Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children - Review @ TBL

HiddenX

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The Turn Based Lovers have reviewed Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children:

Review

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children (Troubleshooter), a game by the small Korean studio Dandylion, is an ambitious game intended to be the first of a series of tactical Role-Playing Games (RPGs) set in the world of Troubleshooter. It is a game that has clearly been informed by X-Com with a heavy flavoring of Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) and with a dash of Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT): War of the Lion included in the mix.

Troubleshooter is the first game for the studio and when it was first released into early access, it was intended to include a huge story with multiple chapters, multiplayer support, and an extensive amount of content and customizability. After years in early access, it was given a full release in April, with the company honestly admitting that this was in part to generate money to allow for further development. Neither of these is a great sign for such a small studio and is frequently an indication that the game is likely to be some sort of failure. Yet despite these warning signs, Troubleshooter has very good reviews on Steam. As of right now, its overall positive review rate is categorized as "Very Positive" with a 93% rate, and its recent reviews are "Overwhelmingly Positive" with a 95% positive review rate. So the question is are these reviews accurate? Are they an indication of a good game or just a small, dedicated fan base who have found a game that fits their specific needs?

[...]

I can't in good conscience recommend this game to someone who prefers more bite-sized experiences, prefers simpler games, or who may find the slow unveiling of features to be a turnoff, but if you do not fall into any of those categories, I can heartily recommend it.

This is one of my favorite games, and I have already spent hundreds of hours playing it and truly expect to add at least another hundred hours to it before I am done. It is a great game and one that I truly think any true turn-based RPG fan (who does not fall into the groups noted above) will greatly enjoy.

Score: 9/10
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Finally someone made a review for this deliberately skipped by mainstream out of fear gem.
Keep 'em posted!
 
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I bought this based on Joxers recommendation. My game time is very low this year, but so far this game has amazed me with the depth and complexity.
Maybe complexity isnt' the best word, don't want to scare anyone. Its complex enough that you have to use your brain but theres no needlessly overboard systems.
 
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Finally someone made a review for this deliberately skipped by mainstream out of fear gem.
Keep 'em posted!

Who said this was skipped out of fear?
 
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Definitely something special. Story is interesting and meaningful. Gameplay pretty smooth. Characters reasonably deep. Even story is linear you have choices to do things your way,
Grinding is a thing I do not like in games, but here I can swallow it. :)

I play the game really slow as my time is limited due to job,2 little kids and nagging pregnant wife, so I think I will enjoy this game for the rest of the year. :D
 
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Video looks good, appears to be a perfect XCOM: EW clone. However I noticed the soldiers always do hit and never miss. Was it just to show off in the video?

BAD UI design. Can't change resolution, all look the same. "Cutscene" images won't scale when changing resolution.

REFUNDED

A V O I D W A R E
 
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The thing that puts me back is the western anime flair and seemingly overly complex menus/systems. Might give it a go sometime, currently replaying D:OS2 Definitive Edition with the recently added Relics of Rivellon free DLC, since I tried FFXV and it failed to capture my interest.
 
Video looks good, appears to be a perfect XCOM: EW clone. However I noticed the soldiers always do hit and never miss. Was it just to show off in the video?

BAD UI design. Can't change resolution, all look the same. "Cutscene" images won't scale when changing resolution.

REFUNDED

A V O I D W A R E

Why on earth do you do this? It's not as cool as you think it is...
 
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Thanks for the heads up. I probably glossed over this one due to the anime.
 
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I was skeptical at first as well.:love:

Just remember this is the first game in a series that might never get finished.

Edit: Before someone complains (Hiddenx) the developer has a small budget and relies on the fans to fix, and improve the game. Will we ever see a part two who knows.

I hope the developer finishes the other games but we'll see.
 
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I was skeptical at first as well.:love:

Just remember this is the first game in a series that might never get finished.

This game has already more than 200 hours of content. The game is completely playable and has an ending.

