Don't look a gift horse in the mouth..

..you'll miss it when it's dead.

from Elemental Forums

To be honest a lot of these reviews and comments are really starting to get to me (not Rock Paper Shotgun in particular, but that review was the tipping point). I mean they give such praise to games with no depth or strategy - games you'll play through once or twice and then leave to gather dust on the shelf, yet when they finally get a game which can provide months of gameplay (or years with mods and expansions) they are so quick to nitpick and find fault. Yes everyone loves the new XCOM (I don't) but how many of you will still be playing that in a years time? Of course Firaxis might screw you with DLC to add a little longevity but we all know how good they are. It is getting old fast.

I just wish there was a little more appreciation of effort sometimes, even if someone doesn't particularly like the game.

 

Fallen Enchatress is a PC only game. It's not a half-arsed console port with a hideous interface.

There are so many options when you start a game - so many ways to set up the game to suit how you want to play it.

The developers actually provided editors so people can mod the game and change it further, rather than releasing half-arsed paid-for DLC themselves.

The game was made with great care and attention to detail, rather than being designed with the sole intention of making a quick buck.

Support in the way of patches and improvements will be coming. The game was not released and abandoned in preparation of the next money making title.

 

I'm not a 'fan boy' (sic) but I am someone who likes solid long-term games - games which will last you a very long time. I also have massive amounts of gratitude for any PC games developer who hasn't already given up and moved on to consoles or cross-platform releases.

 

Please (please!!!) start noticing the positives here, or these kind of games will cease to exist.

22,322 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

My biggest issue with strategy games is usually the incredibly bad AI that they feature, and pretty much all so-called AAA titles are plagued by this. I mean, look at Civ5, for example. how can you enjoy this when the choice is either between zero challenge or fighting against insane bonuses, without anything that would justify the "I" part of "AI"? Multiplayer or heavily scripted campaigns cover this up sometimes, but if you enjoy sandbox style in SP mode, you are often out of luck.

And so far, FE's AI is the real highlight for me (in spite of some flaws). Just like with GalCiv2, and really, knowing that Brad is good at AIs is the primary reason why I picked up FE (bought it on Steam in spite of the free copy for the WoM purchase). I do wish it got more attention in reviews, plus the incredible replayability of the game. Oh well, it will become a classic, I am sure of that. :)

MP at release would probably have been beneficial, but it is what it is, and in the long run that will not be an issue. fE will no doubt continue to be supported and word of mouth will steadily increase the fan base, too.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top


Man they really should take that card out of Magic the Gathering (Rose Tinted Glasses) because fanbois use it too. :{P

Games are reviewed based on what the game delivers NOT on expansions or possible modding in the future. FE is getting what FE is showing the reviewers and fanbois don't get to decide what should be in those reviews. Reviews are suppose to be objective and non-biased and show everything about the game including what is "wrong" with it. If the game is released with flaws it should be known, if the game is unplayable for some it should be know. Everything shouldn't just be the sugar coating of the game but as much as possible about the game good AND bad. The AI is questionable in this game, some find it challenging and some find it too easy for words so that's more of a how well you play rule than how well the ai really is.

I applaud a good thourough review one that really tells what the "overall" game is like and not candy coat it because the fanbois want it that way. I expect many other reviews to come in this order just based off my own observances of this game and comments. It's certainly NOT a 90ish game though by a long shot.

Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

When it comes to making a commercial product, strong effort without a matchingly strong result counts for squat.  How much of an effort Stardock made into making Elemental:  Fallen Enchantress is, unfortunately, irrelevant to the question of how 'good' of a game resulted from that effort.

I have been a loyal customer of Stardock since the original Galactic Civilizations.  Brad is certainly a lot more sharing of what he's working on and what's going on than, say, Sid Meier or big-name guys.  That does tend to make me feel a bit fan-boyish, as Brad isn't afraid to 'be among the people' (we fans), talking with us and even conversing with us more directly than, say, Sid Meier would.

I think this tends to make us feel closer to him and consider Brad a friend ... and while there is nothing wrong with that, I think it makes us loyal customers, in here on the forums, a bit overly defensive of Brad, and that is a strong sign many of us, especially those harping on a reviewer because they didn't take the hard work effort in making a game into consideration, are fanboys/groupies/whatever.  Many of us are a few shades in the direction of that infamous guy on YouTube crying about the treatment Britney Spears was getting ... because you aren't at that level doesn't make you innocent of having at least a few shades of fanboy-ism.

If you put a billion man-hours into making a car, and it had a lot of ideas, but in the end the car still had problems, it isn't the job of automotive critics to give you special extra credit for the billion man-hours.  Their job, their only job as critics is to judge the end product based on their meters.

The absolute worst thing that could happen to Brad and Stardock, and I've had some hint that Brad would agree from some of his messages especially when he apologized for having attacked a reviewer in the wake of the premature WoM release, is if all the reviewers gave Fallen Enchantress a 10/10, giving the product bonus credit for all the hard work of the developers plus more extra credit for his honesty about WoM being subpar at release.  A lot of people feel the world could do without naysayers, but the truth is if our faults aren't pointed out, we wouldn't make efforts to improve ourselves.  You can't improve if you feel, and especially if everyone you hear from makes you feel, that you could not possibly be doing any better -- if you feel there is no room for improvement, you won't improve.

I don't think Brad nor anyone at Stardock feels there is no room for improvement, and I don't think anyone at Stardock wants to feel like there is no room for improvement.

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Reply #4 from Elemental Forums Top

Thank you for the replies - they were interesting to read.

I did not say the game deserves 10 out of 10, and of course I don't think it does. I would however say 8 out of 10 is a very fair score, and yes I personally would give it 9/10 due to the reasons I listed in my original post. Those things matter and mean a lot to me - I think they should influence the score.

I'm waiting for the IGN review... not that I value their opinion, but I know they can help or hurt the sales of a new release depending on how they rate it. They gave Uncharted 3 10/10, so to be honest I'm not expecting much.

Again I would reiterate that I don't consider myself a fan boy - I don't like everything Stardock has released, but I loved GalCiv2 and I consider Fallen Enchantress to be an excellent game.

Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

The only reason I hold out any hope for Fallen Enchantress is Stardock's support for games in their past.  But reviews have to judge a game based on what's released.  Not on potential.  Fallen Enchantress is a solid 7 game as far as I'm concerned at the moment.  The reviewers are bringing up a lot of things that beta testers said during beta...

By the way, XCOM is fantastic.  

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

I didn't like GalCiv 2 and I don't like FE. I guess that makes me a Stardock hater/troll. :troll:

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top


I will be playing X-Com in a years time thank you very much.

Reply #8 from Elemental Forums Top

Well to be fair all reviews so far said more or less that FE is a good game. It's not a perfect game but which game is? 

And BTW the new XCOM has also it's quirks... I just say alien abductions >_> 

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting zonk_1000, reply 7
I didn't like GalCiv 2 and I don't like FE. I guess that makes me a Stardock hater/troll.

 

People are entitled to their own opinions.  It is only if you behave like a troll should you get called out as one.