Recent reviews by DirgeSellsword

You can't be seriously reading this review if you're a fan of automation games. If you are and haven't played Satisfactory, the decision has already been made and you're talking yourself out of buying this game for any other reason apart from whether or not you would enjoy this game.

If you are new to the genre or want to dip your toes in, Satisfactory is undoubtedly one of the best factory builders out there and one of the most accessible for new players. Satisfactory presents itself in a very relatable manner for those unfamiliar to an automation game, providing a very tailored new player experience with it's First Person and Survival elements and a narrative that is engaging enough for you wanting to see just what is around the corner.

While any automation game starts out simple enough, the game will become more complex, present logistical challenges and will require you to work out production chains, as is the case with almost any factory builder. Satisfactory however provides the player with the time and space to be able to take it at their own pace and experiment. Resource nodes are infinite and combat is used to gate progression by preventing access to new areas. This means that you're not under pressure to be conservative with your materials and worry about defending what you've built. You can play Satisfactory on your own terms. If that's not enough, there are new game mode options that can allow you to turn off enemy behaviour, allow creative mode tools and many more.

When it was announced, it was seen as the "3D Factorio". Anyone who's played both can say they're nothing alike, except they're of the same genre. It's like saying Elder Scrolls and Dark Souls are the same because they're both RPG's. If you asked anyone that has been into the automation/factory builder genre for the last couple of years, most would say either Factorio and Satisfactory. Any other automation games compared to these two directly at face value, almost every time.

However, being a pioneer (no pun intended) in the automation genre is one of its least praises.

Satisfactory is an example of how powerful developer communication can be, and how an Early Access period can be done right. Being a part of Satisfactory being developed was, and continues to be, an amazing experience. Not only is there regular communication with the player base and community with what plans are, current issues and the like, but there is also fantastic player engagement with exciting patch trailers and community involvement. We're starting to see other developers emulate this and I'm hoping larger developers and publishers recognise how powerful this is allowing games to become.

Anyway, my time is up on my complimentary 15 minute work break for the week. Can't be wasting company time.

Titanfall 3 wishlist:

1. Please

On the surface, this is a charming city builder with seemingly simple industry and a neat terraforming aspect.

It's only when you dig deeper that inside you find a mammoth of a logistical puzzle should you wish to hit that 1 million milestone. If you are one for thinking ahead and possibly doing several iterations of plans then this may be for you.

The people are hungry, and they demand satisfaction. You start small with trucks and basic manufactory. The city will grow. You will find that you are just not delivering enough. You must scale up. The people need more.

The city grows again. You now have to deal with waste by products and recycle them into your expanding industry. Balancing them is critical to ensure that the city does not stagnate. You refactor your production line. Your rail network is beginning to emerge. Things are looking up.

The city grows, and the other cities are not going unnoticed. The world now demands your services. You must scale up. Your network turns into an ants nest. The trains are going up by the hundreds. The drones are in the thousands. You feed the beast that is your people. Throughput is king.

Then the water comes. The planet becomes alive and it does not care for you or your cities. As it wakes, your planning will be tested. Your examiner is the flood that is fierce as it is swift. Production lines are crippling. Demands are escalating. The people hunger still.

I am one who loves to iterate when presented with new challenges, more knowledge and improved designs. Starting and restarting when I feel like I've hit a milestone and want to apply what I've newly learnt. Usually in city builders or automation games I find that I can keep powering through and apply that new knowledge in my next playthrough.

Plan B: Terraform for me was not that forgiving. The challenge of this game when you boil it down to its base parts is that the upkeep of the city will grind your playthrough to halt if you cannot keep up with its growing demands of both delivering goods and removing waste. I'm sure restarting my playthrough was not required, but I felt that I could progress further with better planning of when I needed to expand my industry and preparing for when the water would come.

Hitting several roadblocks along the way when new challenges arose, there was a need to be able to identify problems in my plans and rethink my approach. A lot of the enjoyment I had of this game wasn't in playing it, but being able to come up with a solution in my time outside of it and then playing it out.

If you are someone that enjoys the genre casually may find that Plan B: Terraform comes up a bit short after delving a few hours in the game, much like I did when I initially played.

However, if you are not one to rush and love the idea of a logistical challenge where planning is a must and uncovering each idiosyncratic behaviour to stretch out efficiency to its fullest, then I can highly recommend Plan B: Terraform.

If you're asking, "Isn't Techtonica just a Satisfactory Clone?" the answer is no. It's 3D automation in a fixed world much like Satisfactory, but plays quite differently.

It's closer to a 3D factorio, given how the automation process works with belts and inserters, finite resources (sort of), as well as everything aligning with a grid. If you're more familiar with Dyson Sphere Program, it's much more comparible to that, given how it's belts work in a 3D space and it's logistic choice of monorails is closer to DSP's interstellar logistics than Factorio or Satisfactory trains.

A nice side note, some of the production chains includes organic products, something usually seen in modded Factorio.

What sets Techtonica apart is it's focus on narrative and exploration. Your research tree is more strongly tied with objectives, not just producing more complex products. Those familiar with games like Subnauctica can probably relate to these titles more, but less so on the survival side and more on the exploration.

I say less on the survival as there is no hunger meter or anything like that. There isn't even health or defencive mechanics as there are no hostiles.

Even though the world generation is fixed, the terrain is subject to terraforming which is a big key to Techtonica's exploration.

One feature I have come to appreciate a lot with Techtonica is it's controller support. My preference for these games is always keyboard and mouse, but there has been many situations in accessibility issues that I've had in which having this genre available on a controller has been fantastic. I have not played this on a Steam Deck, but considering this title is available on Xbox consoles I suspect this is a definite consideration.

If you're like me and love the ever growing factory genre, Techtonica while early in it's early access phase is showing a lot of promise and there is a lot of communication from the developers in both being open in their roadmap and responsive in the game's feedback.

If you're looking for an automation game or factory builder with something a little different, Techtonica is worth a shot.

If you're looking for something with controller support, then this is a very high recommendation.

This review was written in the context of most of my playtime being shortly after the inital EA release.