Recent reviews by Fallen_Thespian

For an early-alpha game, this is already showing great promise.

Voice acting in opening cutscene was nice, would be interesting to see some more story delivered this way.

Movement feels pretty great, with only a little difficulty sometimes with some corners (usually on the screen side, where they are 'invisible' for the player's benefit - I had a few dodge rolls or shots get caught on this corner - not actually a fault of the game, just a bit of getting used to.

The multiple height areas in some of the dungeon areas was really interesting, especially with ranged attacks.

Have unlocked 2 of 3 currently available guns, the weapon unlock and upgrade mechanic seems pretty good already, not too restricted, without allowing you to get overpowered quickly.

Enemy variety was nice, slimes at first were a little generic, but the rest of the enemies definitely delivered a nice eldritch/lovecraftian vibe.

Have not even completed a single run yet (That big red skull on the map is calling me) but can see playing a lot more, will definitely be a big name in the genre as more content is added!

For people who played previous versions;
The graphic improvements are noticeable, but not drastic or jarring, the original charm is retained.
Original voices (50% of what made me love this game as a child) are still there.
The controls feel good, but unit patching is a bit hit & miss, AI are even more hit & miss.

The new content in the form of two short campaigns was... okay? Not terrible, just not very in depth.
One mission requires hitting several objectives quickly as regular 'easy' attacks from various signposts will be followed by one that will be very difficult to survive - even on the lower difficulties, and impossible if you weren't prepared for it (I wasn't, and I'm not sure the game really warns you about this well enough)
The two campaigns focus on the Rat & Snake's counties, but with much stronger unit comps than they seem to have in the original campaign. New intros & voice acting supports the new content.

Multiplayer as a built-in is nice, can be iffy with connectivity (Still easier than the old way), but lots of player made maps and a couple of updates have improved it so far.

For people who haven't played previous versions;
If this is your first Stronghold game, this version is probably the best option as it's a little easier to play.
Stronghold Crusader is often referenced as a better game - largely because the AI can build their own castles, which they CAN NOT in this game. The strength of Stronghold is the narrative campaign - which Crusader doesn't have.
A series of well sculpted missions with excellent writing & voice acting in their intros. The military campaign starts of easy and learning, introducing new elements, weapons and units in line with the story progression.

It hasn't aged perfectly as a game, but I feel the main campaign holds up very well, even after years of re-playing, I didn't skip the intros, and thoroughly enjoyed them.

The economic campaign sucks, but individual 'Invasions' and Economic maps are pretty fun, the sieges are cool, especially if you're familiar with the castles.

Many players of the original are disgruntled that this version hasn't imported features from Crusader, but that doesn't make sense to me personally, I got more or less what I expected, a polished, more playable (and OBS capture) version of the game from my childhood.

I do love Crusader, the skirmish missions, mercenaries and variety of AI lords, but can only hope that the success of, and support for Stronghold DE will lead to Crusader DE in the future.

Obviously very cheap currently but already feels worth more. Only intended to check it out, play a single game before sleeping... ended up at nearly 4 hours.

Very simple gameplay - aim in four directions, and toggle up to four abilities. I realised right at the end while looking through the settings that you can toggle auto-fire which would probably have been better for me.

Games dynamic comes from the skill tree, which is random, and presumably procedural generated. With multiple paths to different stat boosts and abilities available. At least one class has had an ability to jump across the skill tree.

Multiple classes to unlock, starting with Archer, I've only unlocked Mage so far. Prestige/Mastery system with permanent upgrades which appear to affect the skill trees. Some interesting synergies, although not super complex - I'm sure it will be at higher mastery levels.

Safe strat seems to be to focus on increasing rate of fire, and getting an ability with AOE or multi-path damage, then topping up whichever stats feel lacking. Again, at higher mastery this might require a little more attention, but this level of focus is ideal for when you want to play a roguelite or bullet hell, but aren't quite feeling heavy strats. (Which is me before bed!)

I've been softlocked four different ways now (For a total of 6 times) A quick google shows a lot of people having the same issues and seemingly no urgency to fix the issues.

With dependency on sleeping to save the game, this means restarting the game or trying to work around & avoid these game breaking moments loses me a decent chunk of play time.

It's a shame because the game has a great charm and feels absolutely like something I should love, but now I'm wondering whether to reboot and try again, or uninstall and move on.

As per disclaimer - I received this game for free via Keymailer. However this is an unbiased opinion.

TL;DR It's not perfect, and still in the early stage of EA, but if you don't mind that, it's already worth checking out.

I've had about 9 hours of playtime and the game is constantly growing on me. The Dev(s) seem to be responsive, and have put out two small updates since the EA launch, with some bug fixes and QoL improvements - additional control options (Like inverted mouse)

The game has a tutorial - which if you've watched any videos or read many reviews for, you'll know most players failed. I myself failed the tutorial 3 times, but I / did / learn from it. On my 4th attempt, I quit the tutorial immediately, and set to work on all the tasks I knew I'd need to do, being able to plan ahead and anticipate further meant I was able to unlock more components & modules, and get to see more of what the game has to offer.

