Surprisingly good evolution on the ball breakout formula.
There is not much that can be told except "this is fun".

This is not a good "game", not even by Telltale-type games' standard.

But it's a surprisingly decent TV series that you watch with a controller in your hand.
The title is very good at drawing you into the world and characters, decent scenario and great voice acting.

I did feel some of the plot moments were corny at best, making no sense at worst - specifically the romance options have a bit "in your face" selection moment that felt inorganic and honestly silly. The big brawl scene was somewhat out of order as well.

Otherwise the characters are the major draw here, they're all very believable and quite relatable. It's a good watch for sure. Better than netflix.

It's a decent foundation of a game, however it's lacking in so many ways: the most prominent one is the UX:
- there is no real list of settlements (it's incorporated into resources);
- there is no list of units;
- there is no list of trade routes nor trade limits;
- there is no comprehensive religion screen (it exists but it's more of a plug than a finished thing);
- the settlement screen is exceptionally poorly made;
- events aren't pointed to properly;
- all wonders look the same;
- all buildings in general look the same;
- can't easily distinguish between a town and city;
- and so on and so on.

I really want to like this - I paid quite a lot of money for this game but I don't expect it to get any better any time soon. Maybe in a year - after the next PAID expansion?

(BETA)

Not a bad timesinker but surprisingly repetitive, clunky and worst of all - boring as a result of the first two. The gameplay loop doesn't really have anything going for it.

I expected either a satisfying battle gameplay or metaplay where preparing for the battle is the actual game. However none of this is present. On the battle field you're going through the motions: positioning and teamplay fall short while handling of special enemies has no variety in approach. Having seen this gameplay I expected loot-and-build metaplay to be the center of the game, but out of the field you're met with rudimentary systems that seem to try really hard but still barely manage to scratch the surface of the "preparing for combat" metagame.

I could recommend this game as a way to pass extra time one might have on their hands - a time machine to skip forward an hour or two in anticipation of actual life, after all why not zone out for a bit mowing down the chaosspawn and cultists - but the clunkiness of literally every aspect of the experience doesn't keep one immersed at all: game feels as if you're wrapped in a thic blanket, controlling a character wrapped in an even thicker blanket dipped in honey.

Not a good experience, I would refund if I could.

Weak writing: a lot of setup and none of the payoff, I'm afraid. A lot of options feel like you're doing nothing. The end of the story literally makes zero sense if you don't choose sides.

There are some tech issues - I'm sure my playthrough literally skipped a page or two of the story, jumping to the wrong point in plot. But the real issue is writing: some of the ideas were intriguing in concept - but they were clumsily executed and downright wasted, leaving many loose ends

Do not recommend. "Night road" is better by far.

Incredibly short, mostly boring, choices matter little, the characters have a problem with complexity-to-depth ratio: too many things going on, not enough actual story in the sobstories.

And when you get past the "big twist" reveal at the end - the whole thing turns out to be so ... PETTY and useless: a plan was set in motion just for the ♥♥♥♥♥ and giggles, not to achieve anything, really.

Doesn't cost more than $2

A great interactive story, if a little short. I'm not sure there are "puzzles" per se, or if there is a challenge in this game. It's more about the atmosphere and the the whole feeling of wholesomeness this piece of art is offering. Highly recommended.