Slitherine

Congrats on releasing the game! I've been excited to see this for a couple years now. I've only had time to play a few missions so far, but I thought I'd give some review/critique based on what I've played so far:

- The main core gameplay mechanics are probably the largest part of what makes FK what it is (other than maybe the lore and look/feel of the world), and it has been a pleasure to see that mechanic grow and be refined over each iteration, and FK-EW is no different. A further refinement of the mechanics, based on lessons learned from the previous games. Well done!

- Hex grid rather than squares - bravo! There is no reason every TBS game should not use hexes. Seriously.

- I like how the objectives are marked now with the little blue & yellow arrow things. My only complaint is that they are not visible when you're setting up your units.

- Great voice acting!!!!!

- I like the new skill progression system. Definitely adds a new layer to the customizability of units. On the negative side, I was hoping the weapon/armor purchasing system would be enhanced, not removed.

- Wish item for future versions: it would be nice to have some sort of customization of unit appearance available (like the color of a helmet or robe or something). This way, if I have two identical unit types, but I level them up differently for different tactical purposes, I could tell them apart at a glance.

- I like the amount of attention that has been given to the story and the cinematic sequences.

- The art, honestly, is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The character portraits, the 2d screens, the cinematic art, and the map art all are fantastic. The art for the units just looks a little wonky, though, sorry to say. Also, the environments on the battle screens, even though they have some delicate and attractive detail, need more contrast in the color palette and look generally washed out. This also causes units to blend into the background making them confusing to look at (or easy to miss), especially when they are on top of a building or other map feature.

- Another thing I'm not crazy about is the UI. There's seems to be lots of stuff crammed together in smallish type on the side bar or on the tooltips. It doesn't seem to be very intuitively organized or attractively displayed. Also, some things are confusing, for instance it took me awhile to figure out who was causing or receiving which damage when looking at the tooltip for the battle damage prediction.

- A minor complaint is the pace at which events happen. In previous versions, each event happened at a deliberate pace, one after the other, and it was clear what was happening. In the new version, all the enemies seem to act almost all at once, and I have a hard time keeping track of what everyone did. Also, when I attack, the numbers flash by really quickly, and it's easy to miss what happened.

- One thing I like that I thought I might not is the simplified level up attribute point distribution. Having just a couple of attributes to choose from offers enough customization towards offense/defense, without bogging you down. Previous versions required endless rapid clicking when leveling up characters, and I don't miss it!

- So far the story is engaging. After reading the recent interview, I have high hopes for it, and can't wait to see it develop further.


Those are my thoughts for now. All told, well done! I can't wait to dive into this game. Thanks for dedicating yourselves to seeing it completed, I know how hard that can be!

I'm sure I'll have more observations as I go. For now, I'd love to hear what everyone else is feeling about it.

Pastrami wrote:Congrats on releasing the game! I've been excited to see this for a couple years now. I've only had time to play a few missions so far, but I thought I'd give some review/critique based on what I've played so far:

- The main core gameplay mechanics are probably the largest part of what makes FK what it is (other than maybe the lore and look/feel of the world), and it has been a pleasure to see that mechanic grow and be refined over each iteration, and FK-EW is no different. A further refinement of the mechanics, based on lessons learned from the previous games. Well done!

- Hex grid rather than squares - bravo! There is no reason every TBS game should not use hexes. Seriously.

- I like how the objectives are marked now with the little blue & yellow arrow things. My only complaint is that they are not visible when you're setting up your units.

- Great voice acting!!!!!

- I like the new skill progression system. Definitely adds a new layer to the customizability of units. On the negative side, I was hoping the weapon/armor purchasing system would be enhanced, not removed.

- Wish item for future versions: it would be nice to have some sort of customization of unit appearance available (like the color of a helmet or robe or something). This way, if I have two identical unit types, but I level them up differently for different tactical purposes, I could tell them apart at a glance.

- I like the amount of attention that has been given to the story and the cinematic sequences.

- The art, honestly, is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The character portraits, the 2d screens, the cinematic art, and the map art all are fantastic. The art for the units just looks a little wonky, though, sorry to say. Also, the environments on the battle screens, even though they have some delicate and attractive detail, need more contrast in the color palette and look generally washed out. This also causes units to blend into the background making them confusing to look at (or easy to miss), especially when they are on top of a building or other map feature.

- Another thing I'm not crazy about is the UI. There's seems to be lots of stuff crammed together in smallish type on the side bar or on the tooltips. It doesn't seem to be very intuitively organized or attractively displayed. Also, some things are confusing, for instance it took me awhile to figure out who was causing or receiving which damage when looking at the tooltip for the battle damage prediction.

- A minor complaint is the pace at which events happen. In previous versions, each event happened at a deliberate pace, one after the other, and it was clear what was happening. In the new version, all the enemies seem to act almost all at once, and I have a hard time keeping track of what everyone did. Also, when I attack, the numbers flash by really quickly, and it's easy to miss what happened.

- One thing I like that I thought I might not is the simplified level up attribute point distribution. Having just a couple of attributes to choose from offers enough customization towards offense/defense, without bogging you down. Previous versions required endless rapid clicking when leveling up characters, and I don't miss it!

- So far the story is engaging. After reading the recent interview, I have high hopes for it, and can't wait to see it develop further.


Those are my thoughts for now. All told, well done! I can't wait to dive into this game. Thanks for dedicating yourselves to seeing it completed, I know how hard that can be!

I'm sure I'll have more observations as I go. For now, I'd love to hear what everyone else is feeling about it.

Hi Pastrami

Thanks for your very positive and detailed feedback.

About UI and font size: You're right again and I'll give you, I know, an odd suggestion: change the resolution of your screen before you play. I suggest you 1280x720.

We really need feedbacks like your to sign in our to do list what to develop in the patches and in our next games

Looking forward to read your next comments!

Hmmm, maybe I can try reducing the screen resolution. It's kind of an awkward workaround, though, and it would cancel out one of the great improvements I like, which is that you can see more of the battlefield at once without scrolling around.

Also, a bug I noticed. On the map screen, when you roll over/click a battle location, the mouse cursor shrinks down, which often results in me missing the hotspot entirely with the click.

Also, to echo what someone else mentioned, it should probably have difficulty levels. I'm a fan of hard difficulty, so that's not a problem, it's just the the difficulty seems uneven between missions. The first mission was very easy, then the second one opens up and is immediately much much harder. Maybe part of this is that I have to get used to the play style. In the previous games, the play style pretty much requires that you fight every battle without losing a single unit. In this one, it seems much friendlier to losing a few units in each battle.

I think I found another bug. It seems in the after battle report, where it tells you how many units you lost, it counts all the units in your graveyard, even if they died in a previous battle. Speaking of the graveyard, I noticed that the units keep the experience they gained before the died. A great improvement.