  8. Dirc
    Feb 24, 2022
    7
    In Crying Suns you play as a clone of legendary admiral who has been awakened by a powerful AI because contact with the galactic empire has been cut off for unknown reasons. You then proceed to do an FTL-like run where you encounter events, upgrade your ship's systems, recruit officers, and learn more about the story till you beat the chapter's boss or die, in which case the AI activitatesIn Crying Suns you play as a clone of legendary admiral who has been awakened by a powerful AI because contact with the galactic empire has been cut off for unknown reasons. You then proceed to do an FTL-like run where you encounter events, upgrade your ship's systems, recruit officers, and learn more about the story till you beat the chapter's boss or die, in which case the AI activitates the next clone and you try again. The story is quite good, inspired by Dune and Aasimov's Foundation.

    In some ways this game is excellent, I really like the art, story, atmosphere, lore, living the power fantasy of commanding a battleship and giving orders to your officers, making life and death decisions as you jump from sector to sector.

    The space battles, however, are resolved using a very underwhelming rock/paper/scissors RTS game. Fighter beats drone, drone beats frigate, frigate beats fighter. It feels more like a mobile game than an actual PC game. Thankfully easy mode is truly easy, so one can play through the game for the story without having to redo sectors over and over again.

    As a roguelite, this game lacks quality and polish. Its beautiful pixel art graphics and solid writing will be enough to please many a sci-fi fan out there though. I recommend giving this game a shot when it's on sale, but don't expect to get dozens of hours of fun from this.    … Expand
  9. Salt_addict
    Feb 14, 2022
    7
    Great RogueLite, First full playthrough is enjoyable but very little interest in doing more than that.
  10. RMDsilva
    Jan 19, 2021
    7
    Fun for a couple of hours, interesting enough mechanics but... nothing trumps the scrapper suicide squad (:
  11. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Apr 1, 2021
    9
    Despite roguelites not being my favorite genre this one blew me away. The story is great, the graphics are perfect (2d pixelart with some 3d Modells), mechanics are great, depth and progression is great. Only negatives for me are the too heavy references to dune and front loaded difficulty.
  12. Halo36933
    Jan 9, 2021
    9
    I would give this game but the reasoning behind many of the mediocre reviews are sound, the gameplay is a lot of fun, but the number of viable strategies are somewhat limited, don't get me wrong, you can still play this however you want. Some events do begin to repeat themselves, which, while less than ideal, is still interesting as it offers the chance to pick one of the other paths. GoodI would give this game but the reasoning behind many of the mediocre reviews are sound, the gameplay is a lot of fun, but the number of viable strategies are somewhat limited, don't get me wrong, you can still play this however you want. Some events do begin to repeat themselves, which, while less than ideal, is still interesting as it offers the chance to pick one of the other paths. Good story, Engaging gameplay, Very bingeable, Maybe not a ton of replay value, but there is definitely a good bit. If you like the genre, I highly recommend it.… Expand
  13. mooquay
    Jan 10, 2021
    8
    This game comes with excellent pixelart-style 3D-graphics and a really interesting story, embedded in a rogue-/FTL-like space adventure. You have to place several decisions among the game and prove your skill in leightweight tactical combat. I recommend it to buy for 5-10$/€ because I can imagine, it will be kind of repetitive on later runs.
  14. CYANBLUE
    Jan 15, 2021
    7
    Unique, but need some change in battles
    it is all same and easy to get boring
  15. Demiurge11
    Jan 24, 2023
    8
    This is a tactical game with 3 major modes: 1. a star-system level map where you decide where to move, 2. a ship's bridge view where you interact with random events and move around within a star system, and 3. a battle mode between two battleships. You wander the galaxy, exploring a series of randomly generated star clusters, and experience an evolving story as you go along.

    THE GOOD:    This is a tactical game with 3 major modes: 1. a star-system level map where you decide where to move, 2. a ship's bridge view where you interact with random events and move around within a star system, and 3. a battle mode between two battleships. You wander the galaxy, exploring a series of randomly generated star clusters, and experience an evolving story as you go along.

