About the same days when Firaxis announced Xcom 2, Tim Shaifer (TIM SCHAFER) and his company Double FinE Productions They released their Iksky, more precisely, its fantasy version, where the heroes who protect the kingdom from the invasion of monsters can die not only in battle, but also in their own bed – from old age, heart attack or drunkenness. Speech, of course, about Massive Chalice.
page
Let’s get married!
Tim Shaifer It remains faithful to himself. No matter what he and his colleagues do: a quest, a platformer or a strategy – it is always interesting, unusual, as they say, with humor and imagination. It would seem that you can add new to the old formula for success? We protect the territory from the invasion of evil, send a detachment of quick response to hot spots, step by step by step by step there are aggressors, we develop and equip fighters, erect useful buildings and study different technologies. Even if the action was transferred to the fantasy world, and instead of aliens, some plants attack us, the essence of this does not change.
However, here Double FinE Productions She managed to pleasantly surprise. We have already described in detail the mechanics Massive Chalice In our preview, so we briefly recall the main points. The war with mysterious monsters, known under the general name Cadence, lasts 300 years. That is, time is constantly going on, it is spent on research and buildings, and it also makes the heroes get old and die for natural reasons – perhaps only in Massive Chalice In one detachment, a gray grandmother with a crossbow and a nineteen -year -old young man who throws enemies with alchemical potions and bombs can fight to shoulder.
In addition, this young man may well be the nephew of the old woman or some more or less distant relative. In order to maintain a population of constantly aging and driving like flies of heroes, we must create dynasties, make marriages between the characters available and wait for the kids-they inherit the set of genes and even some kind of family relic, grow and pour into the slender ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland.
The study of advanced equipment for fighters becomes available after you kill a certain number of opponents of one or another.
Thus, each of your fighter is distinguished not only by the class and the skills corresponding to him (there is, relatively speaking, the archer-hunter, an alchemist-bomb and a warrior who beats the monsters with some strange log), but also personal characteristics, character traits that he got from his ancestors. Someone further sees, someone gets tired faster after running, one is used to loneliness and fights better when there are no allies nearby, the other loves to drink, and the third is a pessimist, so the alleged damage that he will inflict the enemy will always be less than the real.
In addition, various bonuses and fines gives the character age (young, medium or elderly). And all this must be taken into account when you select another pair to continue the dynasty. For example, the offspring of a hunter and an alchemist can inherit a skill that allows him to shoot from a crossbow with explosive bolts.
We only dream of peace
The only question that arose during the study of beta versions sounded like this: how long this family-sequence mechanics can hold the player by the screen? After all, the economic and strategic parts in Massive Chalice frankly weaker than in any game game Xcom, – In fact, only two types of buildings are available to us: some accelerate the increase in experience, others reduce the study time. Mission pass according to the standard scheme (simply “kill all”; no additional conditions and tasks), and all this fuss with children, the selection of a husband or spouse (there are same -sex marriages) sooner or later turns into a routine.
There is also a system of random events when we need to make some decision-for example, whom to save during the birth: mother or child-but they happened less often than we would like.
However, the release of the full version dispelled doubts. The authors twisted the balance, increased difficulty, and the game now constantly keeps in suspense. Monsters attack more and more aggressive, trying to pull off a piece of your territory, new types of opponents appear. Therefore, you have to use all tactical skills, skills and features of all classes to win the battle without losing half the detachment.
At the same time, on a global map, you have to constantly puzzle over those who are appointed to the guild of scientists who accelerate research (old people are wiser than youth!), is it worth it to spend years on the study of an advanced type of armor for alchemists or is it better to call a new group of heroes-after all, you have been going into battle for a long time, and after a year or two, half of them will go to the forefathers. And interesting “events” in the full version happen more often.
In addition, the release more clearly focuses on the ability to receive hybrid classes – again as a result of dynastic marriages. So, if one of the parents was a hunter and the other-a warrior, then their child will receive a class Shadowjacker: this is a shadow warrior-killer who knows how not only to strongly beat and “become” enemies, but also hide, apply especially powerful blows from a state of invisibility.
After unintelligible Spacebase DF-9 Tim Shaifer with the comrades completely rehabilitated. With the exit Massive Chalice They once again proved that they are one of the main specialists in creating original, unusual, ironic and very exciting games in the industry. Despite a number of shortcomings and some uniformity, this strategy has at least one important advantage – “Syndrome of another course”, when you think: “Well, now I’ll win another battle, and that’s it – to sleep!”And so – midnight. So get ready for a long, but exciting three -hundred -year war, during which you will play the role of not only a strategist and commander, but also a professional matchmaker.
Pros: unusual, but very exciting gameplay;interesting tactical battles;Stylish picture;ironic storytellers constantly commenting on what is happening;The system of random events.
Cons: The strategic part is not enough depth;After some time, some uniformity of what is happening affects.
