I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what this game is trying to be, and my conclusion is that it's several "rule-of-cool" ideas in a trench coat. The experience that I had playing it was a let-down. There's so much potential for good gameplay, but a lack of cohesion leaves me always wanting.

Most of this comes from the way that the behavior system is integrated with the main gameplay. The main faction you can play, the robots, all come with integrated behavior controllers. This lets you design behaviors for them from the very beginning of the game. Even the runner, a unit with no enhancements and a single inventory slot, can be programmed. This is really exciting!

But then, when you try to do much of anything with it, you find out that the systems that the runners use outside the behavior system are difficult to inspect within it. Orders can be given to the logistic network, but you can't read them or figure out which order the runner is fulfilling. Nor can you change the network settings, besides turning it wholesale on and off. The information asymmetry is strange for a programming game--programs fundamentally just move data from point A to point B.

From here, things only get worse. Say you have a unit with a factory component equipped, and you'd like to produce a unit. If you're using the UI, you can select a blueprint. If you're using code, you can use the produce unit instruction. So far so good, but then the problems pile up.

* If you don't have enough room for all of the blueprint's components, then production blocks, even if those components are needed at different stages of construction. (e.g. constructing the chassis versus adding components to the chassis.)
* If you do have enough room for all of the components, then you'll get a unit produced! You'll also have to wait on the component to finish, since the produce command doesn't block. And if you want to know which unit was produced, then you'll need to basically guess.

Now, that could be an interesting balance problem. Complex units require buildings with lots of inventory, so you can invest more in a building for more inventory! Except that inventory modules are gated further down the tech tree, and require materials more advanced than the units you're constructing. You could spend time unlocking them and expanding the factory with new materials, but then you'll run into the problem that enemy difficulty is gated on the number of techs you unlock.

Have no fear, though! You don't need to do *any* of that.

Instead, you'll just use the integrated behavior controller. Create a blueprint that sets the behavior to a construction routine that orders the parts you need using the unit's built-in logistics network. Now the unit can build itself!

And this would be clever, but it turns out that behavior controllers subverting mechanics is basically the theme of the game.

* There's a signal register on every unit, and a specialized component to read it. But the behavior controller can already read it. You don't need a signal reader. You can actually use the behavior controller to make a very, very powerful signal reader.
* There's a radio receiver component, and a specialized component to send a signal. But the behavior controller can already read it, and it can write a faction register, which broadcasts on a radio channel. You don't need a radio transmitter or receiver.
* There's a radar component, but it's also a command, so you barely need it.
* Unit construction is made more difficult, but you can sidestep inventory requirements using behaviors.

I'm 60+ hours in, and most of that time I spent figuring out how each of the instructions function. And I'd still be having a grand old time of doing that, if the game didn't have such cool ideas that it seemed to undermine at every turn.

One thing I can say about this game is that the devs do care about it. They're currently working on the behavior system, making many new things possible and giving the behavior system an overhaul in the discoverability department. As I said above, this game is full of potential. At this moment, however, it's not got much else going for it.

A mix between Setters-style missions and a rogue-lite, this game is a great take on the genre. It's possible for missions to take short amounts of time, but like most "RTS" style games these days, you can pause and look around, which allows me to play at my own pace.

The lore is doled out a little at a time, like most rogue-lites, but unlike the ones I've played before it happens most when "visiting home", where you can talk to your aunt to learn the world's backstory. I'm just getting to the point where rerolls and managing your options is important, having unlocked enough content that things aren't as predictable, and so having "many draws" is important.

Efficiency plays a role when it comes to how many settlements you can make during a campaign, and the game gives you quite a few options as to how to roll with that. Lower difficulties allow you to make rapid progress, but earn fewer of the game's unlock resources. On higher difficulties, there's more variables and effort required to make progress, which slows you down but also highlights the game's more intricate systems.

Like most rogue-lites, the game is about pushing a little more and going a little further than the last time you played. While this can produce a repetitive experience, that's one of the things I rather enjoy. I don't know precisely what will happen, but the general "shape" of the game allows me to treat the first half of any settlement as a pastime, making it a fun game to pick up, play for a while, then drop off. If I want to push myself, I can always accelerate time and really work at the efficiency... but most of the time I just want to relax. I love that it gives me that choice, and lets me play hard when I want and carebear through the rest.

The one thing I'm hoping for in future development is more variety in the art and music. While I wouldn't mind more variety in the mechanics, I feel like Against the Storm is largely about supply chains and trade, and venturing too far from that core could make it overwhelming. I'm excited to see what the devs do as the game evolves past its 1.0 milestone!