Massive Chalice is about strategy and some management of your kingdom, not more, not less.The game gives you a basic story, the rest plays out like Xcom:Enemy unknown.The fighting is very simliar and as a person that hates the X-Com remake i certainly dont like the combat in Massive Chalice.Lets look into everything:
Visuals:At first, the game might look good.The artstyle is somewhatMassive Chalice is about strategy and some management of your kingdom, not more, not less.The game gives you a basic story, the rest plays out like Xcom:Enemy unknown.The fighting is very simliar and as a person that hates the X-Com remake i certainly dont like the combat in Massive Chalice.Lets look into everything:
Visuals:At first, the game might look good.The artstyle is somewhat unique, or at least you will think that if you never played older games(on PS2 for example).While the artstyle is kinda unique today its not that unique if you compare it to Stellar Deus on the PS2 for example.From a technical standpoint the game looks bad.Weapons, armor and faces are not detailed, not unique.For a pricetag of 20€ you can get better looking games.But visuals are not everything, right?
Sound:The music and the voiceacting is brilliant.The chalice is kinda seperated into 2 persons.They speak to you or they will comment on some things, like the death of a fallen soldier or new enemys.I really like that part of the game.The weapon-sounds are more or less non existent, i dont like that but many games have that problem.
Gameplay:That is the part that disappointed me the most.When you start the game you think "oh, i can do so many things".Yes and no!In theory you can do some things.Research for example.The problem is, many things serve no real purpose.One example:You can research a bow that can pierce through multiple enemys.That feature sounds cool but its useless because somehow that weapon doesnt fit into the game.The bow is too weak and some enemys have abilitys that punish you if you do not enough damage per shot.There is one enemy that has the shellability.You hit it once, it will boost its armor and you can hit it only for 1 damage this turn.You need strong weapons for that enemy to kill it with 1 shot or blow.Other enemys need to be taken out quickly, like the wrinkler.They let your soldiers age with every hit.Why would i use a weak weapon on him??Thats just an example for poor balance, there are other things that makes no sense if you really think about from a mechanical point of view.
There are other problems in the way you set up your kingdom.The fortress for example is where you breed new soldiers.The clases of the parents determine the class the kids will be at the age of 15 or so.For my playthrough i got stuck with 3 classes which turned out to be overpowered because they can cloak, shoot and move a second time or they have a sneak attack that is insta death for nearly every enemy.Other classes sucked compared to that(i played a second time).What i dont like about the way double fine handles the fortesssystem is that you give a fortress to 1 regent and if you appoint him/her the first time it locks in the family that can inherit that fortress.Because i lost some soldiers of that family in a tragic event i had problems to give the fortress to someone out of that family.Its not gamebraking but it is so much management for such a shallow game, it feels unnacessary.There are more things, but ill spare you more negative points.
Conclusion:Massive Chalice seems like an interesting game at first.Unfortunatly the game is much like X-Com a very shallow expierence.Everything is basic, nothing more.Brilliant voiceacting cant save shallow gameplay in a not so good looking game.Plus, i had crashes in every mission.Had to save a lot because of that.I hear many of you say "its just 20€" but what i see from that game is not enough to justify 20€.Think about what you can get for that kind of money.If i look on steam they got Fallout Las Vegas Ultimate Edition for the same price and i bet i can find some older games in the same genre with more depth, better looking for the same price or less.Im sorry, that game is not great, not good, its mediocre at best.If you wait for a sale, lets say 7-10€ its okay.Dont buy it right now.… Expand
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