There’s also a problem with the repetition of map designs and mission types, with only really four of the latter. The high difficulty level is not a flaw – if anything the number of shards begin to seem too generous by the end – but the esoteric nature of the game’s ruleset is not handled well and the game does little to ease you into its peculiar world. You can also resurrect fallen Daughters with special tokens and while these are extremely rare it does mean that technically there is no permadeath. You retain an in-game currency called shards which can not only be used to unlock increasingly powerful perks but also allow you to do things like skip previously beaten boss encounters. Like most modern roguelikes, Othercide is not as vindictive as it first seems and dying does not mean you lose all your progress. Othercide – we’re still not sure B&W was a good idea (pic: Focus Home Interactive) It’s a highly flexible system, and great for those already familiar with the genre, but whereas the simple move-and-then-perform-an-action set-up of XCOM is enough for even strategy novices to grasp, Othercide is not nearly as straightforward. Rather than just having a couple of action points to spend per turn you start with a pool of 100, which are used for different attacks but which can also be held back to make sure you take a move more quickly next time. For obvious reasons this is not something you want to do often, although it does also gift the recipient a new perk based on how powerful the sacrifice was. Instead, you’re forced to sacrifice a different Daughter, of an equal or higher ability, to heal one you want to make sure survives. There’s also the complication that there are no healing items in the game and yet most of the more powerful attacks require health to use. The timeline can easily be changed though and so one of your primary goals is to try and manipulate the sequence of events so that you stall enemies or interrupt their attacks. The most unique element is the importance of timing, which is indicated by a timeline at the bottom of the screen and shows when each character, including enemies, will take their move. Although Othercide has influences from a variety of different games the core action most closely resembles a cross between XCOM and Disgaea, with different classes of fighter that include ranged specialists and the self-explanatory Shieldbearer and Blademaster.
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