How does Stoneshard compare to Battle Brothers?

[Blitz4]

I'd like to no longer be ignorant.

[Včelí medvídek]

Really very different games in almost all aspects beside being hardcore and characters in Stoneshard having legs.

There are carvan donkies though!

And nets are very useful in both, that is most simialrity coming to my mind:p

[Bomjus]

i would not agree with the statement "they are different games in all aspects"

if you choose one of the starts where you start with 1 or 2 party members in battle brothers, it can play somewhat similarly to stoneshard. you do contracts in both, you travel the world in both to reach said contracts, you earn money (sometimes find gear) from contracts, and use said money to upgrade your character(s).

battle brother's world has more going on in it because there's roaming armies and caravans/guard patrols etc. in stoneshard you will run into wildlife and roaming bandits, but that's all. there aren't traveling merchants on the road.

combat in both is turn/round based. in stoneshard, you go, and then the rest of the world has its turn (NPCs/enemies etc.)

you can play as a mage in stoneshard. don't think full on magic, for the player, is an option in battle brothers.

all in all, i like stoneshard because it still has those turn based, strategic, and hardcore aspects i enjoy. but without the, sometimes, tedious aspects of battle brothers like gear management of a big company or the RNG of recruit traits/stat bonuses.

while i enjoy the extra narrative aspects of battle brothers with it's little random stories that can happen in your company, the overarching "end game crisis, and your company's epilogue story. battle brother's map is also more "alive" than stoneshard's.

i think both games have their merits. but the core gameplay loop of fight > win > upgrade > rinse repeat is quite similar especially since both games are turn/round based. IMO if you enjoy battle brothers you will enjoy stoneshard. battle brothers is also development complete. while stoneshard is still in early access and being actively developed. so there's only going to be more content in stoneshard as time goes on.

[Rhapsody]

Originally posted by Bomjus:

you do contracts in both, you travel the world in both to reach said contracts, you earn money (sometimes find gear) from contracts, and use said money to upgrade your character(s).

Very large number of games feature all that. :P The games are only superficially similar, sharing the turn-based mechanics and bounty features. That said, this is a good thing overall, and I'd think that most who like one would like the other too.

[Bomjus]

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

Originally posted by Bomjus:

you do contracts in both, you travel the world in both to reach said contracts, you earn money (sometimes find gear) from contracts, and use said money to upgrade your character(s).

Very large number of games feature all that. :P The games are only superficially similar, sharing the turn-based mechanics and bounty features. That said, this is a good thing overall, and I'd think that most who like one would like the other too.

many games do share that. but in many games it is not THE CORE of the game. like you can get a quest in skyrim in clear out a bandit dungeon. but you don't spend 80-90% of the game doing basic contract quests.

in stoneshard and battle brothers that's basically the entire game lol

:P

[Včelí medvídek]

Originally posted by Bomjus:

if you choose one of the starts where you start with 1 or 2 party members in battle brothers, it can play somewhat similarly to stoneshard. you do contracts in both, you travel the world in both to reach said contracts, you earn money (sometimes find gear) from contracts, and use said money to upgrade your character(s).

It is still very different game even if you play (literal) Lone wolf in BB (that btw while possible is really not what game is made for and to later stages not very playable in unmodded game)

BB is real time with turn based tactical combat on battlemap. Stoneshard is compeltely turn based all the time BUT due being in fight msot of time 1v1 or 1v2 it is more simultaneous turns and in not changing environment seprated to exterior and interior map pieces, this make even combat fundamentally different.

Stoenshard does not have any strategic layout, the world is not at all dynamic - there are no real factions doing anythign on their own, there are no events, it just consist of few quest hubs that send you to predestined dungeons where you spend most of game time. On other hand there are many NPC in Stoneshard with specific roles, job or spark of eprsonalities, that have their life in cities, while in BB this aspect is in general abstract, maximally meeting NPC as quest givers on city screens or in battles.

Contracts are just quest rewards and btw in BB I would not say you spend 80-90% of time doing contracts - you spend your time, travelling, trading, fighting armies, helping factions, hunting legendary locations WHILE doing contracts. Ins stoneshard you usually grab contract, take shortest route to target dungeon, spend major game time and shortest route back to city,

Stoneshard is single person rpg with quite complex skill system making very different builds, BB is tactical strategy game revolving around the group, getting good core members and keep them alive. Half of fun is getting good background and their interactions while dealing with dead and perma injured party members. All the origin, background, random events up to late game crisis makes the game experince, story and drive it forward. There is only very little of that in Stoneshard.

"fight > win > upgrade > rinse repea" is what you can say about many very different games in particular rpg and strategies with rpg elements that really dont make large similarity.

Sure you can find few common points {eg, you can highlight simiar weapon types or light fantasy aspects) but game loops stay quite different

If like one automatically mean like other. I do not know. I enjoy both for sure, but I played lot of roguelike RPGs too. There is many games ppl playing BB highlight - but they all still stay as different also across genres - Mount and blade, Wartale, Battletech, X-com (old and modern also various clones). Darkest dungeon, Battletech, Last Spell.. also Bastard and Legends of Isenwald can be considered predecessors somehow. but if you want you can find some aspects in many other titles too.

Anyway back to topic, in general BB is more tactical strategy while Stoneshard is much closer to traditional dungeon crawler games and despite some similarities they focus on different aspects rather than other way around.

[Stiglitz]

very different games and while i love battle brothers and have played it for around 120 hours between steam and my switch I think i had a lot more fun with stoneshard, i wouldnt pick one over the other though, I would just play them both.

[funkmonster7]

I don't have Battle Brothers, but I have Wartales. And from watching BB videos, I can definitely tell you if you want more BB vibes, Wartales is a more suitable game than Stoneshard.

Stoneshard is imo more similar to modded Skyrim.

My core mods for Skyrim are:
- Community bugfix patches (can't play without these)
- Magic overhaul
- Stealth overhaul
- Food mechanics (iNeed or RND)
- Warmth mechanics (Frostfall; but I no longer use Frostfall)
- Hunting mechanics (Hunterborn)
- other overhauls (werewolf, vampire, graphics etc)

Other than the community bugfix patches, warmth mechanics and other overhauls, Stoneshard either has everything else or is slated to have everything else (stealth mechanics).

Meanwhile, I don't mod Wartales at all, and it is squad-based, has basic food mechanics (you can feed horses cooked wolf meat, wtf right?), utilizes team strategy in battles, can customize builds for each squad member, so on... Sounds like BB to me, and almost nothing like Stoneshard other than the food mechanics, and obviously the build customization for the single character we play...