Recent reviews by Mechajami

In video games, death is familiar, yet inconsequential; often brushed off with an instant respawn. 2012’s XCOM reboot made death painful, not through the loss of achievement that Dark Souls burdens you with, but through the loss of personnel – characters you’ve built up and formed an attachment to. If they fall in battle there is no come back. XCOM’s character customisation is partly responsible (after all, naming your toy soldiers after friends and family is going to create an obvious connection) and in XCOM 2, that’s even more potent.

Set 20 years after XCOM’s failure to repel alien invaders, Earth is divided between dystopian cities run by the new alien overlords, and countryside settlements scraping a living away from the watchful eyes of the oppressors. XCOM is on the back foot, performing guerrilla operations from a mobile base, attempting to form a global resistance and defeat the invaders before humanity is truly lost.

You do this by navigating the globe, forming connections, embarking on missions and reacting to events as you go, splitting your time between managing your base, researching and manufacturing tech and on-the-field tactical warfare.

We’re mostly here for the turn-based strategy, XCOM 2 refining the template in spades. As a guerrilla outfit, missions often start with your squad Concealed – this new state allowing you to move unseen and ambush the enemy. With well positioned troops set to Overwatch, your opening moves can be devastating. Coupled with the time limits imposed on many missions, the forward momentum this brings is refreshing and exhilarating.

This being XCOM, that exhilaration can quickly fade to one of terror as your best laid plans fall apart and your squad gets taken apart by the myriad aliens and their powers. The game is played on a razor’s edge, with tales of victory and loss equally entertaining. It is hard, that’s for certain. But an absolute joy to play too, each loss stealing your resolve to scrape on through and save the human race another day.

9/10

I’ve long been a fan of turn-based tactics games. From playing chess against my dad at a young age, through to the perfection of Advance Wars and the bizarre depths of Disgaeia, i’m a sucker for ponderous battles. I’ve recently acquired a taste for card games too, thanks to the likes of Netrunner and Hearthstone, so when Deulyst – a fusion of turn-based tactics and card game – popped up on my radar, my eyes lit up.

Deulyst is essentially Hero Academy mashed together with Hearthstone – a mix of ever-increasing-mana-fuelled card play and unit movement where two opposing General’s battle to the death, calling upon warriors and spells for help. Deciding which card to play also comes with the choice of where to play it, and how to move your existing warriors too. It’s the strategy of chess merged with the customisable depths of a modern card game, borrowing from its peers to make a beautifully designed and balanced game.

It’s also surprisingly fast paced – a combination of quickly escalating powers, tight strategy and the combo potential of a customised deck. With a mix of painterly, vibrant sci-fi backgrounds and glowing, gorgeously animated pixel art monsters, Deulyst backs its robust gameplay with stunning visuals too.

Each faction brings differing abilities and deck building options, and although you’ll probably have to spend some money on extra cards to get the most out of it, Deulyst is generous enough as it is, offering a sublime blend of pace, visuals and depth for nothing.