I highly recommend this game, even if the devs don't release anything else.

A post endgame chapter (8 scenarios !) will be added at the end of September.

I rarely have played so many quality gaming hours for such a few bucks.
 
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Ah how did I now you would target my post again.:p
 
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Ah how did I now you would target my post again.:p

Couch - I try to be positive about games. A little studio that delivers a 200 hour pro game gets all my support.

I don't try to find the fly in the ointment.

Bullshit bingo:
  • it is anime
  • it is only the first episode
  • menus are hard to understand (really?)
  • cut-scenes don't scale
  • bla bla bla
Do you guys still like games or are you completely jaded?

My first three priorities in games are

  1. Gameplay
  2. Fun
  3. Just play one more hour factor…
If a game is fun to play with interesting game mechanics and I want to keep playing it everything else (GFX, Sound, GUI,…) is secondary for me.
Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children delivers all that - all Jagged Alliance fans should try it.
 
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I honestly found the systems and menus a bit crowded nad unintuitive, and made me think it would take an effort to learn to navigate through it all than I wasn't willing to invest at the time. Not saying it was bad, but it wasn't simple enough to get into for my mood at the time. If it had been Baldur's Gate 3, I'd surely invest all the time and effort in the observable Universe to learn my way around, but sometimes we just don't give the same chances to indie games that randomly pop up and may never be finished, hope you can forgive me for that. :)

That said, this game is in my radar, and I'll check it out at some point.
 
Couch - I try to be positive about games. A little studio that delivers a 200 hour pro game gets all my support.

I don't try to find the fly in the ointment.

Bullshit bingo:
  • it is anime
  • it is only the first episode
  • menus are hard to understand (really?)
  • cut-scenes don't scale
  • bla bla bla
Do you guys still like games or are you completely jaded?

My first three priorities in games are

  1. Gameplay
  2. Fun
  3. Just play one more hour factor…
If a game is fun to play with interesting game mechanics and I want to keep playing it everything else (GFX, Sound, GUI,…) is secondary for me.
Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children delivers all that - all Jagged Alliance fans should try it.
Way to hyperbole as I never said anything of the above.:biggrin:

Still to answer your question though yes I'm jaded as hell with games. I also don't see me changing anytime soon. Main reason being to many mediocre games nowadays.

At least I have Wasteland 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 in the next few months to play.

* For your reference I'm not a Jagged Alliance fan either.:p

I prefer my strategy games to be RTS or 4X TB.
 
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Couch
[*]menus are hard to understand (really?)
[*]cut-scenes don't scale
[*]bla bla bla

Do you guys still like games or are you completely jaded?

Ok, be fair. Mercy hates all games :)
 
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I definitely don't get it. If I could lobotomize my brain before playing and fix it afterwards, maybe. Kiii Ya! OOwakakawwuu, yep never gonna do it.
 
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I played it for 4 hours and while it's enjoyable I don't see myself eager to jump back in at this point. Maybe because I'm so busy at work which is sapping my energy out.

Bullshit bingo:
  • menus are hard to understand (really?)

I did find the menus in Troubleshooter a bit unintuitive - maybe because I skipped through some tutorial stuff.

Do you guys still like games or are you completely jaded?

A bit of both?

Oh yeah, and Korean VO is so annoying. I wish I don't understand what they say.
 
Maybe it is because I play all games on minimum graphic details. Just put native monitor resolution (HD) and all the rest disable.
Also I put sound on minimum or completely turn off as I play during night and I don't want to wake up wife and kids, but must hear if they cry so I can't use headset.

So everything that rests of the game is pure gameplay and story. This is only thing that matters in games for me and this game is pretty good in delivering those things.

When I see someone screams AVOIDWARE or something similar based only on graphic or sound of the game it more states about them than about the game.

For me it is strange that graphics, sound and VO is primary value for RPG and strategy games. That should be primary values for adventures or visual novels.
 
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