Recent reviews by Zest

Quick little game you can bash out in a little over 5 hours. I could probably play through it again to see a different ending!
Not bad for how cheap it is, feel free to support a small dev.

An interesting concept and a fine first game attempt by the dev, but too simple and short on content for the 20$ price tag.

I saw the devs put three hard years working on this game, so im guessing it was a learning experience and they gave it up to move on to their other project, so i don't feel too bad streaming it and playing it, but I sure hope they learn from this experience and their next game attempt is a fully fleshed out game!

Some Gripes:
The game doesn't get any more complex as it goes along, as most games in this genre do, to balance out the better buildings you unlock. There is no plot, and very few events, I managed to see everything there is to see in about 6 hours, and i was stretching it. I suppose if I was really stubborn i would have got all the tech unlocks, but there is no point, there's no "endgame", and nothing big to work towards other than expanding your "reach", which caps out after about 6 hours.

The other major problem was the lack of in game tutorials and some vague building descriptions. It worked out in the end, as just throwing things in still managed to make me lots of money on normal, but not knowing what i was doing half the time was more frustrating than fun.

I have a lot more gripes, mostly core mechanic design choices that don't help the flow of the game. (like the baffling "Tech Tree", I unlocked Tier 2 things AFTER Tier 3 things.), but it would take me as long to write as it took me to play this game, and it wouldn't accomplish anything at this point.

If the Dev reads this, i wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, I hope you don't give up, and hope your next game goes better!

This is a definite improvement over Cities: Skylines.

The two top things that put it above the previous game is the traffic simulation and the graphics.

The traffic sim in Cities 1 was what made me stop playing it, i got so frustrated in the game being more about traffic than cities. (still a great game, don't get me wrong)
The next thing is the graphics. Cities 1 looked good, but this game is a HUGE leap forward in pretty cities, I don't know if i could go back to the first one!

On the note of graphics, I have to say, the devs have been going to great lengths to optimize the HECK outta the game in the time since i received my preview key. (i have a GTX1070, kept a few graphics at high, and was still able to stream with out too much stuttering) Maybe i'm just used to having slower computers, so a few dropped frames don't bother me?
The devs have a list of things you can turn off to help, and i think it helped me out a lot. Let me know if you want my graphical settings, i can get you a link to a clip of them.

Other than my top two reasons I have a bunch more things i liked, but its a lot of little things, like i really like the modular upgrades you can do to buildings now. It's like they took some of the best things from the disaster that was EA's Sim City, and incorporated them into their game.

There are a few nitpicky things i expect them to balance once the greater player base gets their hands on the game and give feedback. A few buildings are on the large size, and/or ineffective, (Incinerators... THREE MASSIVE UPGRADED ones cant manage a small city?!? AAAGH) while some seem a little TOO effective for their size. (one post office managing a super city??). If they are really problems, and im not an idiot, i expect Paradox will balance it in a patch or something.

Even if nothing is changed, i had quite a lot of fun, and i find myself a bit addicted. Seeing that i put 25 hours into it is surprising. Game really sucks you in, and is a very fun city builder for a wide range of city builder fans. To the model city builders, to the gamers, to the dream city makers.

Took me about 20 hours to get through the campaign to see one of the endings, and that felt just right for the amount of content currently in the game.
There are future game modes planned, but even if they don't add anything, its worth the 20 bucks for the amount of time and fun you can have.
Ending felt a bit lacking, but it wasn't really disappointing, I look forward to seeing what they add to the game, and i'll be picking up any sequels they make. This is a nice "papers please" game that changes up the formula, while also feeling a lot less stressful as you can adjust the amount of time you get each day.

Dev's are going a bit weird, don't risk your money, they completely changed the gameplay once, and what you like now might be totally different in a few years. I've listed a couple reasons for this below, if you care, but chances are you already own this, or don't care because its only 14 bucks. It just baffles me that they'd totally revamp a game that already had "overwhelmingly positive reviews", and i gotta scream my salt into the void.

I've never cheated or felt the desire to, but adding anti-cheat to a game without meaningful scoreboards, Weird use of time/effort/processing power, and gives me a bad feeling about the future updates. Who gives a ♥♥♥♥ about levels? Isn't that a personal pride thing? Who thought they needed this?
Should my Monopoly set burst into flames if i decide to use "Free Space" in a way the Hasbro didn't explicitly state in their rules?
How about the devs just make it so only THEY can play, then we can sit with our hands in our pockets and watch them so we don't play it wrong. I'd hate to play MY game in a way that upsets anyone ELSE.

Additionally, In their community discussion page, and on other reviews, the amount of "git guds" and "Clown" emojis i see are a bad sign. If they are only taking feedback from their most diehard fans, expect some future updates to cater to increasingly louder and increasingly exclusionary fans.