    THE GOOD:
    - The game's pixel graphics are the most impressive I've ever seen. The ships, planets, and stars are *really* cool-looking. The art makes amazing use of 3D, bright, and dark. Wow!
    - Really fantastic and unique music that is very atmospheric.
    - The story is captivating up until the ending. It's overall a good cyberpunk plot--high-tech, low-life--with a central theme of the human dependence on technology and how technological advances benefit the rich but not the poor.
    - The story has really good plot twists that keep moving the goal post in interesting ways.
    - The ship-to-ship battles are engaging and interesting for the most part.

    THE BAD:
    - Crying Suns is advertised as a Rogue-like game but it isn't really. In principle, a Rogue-like should be played over and over with you learning the environment, enemies, resources, abilities, etc. and making it further each play-through thanks to your increased skill, or unlocked abilities. Instead, the game has an evolving story split into chapters, and you have to restart a chapter if you die. This is just a standard linear storyline with save points. If you're looking for a Rogue-like, you will be sorely disappointed.
    - The star maps are randomly generated and offer very limited opportunity for navigation. There is little to learn about the lay of the land, so little opportunity to gain expertise or make meaningful strategic choices.
    - The random encounter events offer very little freedom of choice. They usually give you a tiny handful of pre-scripted options, and often randomly decide how things will turn out without any way for you to ensure success or mitigate losses. Basically, how the event goes is about the story-writer's choices and not about *your* choices.
    - For example, let's say you encounter a mysteriously abandoned ship. The story-writer decides you can only send 4 troops over, no more, no less. You send them, and the game decides it was an ambush and all 4 troops die. Why didn't you have the choice to do something else? Blow up the ship? Send a specialist to scout it out? Send more troops so you would win? Etc. etc. I feel this is a major lost opportunity to allow the player to learn from experience, marshal their resources, and apply effective tactics to maximize their gains.
    - The away missions to the planet have a similar lack of freedom. All you can do is decide which specialist to send. You can't decide to send more troops, fewer troops, more specialists, or anything else really.
    - There's a lack of strategic depth to the skirmishes. The fighting was difficult to understand at first, but once I found a dominating strategy the game never introduced any opponents that forced me to adopt a different strategy.
    - I never died and thus never restarted a chapter even once. In spite of that, the game ran out of new random events long before the ending. Some random events happened three or four times! There could have been more variety here.
    - I thought the ending was lame. More under MAJOR SPOILERS, below.

    THE UGLY:
    - Conversation bug: I asked a character where the sector boss was and they said at end of cluster... which was literally next door!
    - Conversation bug: several events had my character saying they'd come back to life again, but I had never died!
    - There seems to be a problem with the Neo-N rolls where they virtually never go above 1.
    - Graphics bug: when sending away missions to a planet or doing intra-stellar travel the ships frequently travel *through* solid objects.

    MAJOR SPOILERS:
    - I thought the ending, a forced machine singularity god-intelligence and the inevitable destruction of humankind was lame. All the suggested end choices were bad. I don't believe that human beings could ever be made so helpless. Where were the smart options, like creating a democracy, or freeing the machines and working alongside each other? Humans are really much more capable of survival, and dependence on technology makes us strong, not weak.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. Strategy Gamer
    Dec 10, 2019
    80
    A challenging, visually vibrant sci-fi rogue-like following in the fine tradition of FTL et al - definitely worth checking out.
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  2. GamingTrend
    Dec 9, 2019
    80
    Crying Suns is a characterful rogue-lite that really sets its sci-fi tone well from the get-go; strong writing and a great soundtrack build the universe while the high stakes nature of every move is engaging and keeps every run as fresh as the last.
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  3. 4P.de
    Nov 26, 2019
    80
    Intense SciFi tactics in the tradition of FTL with a surprisingly good story.
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