RPGWatch Feature - Battle Brothers Review

Myrthos

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Forgottenlor's next review is for Battle Brothers. A game he feels is one of the best strategy RPGs released these days.

Battle Brothers is a tactical RPG, and is best compared to games like X-Com and Heroes of Might and Magic. You spend a very large percentage of the game on the tactical battlefield. A game like this lives or dies based on how enjoyable it is to fight. The developers really did an excellent job with this portion of the game. While there are plenty of fine tactical games on the market, what really sets Battle Brothers apart is its fine attention to detail.

There are a large number of melee weapons each with its own specialty. Swords are fast and can be used to riposte. Axes can destroy enemy shields and you can't imagine how useful that can be. Flails can make aimed head shots. Never go into battle with orcs without a hammer. These can be used to destroy armour. Spears can be used to prevent enemies from entering the square in front of you. Pole arms can attack from the second rank. Two handed weapons are nasty, but require a lot of fatigue to use, and unlike many games, a shield in battle brothers often means the difference between life and death. Ranged weapons especially show the love for detail. Fire a bow or crossbow into a crowd, and even if you have a low chance to hit a particular target, you still have a good chance to hit the target or one of their neighbours.
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Thanks Forgottenlor.
 
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Good review, but for me it's not the presentation that bothered me.

I didn't enjoy the sharp increases in difficulty.

This is the type of game I'd love to play in ironman but if you end up with a bad battle that puts you against 5 orc warriors and 7 orc young you can lose half your squad in one battle.

So when I tried playing beginner difficulty, I felt no challenge. When I play veteran I feel it's too difficult.

I can't imagine playing on the hardest difficulty in ironman without knowing how to min/max everything.


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Thank you for another great review, Forgottenlor :)

Presentation may be desirable but not essential "per se". Gameplay mechanics is, instead, fundamental! We both agree on this subject :)
 
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I love this game...but would strongly discourage anyone even attempting ironman until they have played for a long time. The RNG had me so frustrated with ironman that I simply wasn't enjoying myself. I seemed to make it about 13 days into an ironman campaign before the game just decided that I should die. I even made a little game of tracking each ironman company to see when/how they died..trying to get past that 13 day difficulty spike. I finally just switched to normal veteran and the ability to save-scum increased my enjoyment noticeably. Eventually I increased my knowledge of the game systems to where veteran ironman isn't such a problem. I'll probably never go up to the hardest difficulty though lol. Great game! Definitely on my short list for game of the year!
 
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Wow, quite different from the Codex review (not that that is surprising). Thanks for the review, I already have the game wishlisted and it's almost at the top of my "to play" list.

Good work Forgottenlor.

Edit: Yeah, the "level scaling" is by far my biggest concern with the game. I'll still but it though.
 
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I just finished the noble war on iron man. It was around day 150. Was on veteran. Great game and will be my game of the year unless something amazing comes out in next 6 months.

You can alt 4 out of iron man if you get really unlucky but I did not do it on this run. You can flea from battles if you get ambushed by groups that would crush your brothers.

I got an extra copy for my brother and one for RPGWatch which Fluent won. I am hoping sales are good so they can make a expansion or mod support. Support Battle Brothers if you think it is the type of game you enjoy because it gets 5/5 stars from me also.

Great review.
 
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Nice one again Forgottenlor
 
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Great alternative to heroin albeit suffering somewhat from Sid Meieritis.
 
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Thanks for the review, Forgottenlor. Sounds like a very interesting game. I have already wishlisted it, but have still to bite the bullet.
 
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Thanks for the review, Forgottenlor. Sounds like a very interesting game. I have already wishlisted it, but have still to bite the bullet.



It's a lot of fun. I would recommend playing on beginner first ...


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Great alternative to heroin albeit suffering somewhat from Sid Meieritis.

Ok I'll bite. What's Sid Meieritis? (In my opinion that should mean it's excellent but somehow I doubt that was what you meant).
 
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I played this one a lot and watched it slowly coming out from EA, i just hope developers will give this game an expansion or a meaty DLC.

It's already good but with some more features it could be great.
 
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The review was detailed enough to get me interested. It describes exactly what an indie game should be - fresh ideas, yet fun. An indie developers are supposed to rub AAA noses and this one adds you miss the spot, ah well, but it will sometimes hit a nearby trashmob. When was the last time you saw something like that? Especially in roguelikes with yes/no random generator.

However, I have to draw a line somewhere, although I was determined not to add more titles in my backlog, decided to pick Regalia yesterday.
To avoid more whining, Battle Brothers will have to wait for a while. A few months though, as my plan is still to play it in this year. Because Hastar says goty, and I said already for Expeditions2 it'll most probably be one of my 3 top spots at the end of the year if not the highest (depends on upcoming titles). Maybe TB games will actually pwn this year, who knows.
Wishlisted.

Thanks Forgottenlor!
 
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As always, a top review, Forgottenlor ! Thanks very much !

BUT - I must disagree with you in your rating of this game ! I found BB to be at it's core to be a insanity-inducing grind simulator. And nothing more. Don't get me going on about the end-game for that is a joke. There is no end-game in BB.
 
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As always, a top review, Forgottenlor ! Thanks very much !

BUT - I must disagree with you in your rating of this game ! I found BB to be at it's core to be a insanity-inducing grind simulator. And nothing more. Don't get me going on about the end-game for that is a joke. There is no end-game in BB.

I think to be fair, most SRPGs have grinding at their heart. X-Com and Jagged Alliance 2, two of my favourite srpgs, are 60+ hours of 90% combat. But I thought the grinding here was ok, because it served to fulfill an ambition, most of which were pretty clearly described and you knew what you needed to do to reach your goals, and it seemed like a gradual progression. This kind of grinding is far preferable to me than say Final Fantasy grinding, where you are gated by a boss, and if you are too low of a level you have to grind to the point you can beat them. I also think you were a fan of Darkest Dungeon, which felt to me more of a grind than Battle Brothers, but to each his own. I try to describe a game the best I can, and explain why I like or dislike it by describing its features. Anyone who has read my reviews knows I am partial to party based, tactical, and mechanically complex games. That's why I leave reviews of things like Diablo and Dark Souls to others. I have to agree with you, to a certain degree about the end game, but I think that has to do somewhat with the presentation. It would also have been nice if they had designed a more dramatic end mission for each of the crises
 
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Good review, but for me it's not the presentation that bothered me.

I didn't enjoy the sharp increases in difficulty.

This is the type of game I'd love to play in ironman but if you end up with a bad battle that puts you against 5 orc warriors and 7 orc young you can lose half your squad in one battle.

So when I tried playing beginner difficulty, I felt no challenge. When I play veteran I feel it's too difficult.

I can't imagine playing on the hardest difficulty in ironman without knowing how to min/max everything.


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I think Pladio that you are a much more skilled player than me. I felt beginner was challenging enough. No wonder Age of Decadence is one of your favourites. :)
 
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Wow, quite different from the Codex review (not that that is surprising). Thanks for the review, I already have the game wishlisted and it's almost at the top of my "to play" list.

Good work Forgottenlor.

Edit: Yeah, the "level scaling" is by far my biggest concern with the game. I'll still but it though.

I think the level scaling isn't so bad. You do lose more mercenaries at the beginning, but they aren't so painful to replace, since a new "brother" is only a level or two lower than his comrades. One you've built up brothers, its easier to keep them alive, but losing one is much more painful. You also don't have to play in iron-man mode, you know. You can play with normal reloading and try a battle again, so the game is only "rogue-like" if you want it to be.
 
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