It wen't from a game everyone can just pick up and play, to some kind of competitive game, when a good portion of people were just enjoying playing with friends, not competing with random people on the internet to see who's number was higher.

Honestly feel like they could have released this update as Phasmophobia 2, or some kind of sidelong competitive mode.

What a FANTASTIC point and click adventure!

It gives that classic feel of the later golden age of animated point and click adventures before CGI made everything look a bit crappy and bland.
The cut-scenes and environments in this game just look and feel gorgeous, so warm and full of love and care down to the smallest pixel!

EVERYTHING is voice acted by professional voice actors who do a fantastic job, and I'm impressed the dev took the time to write lines for some of the more random item interactions. (I think i may have missed an achievement for trying to talk to every tree, i may need to replay it with the directors commentary)

If you want a top-tier experience with heart, rivaling the quality of the best of Sierra and Lucas Arts point and click games of the 90's, give this game a play!

I sincerely hope to see a sequel, or another game from this dev, I hope the amount of effort he put into this game didn't burn him out!

When I was first told about this game I thought it was just another one of the hundreds of survival crafters, and wasn't immediately interested.

After a friend gifted it to me, i gave it a shot, and was immediately hooked.
Its got the explorative and base building feel of a more relaxed Subnautica (no horrifying monsters), with a satisfying "Progress you can see" element. It's really satisfying to reach milestones and see it reflected in the world as you teraform it.

I usually wait for full release on these games so i can get a one-and-done full experience, but i kept going back to it, and now I've reached the end of most of what they got so far in the game. (after 34 hours of fun) I'm STILL tempted to play it now, just to decorate the world up with new trees and such.

I can't wait to see what they add next!

Solid game, one of my favorites in the business sim genre!
It only shows a few of the actual hours I've put into this game, as I've put even more hours in when they first released it a few years back, but it was a direct download not on steam.
Definitely worth the few bucks it costs, it's one of those early indie gems, but it doesn't feel its age at all.
Its very replayable, fun to discover which genre combinations work best with which consoles, and its an awesome feeling to get a perfect score on a game.

I really wish there was a "Mixed recommendation" option here.

I checked "NO" because I wouldn't recommend this game to most people. I would almost classify this game as "Niche" despite its AAA status because of the combination of slow RPG elements and difficult action. This game requires a specific TYPE of patience most games don't ask for, and if you don't have that specific kind of patience, you wont fully enjoy all the content in this game.

This is a slow and methodical ACTION RPG, stress heavily on the SLOW, and the ACTION.

For the Action part: The combat system is the main focus of this game, and you NEED to spend time LEARNING and PRACTICING their combat system in order to progress. This combat system includes timing, direction of hits, blocking, dodging and positioning, and even Mortal Kombat/Tekken style swing combinations (Left, right, stab, right, does a specific attack)
For the Slow Part: Just as importantly to note, in addition to this action gameplay, in order for your hits to do any kind of damage, or to even LEARN these moves, you need to GRIND hours of IRL time training your characters combat levels in sparring matches, and spending money on leveling your character. (Money that you aquire through the other RPG elements of the game)

Now, If that excites you, You are in the group that will enjoy this game. That's great. I hope I've prepared your expectations going in, and you will enjoy it more.

If you are looking for a traditional action game, where you are focusing on the combat, learning it, and becoming good at it as the main focus of the game; then the grind, and long parts of waiting, walking, and questing in this game may bore you.
If you are looking for the traditional RPG, where you are playing a role, and looking for escapism, or to enjoy the relaxed feeling of power progressing in a traditional RPG game gives you; then the complicated combat system in this game may frustrate you.

There is no right or wrong in enjoying video games, its about enjoyment. Different people get different enjoyment from different types of games, and this is a VERY unique type of game.

Imagine playing a game expecting there to be a tantalizing reveal at the end of it, maybe even a satisfying conclusion for your character. I imagine this as the writer, holding a box, and you are waiting with excitement as you play to see what he has for you.

Unfortunately, When the box is opened at the end, its just the writers pretentious ****, and you are expected to clap, clap for his hubris.To your horror, you see many other people clapping alongside you, clapping for something different, and unexpected, even though its just a pretentious little ****.
Endings like this don't elevate the story, they take away, they are the easy the way out of actually having to tackle a difficult character arc.

Skip this game, if you are desperate, watch a youtube play-through of it, but the story is just a big ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ waste of time. Which is a shame, because the build up was good, till it started to drag for the last couple of levels, as if their "Train" of their overarching story ran out of steam near the end and was coasting, then... **** in a box.