The tutorial definitely needs more work, currently it provides some pretty hefty chunks of text - breaking that down into smaller stages will help.

More tool-tips / extra help info on certain parts of the interface would also help.

Graphics are pretty good, lacking in some areas (internal detail), but really great in others - lighting is really nice, especially the reflections off solar panels, and the eclipses (Because we're all orbiting the sun!)

A lot of the game feels limited, or 'under developed', but exactly as you would expect in early access, there are clear structures and the base parts of a great game. Balancing resource management, risk mitigation and human interactions whilst trying to build a space station could provide a really fun, strategic, challenging yet very satisfying game.

Overall, I am happy recommending it in the current state, and look forward to future updates.

See YouTube link for a less cohesive impression of the game (1:20 minutes, cut down from approx 2 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrityr0Rv50

Completed this game in about 90 minutes (All achievements) But for the price (and knowing it's in a few bundles) I think it was about right

This is really the Resident Evil; Attaché Case simulator.
It's absolutely that peaceful moment between zombie stricken corridors where you spend time organising your inventory. The puzzles weren't particularly challenging, although in later ones combinations of herbs, gunpowder and multiple guns with the same ammo type meant a little brainpower was involved. I didn't realise they were fail-able until I failed one!

A combination of nostalgia and relatively easy, but not unsatisfying puzzle solving. Might not have the same appeal to people who never played these games, but otherwise a nice little distraction.

Loved the game for nearly 50 hours - spent real money buying cosmetics in the game because I enjoyed it.

The biggest issue for me was very buggy playing multiplayer leading to a lot of lost time, and occasionally things would fall through the world (including my character) in single player too.

Roughly a year ago the game stopped launching for me, have tried every fix possible - a quick web search will show many users having similar issues and devs offering no support. Seeing the devs poor attitudes regarding various other bugs - largely in the multiplayer scenes and with items falling through the world (An error that was being reported in 2016/17 and apparently has had no attempts to improve upon).

The devs have shown public disdain for large sections of their communities, especially the modding scene, and will actively dismiss or ignore those talking about bugs or other issues, but are quick enough to launch new in game cosmetics (For real money) or to plug their shirts and other merch on social media.

Ultimately, I wish I could recommend this game, I wish I could go back to playing it with friends on a Monday night. But I can't even launch it anymore...

Would suggest Journey to the Savage Planet, Planet Crafter, Satisfactory, Factorio and No Man's Sky for open world spacy games

This game looks like a bullet storm, a massive, chaotic mess. And it is... but when you start to get into the rhythm, stop worrying about your score, about anything... And just moving forwards, staying alive. I found this game strangely calming and therapeutic.

This experience was even better when played alongside Refunct from the same developer, this game contrasts and compliments it perfectly. Refunct being more accessible as it is impossible to actually fail.

I'd strongly recommend both games, seriously cheap in the bundle, and when on sale it's really worth it even if you only play half an hour on each.

I talk more about both games in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42b_eKdJ2U

This was a perfect game to me within the first five minutes, because it completely detached itself, and me from anything else.
From nauseating , anxiety, to absolute inner peace for me at the cost of less than a cup of coffee, this game was absolutely the most effective and best value meditation app.

There are no controls on screen. There are no tutorials or goals. It's peaceful, simple and beautiful.

I unlocked all achievements in my first hour of play, I'm on 3.5 now and can see myself continuing to play this game for a long time, especially when I need a reset.

Strongly recommend the other game from this developer; Swarmlake, contrasting and complimenting this one perfectly.

I talk a little more about both games in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42b_eKdJ2U

I received this game for free directly from the developer.

Sadly, it falls into do not recommend, as at this price I feel it isn't really worth it. Perhaps on a decent sale - but I'd recommend the free demo instead. I have high-hopes the developers will work on it more because I feel like there is a lot of potential, and I'd love to see it realised.

I am a huge fan of Mars as a setting for sci-fi, games, books and movies. It's a hostile planet with some really incredible visuals. I don't this game really takes advantage of that - it could have been set anywhere.

The story given at the beginning doesn't really add up with the game-play and settings, the 'secret codes' you collect in the game don't really serve a purpose beyond prolonging your playtime in certain areas, with no additional story provided. The combat felt generally uninspired, and fairly easy to cheese. In about an hour and a half I got to the end of the 4th level, but had missed one of 8 items required to pass, and felt no motivation to carry on.

I recorded some of my game-play and talked through my initial feelings here; unfortunately there is no game audio because I am pretty sick and messed up my recording! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZL7rPC6kdA