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Recent reviews by Captain Swing

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2 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
28.3 hrs on record
tl;dr: VERY VERY GOOD puzzle/tactical game with heavy emphasis on the puzzle part.
I'm writing this review in one sitting, so expect errors and repeats.




Story and writing:
As usual with comedy, it's all subjective, so your mileage may vary. If you played other games from The Defenestration Trilogy, you know what to expect. There's a lot of winking at the audience, but at the same time you'll find fragments when story gets serious, and suddenly you're reading about a fictional country's religion. And then you fight Steve Clark, the Traffic Warlock who summons ghost cars to run you over.
So if you appreciate a comedy that does not sacrifice story beats and world building, then this might be something for you.
The pacing is good. At no point did I find myself thinking that I'm wasting time or that there's any unnecessary padding.
You can also just skip all the story and text - game even has a separate chats that let you read characters talking to each other about themselves. I wouldn't recommend skipping anything, but you can do it and just focus on the…

Gameplay:
As mentioned in the beginning - this is a puzzle game first. Don't expect X-COM-like strategy, although there will be some similarities.
You get one movement and one action (although custom difficulty settings let you switch to two actions per character) - some skills don't consume action, but might require mana or may be one-time use. Player turn, enemy turn, end turn, and it's your turn again. Your characters will gain levels and unlock upgrades that will change your playstyle accordingly. Sounds familiar, X-COM commander? Almost every stage starts with your units breaching a room-like area - hello X-COM Chimera Squad commander.
The game's pace is very forgiving - you can rewind time all the way to beginning of the round, so you basically fine-tune your round performance until you are satisfied with the result. It even shows you exactly what will happen when enemies follow-up with their actions and will ask you if you want to continue.
Oh, and I almost forgot that some mission goals offer optional hints that get more specific if you didn't find the previous one helpful enough.
Each character has their specific skills, so it's not like you have too much customization options - think X-COM Chimera Squad (the game gives you an option to replay stages with different squad, so there's that).
Once again, this is a puzzle game first, so you need to treat each stage as such - using all the options at your disposal to get the most out of each turn. Game encourages that through confidence goals (basically additional challenges) that give you points that… unlock costumes. And achievements of course, so if you're not into that whole thing, you can play the game at your own skill level (oh yeah, and there are difficulty levels).
Another useful thing to mention is that the game has a built-in level editor and uses Steam Workshop for sharing them.

Visuals:
Simple yet expressive. Devs clearly subscribe to "less is more" philosophy and it works. Still, even with all the simplified shapes, it oozes style. Small details like all the skeletons in their silly poses as they drive through the stage in the spectral motorcade. Chef's kiss.

Music and sounds:
Good. Fits the setting/mood, but does the important part of staying in the background, so it won't distract you when you're replaying that one specific round for an ideal outcome.
Expect a mix of orchestra/electronica you wouldn't find out of place in an action/spy movie - with the obligatory choir when you get to the religion-themed Kalan.
As for sounds, everything is exactly how it's supposed to be. Magic sounds like magic, guns like guns, and ghost car running your over… you get the idea.

Performance:
Except launch week costumes not appearing (already fixed), I didn't encounter any bugs - even on day 1.

10/10 - would erase my memory to play it for the first time again.
Posted 24 August.
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