5
Products
reviewed
217
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Recent reviews by Psynchrony

Showing 1-5 of 5 entries
1 person found this review helpful
28.9 hrs on record (16.9 hrs at review time)
Early Access Review
EARLY ACCESS REVIEW

Really enjoy what I've played so far. Lots of interesting systems, and it feels good to progress my characters.

The side quests are surprisingly charming, and have consequences (although the devs could lean a LOT harder into the trade-offs). There aren't a ton of items in the game, but picking the right stats for a particular unit feels like I'm making meaningful decisions. And aside from stat bonuses, many items actually have interesting mechanical effects that make a real difference in battle.

The battles are really quick, so you really feel the impact of your training and gear decisions. Letting your healer live for an extra 5-10 seconds can turn the tide of the battle.

Some of the gameplay/systems needs work. Like why would I train any unit beyond my primary squad? Also, the stakes are pretty low; as in, there's not much that will go wrong if I just hang out training all the time (from what I can tell), or if one of my characters dies. I want more tension in my decisions, and in the overall span of the game. For example -- if I had to reach a checkpoint within a certain number of days.

Even with some of those gripes, the core gameplay loop is really satisfying, and it feels really good to mix and match the right units for a particular battle.
Posted 20 March, 2022.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
37.3 hrs on record (33.6 hrs at review time)
Early Access Review
Fantastic game. Engaging and very chill. Lovely aesthetic.

Super easy to jump in and learn the basics. Very satisfying to reach goals and unlock new things.

Some of the nuances rules could be clearer (tile placement bonuses), but that doesn't really take away from the fun I've had.
Posted 20 March, 2022.
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2 people found this review helpful
1 person found this review funny
61.3 hrs on record
Unfortunately, I would not recommend this game.

This has the skeleton of a really great game, but a lot of the fundamental design decisions make the whole experience feel cheap and hollow. I understand it's intentionally meant to be a stripped down version of a grander RPG, but it still has problems.

I really like the idler style of this game, but the idle gameplay is both the game's strength and weakness.

I like seeing the numbers go up, and collecting a lot of materials is really satisfying. The problem is that it's all kind of pointless. There are so many interesting systems, but they're all extremely shallow and don't really interact much. And even when they do, the end result doesn't add much to the experience.

The game doesn't offer the player any way to really feel clever about what they're doing. All of the non-combat systems are in service of progressing your combat effectiveness. But why bother optimizing any of that when I could just idly kill infinite chickens instead?

For all the pieces it provides, there's not actually much "game" in this box.

This game has a ton of potential, but it needs to rethink some of its design decisions to get it to a place where I would recommend it.
Posted 20 March, 2022.
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10 people found this review helpful
0.4 hrs on record
I got this as part of a Humble Bundle and knew nothing about it before trying.

I'm a huge fan of tabletop board gaming, so I was interested when it was described as a deck-builder mixed with an action combat game. The concept is really neat, but the game ultimately falls flat, in my opinion.

As you'll read in other reviews, the game does have solid voice acting and graphics. I agree with those assessments, but that's about as far as I can go with the positive aspects.

My biggest concern with this game is that the card gameplay is extremely shallow and random with very few interesting decisions; it's full of illusion-of-choice where the game shuffles 4 cards and you pick one -- the act of picking a single card from a shuffled pile is NOT the same as making a decision. The game ultimately feels like a fancy skin over a bunch of die rolls and linear movement. After 5 minutes of playing the game, it becomes apparent that this is the core gameplay loop.

The pacing of the card gameplay is sluggish, with animations being just a tad too slow. And with so many of these animations being the same and/or with nearly inconsequential effects, it quickly feels repetetive and grindy. Couple this with the lack of decision making, and the game begins to feel like a chore.

The game uses a tarot style graphic design on the cards, only showing a card name in addition to the art. The issue with that is that there are at least dozens (hundreds?) of unique cards that each do different things, and they these effects are not immediately apparent. So when you complete a mission and win a booster pack, it totally takes the excitement out of the reveal because you have no idea what you just opened. This may seem like a small detail, but it sucks out SO MUCH of the immersion and underlying story. When you have a wall of completed missions with no descriptions, the experience feels hollow.

The combat is very similar to Batman. I didn't know this before playing, and if I did, I probably would have avoided the game based purely on personal preference (I didn't care for the Batman combat system). This game really tried to capture the same feel, but is again ultimately quite sluggish in its execution. As well, this combat system feels at odds with the balance of the card system. With so many opportunities to block and counter and dodge, what even is the difference between a +25 ATK weapon vs +27 ATK weapon? Part of the excitement and strategy/tactics of a more traditional card game is working out lines of play that let you edge out small victories with just enough damage in different situations. The action combat in this game blurs this aspect of gameplay to the point where it begins to feel arbitrary and lacking a cohesive design.

In conclusion, even if the gameplay itself was more compelling, the user experience (card descriptions, pacing, etc) really made a mediocre/boring game into a frustrating one. I definitely do not recommend buying this at full price, and would only recommend getting it on sale if you enjoyed the combat in Batman and are intrigued by the concept of a mixed card game/action game. DO NOT buy this if you want deep card game experiences because you will be disappointed.
Posted 19 February, 2017. Last edited 19 February, 2017.
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1.4 hrs on record
I owned AC6 on Xbox 360 and had a great time with that game. Unfortunately, AC:AH feels like a terrible port of a mediocre AC game.

The fun jet fighter elements of this game are obscured by frustrating and boring helicopter missions and extremely clunky controls (and I'm playing with a Xbox 360 controller). I was expecting at least 90% of the missions to be in a fighter jet. 2 of the first ~4 missions are in a helecopter.

That said, I did enjoy some parts of the game. Dogfight Mode (DFM) is a fun aspect of flight missions where your perspective is soft-locked onto your nearby target, and you have to maneuver your camera to get a quick missile hit. It's like a mini-game within the mission. This adds to the intensity of the game.

I bought the game because I was desperate for an AC experience, but this has been a major let down. Fortunately I got it for super cheap from humble bundle. Otherwise, I would be really upset.

This game is NOT worth full retail price. If you're reallllly desperate for a jet fighter game and this has a deep discount (<$5), it's probably worth it. Otherwise, try to find some other jet games.
Posted 22 November, 2015.
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Showing 1-5 of 5 entries