Battle Worlds Kronos

[Tabonga | 2,325]

I spent several hours completing the first mission in the campaign mode yesterday

There is definitely some very good gameplay hidden in a lot of confusion. 

For a change of pace in this genre the AI is very good and doesn't rely on a lot of high powered units to outnumber/outpower you. A lot of the mechanics seem to have been patterned after those in Nectaris - which is a good thing since that is such a marvelous game.

Now for the bad - like just about every switch game there is no paper documentation - so basics like what the controller buttons do are never explained. (There is a brief picture of the controller with brief labels fort the buttons which appears when you load up the first scenario but it vanishes pretty quickly with no way to pause it or reload it (as far as I can tell).  And the labels are not very helpful - what the heck is a "context menu" (you tell me and we will both know.

There is a less than helpful tutorial which annoyingly appears whilst you are playing - it often tells you to do something without showing you how to do it.  Or offers really useful advice like "follow the road" - like there is nowhere else to go!

There is a two stage action system which is pretty nifty that works with an attack support system (similar to what Nectaris uses) but that is limited by the fact you can't tell which units have full moved or have done only the first phase of it - so you spend a lot of time clicking on units that you can't move or you forget did only the first phase.

The way to restore units is cumbersome -there are open supply caches that you put your unit on and it restores it - the biggest problem is that you can only use them once - so you are naturally hesitant to repair a unit that is only moderately damaged. There are bases that can supposedly repair units but they have to be stocked with fuel and ammo etc. No clue is given on how to this - there are some icons scattered around that look like barrels etc. but you can't put any units on them to harvest the materials.  

There was a seaport in this scenario which allows you to construct naval units - it listed the points needed to build them but no clue on how to get the points nor how many you may (or may not) currently have.

The controls are kinda clunky and the cursor sometimes locks up or hides itself.

There are also some issues specific to the switch - the screen is too small to make the distinctions between units easily discernible. When a unit is heavily damaged or destroyed it emits a plume of smoke that can obscure units - and it is sometime hard to tell if the unit is heavily damaged or destroyed.  If destroyed the hulk remains for a turn (also making the hex unusable for that turn for most units).  In intense combat the screen gets real cluttered and it makes it hard to see what you are dealing with in terms of an overall picture.

A real frustrating experience - I am going to try to slog it out because there really is a good game hiding there (I think anyway) - hopefully it will become somewhat easier as I stumble on how to do things.

 

[Gloves | 11,811]

I played this game on PS4 when it first released and hated it. There's certainly some good strategy deep down, but it's a slog, and it's often unfair for the sake of it. There are however some hardcore strategy fans that love it, and while they seem crazy to me maybe they know something I don't. Hopefully you can find some enjoyment in it.

[Tabonga | 2,325]

1 hour ago, Gloves said:

I played this game on PS4 when it first released and hated it. There's certainly some good strategy deep down, but it's a slog, and it's often unfair for the sake of it. There are however some hardcore strategy fans that love it, and while they seem crazy to me maybe they know something I don't. Hopefully you can find some enjoyment in it.

The worst so far is it that it is really unforgiving if you accidentally  end a unit's turn (or put in the wrong place) too early you can't backtrack it.  I am slowly figuring out how to do things.  (For example you can summon a few reinforcements every 10 turns - but doesn't tell you there is a somewhat obscure menu to pull up (and even then the way to do it is not very intuitive_).

If I can get used to the awkward controls I think it will be an enjoyable game (if somewhat difficult - I don't mind getting knocked on my butt if it is a fair fight).

I wonder if when they play tested (if they did at all) the console versions they did it  with people who were familiar with the computer version* and therefore familiar with how it worked.  There was a deluxe pc version with an "extended manual" (40 pages) - I tracked down a pdf of it and it is only marginally helpful - it did explain how you can pick up supplies for the bases. Gonna be tedious (when I get some transport vehicles) but the game scenarios are very long.

If the controls were as intuitive as Nectaris this would be an amazing game.

*It looks like it would be very amenable to playing with a mouse.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Tabonga

[Tabonga | 2,325]

Ok - I finished the second scenario last night. The game is making some more sense and the controls are becoming more familiar.  You still have to figure new things out by trial and error which continues to be frustrating.

The larger scale encounters (you tend to meet the enemy in clusters) tend to be pretty engaging (and intense) to the point of hiding the fact that it is a turn based game and you really don't need rush into the heat of the battle.

The game is a large enough scale with lots of units that it is very satisfying on that level.  There is no way to avoid casualties - the best you can do is try to screen (and repair) your stronger units.

This could have been an outstanding game if the controls had been smoothed out for console use*.  As it is if you are into the genre I can see why some folks think highly of it.

*And something resembling proper documentation had been provided - the switch (as much as I like it) is miserable when it comes to included documentation.