derp_derp

This is pretty much an unintentional parody of indie games. If you're the most pretentious person at your Hop Topic and want to experience the most convoluted adventure game logic this side of Sierra and also hate yourself I strongly recommend this game.

This might be a game that takes a while to hit its stride, but what I played in three hours really didn't inspire me to keep going. The biggest offender were the hit and miss puzzles. There were a couple I enjoyed, but for the most part I felt like I was going through the motions, and at worst they were either tedious or full of wasted space due to the sheer amount of tiles the game throws on screen at once. But really the big issue is that I never had to stop and think about what I was doing at all, and that's the whole point of a puzzle game, isn't it? The severity of the story and setting also feels really out of place in very gamey 2D puzzler. I know I'm supposed to be looking for my kids and all, but it feels like if Pacman had cutscenes telling you it was all a somber allegory for eating disorders. I just can't take it seriously at all. The music was surprisingly awesome though. There were a couple tracks that sounded kind of unfinished, but I'd probably pick up the soundtrack if it came out. Again, the game might get interesting later on, but if a simple puzzle game can't hook me in a couple hours I'm just not interested.

This is the kind of game you want to give a 10 upon first firing it up just for the sheer scope, depth and ambition of it. Too bad that in the end most of the enjoyment comes from figuring out how everything works instead of actually playing it. It just never adds up as a game for me. As a simulation it fails, as the subject matter in these seems too broad to really handle with any kind of realism, not to mention that the political aspect is very undernourished, and the AI never manages to convince you that you're up against any kind of intelligence. As a grand strategy game it doesn't work either, as the game seems more like a wargame with a grab bag of features the developers thought would be cool without really thinking how they all fit together. It fails as pure visceral entertainment as well, as any tense moments easily get drowned in the plodding pace of the game and sheer complexity, and the poor graphics and interface don't do it any favors here either. All of these complaints apply to the other titles in the series as well, which is pretty disappointing as even the first game seemed to have a ton of unrealized potential. Too bad the devs have never really addressed the core gameplay and accessibility issues of the series, instead choosing to devote their time with small fixes as well mapping the geography and military of the world to an astounding degree. They bill this as an "Intelligent Strategy Game", but "obsessive" seems to fit the bill much better. Despite all I've said though this isn't a terrible game, just more wasted potential, and there are better games out there. For a historical grand strategy game I'd rather play the Europa Universalis series, and both Dominions and Distant Worlds have a similarly grand degree of complexity yet remain more accessible, cohesive, and enjoyable. I imagine that anyone that really likes the combat aspect of this here would be better suited with a traditional wargame as well. I think Battlegoat needs to go back to the drawing board with this, trim a lot of the fat and just focus on making a cohesive game for once. I appreciate the ambition, but if after five years and two sequels your concept still isn't hitting the mark there's a problem. Complexity alone just doesn't cut it.