Hopefully you don't mind me cut and pasting your review into this thread, Carnifex.
Planet Stronghold Two. (Review by Carnifex)
Firstly, I should mention that I never played the first game in the series, though I'm likely to change that after the positive experience I had with the second game.
The game starts off easily enough, you're tasked with basically clearing sectors on a planet and reclaiming necessary resources along the way. You've a stable of eight characters to choose from, four of which you can field at once and your bench folk get half experience. It's a fair balance, as it keeps them prepared enough to take the field if required, and at some point it likely will be. While the game starts off easy enough, I found the difficulty revved up rather quickly.
Things to keep in mind: crafting is pretty damn important. I didn't realize this at first, then when I fiddled around with it for an hour or so, I saw what amazing products could be put out. Unless you have extremely great luck, you'll likely need many crafted items during the course of your journey. Another potentially great way to earn experience/gear is doing quests along the way, some of which are timed so you'll need to be aware of that. The quest rewards can be serious upgrades, and should be a priority when you have the chance.
Even equal level opponents can be a challenge. Each battle must be taken seriously, as the opposition can crit or mass swarm one of your team in an instant. If the opponent is higher level, well, I hope you've great gear on hand, as you'll be in for a serious fight. Healing isn't difficult, you've two psi talents that can do that for you while in combat, and you can also return to base to rest, though that advances time and can cost you a few quests. The skills characters can acquire are very extensive, some of them are obvious must-haves, and others extremely situational. I do enjoy a game that makes me think along the way, and there are serious choices and consequences to be had.
Once I realized how important both the quests and crafting were, I truly started making progress. Up to that point I was running back to the base far too often, though I think over the course of the entire game I only failed one or two quests due to that mechanic.
I'm not sure what other games I'd compare this to, as it almost seems in a genre unto itself. Some parts remind me of Valkyria Chronicles, though the maps are not as robust, just very similar in how your troops function. Other features call to mind turn based goodness. There are also factions to deal with along the way, and while doing that you'll also have to maintain relations with your mates. You can romance characters as well, yet I didn't delve into that very much. All in all, for the price you'll get a solid game to play, and will likely take quite a while to complete. My advice would be to immediately study the crafting aspect, as getting that down-pat will make your journey much more enjoyable.
