Against the Storm is so good that the best thing I can say is how disappointed I was when I started to realize I was plateauing or couldn't find out anything new. I got a lot out of it, and wanted to play it constantly from the moment I started. It's so immersive, so cozy, but also challenging enough to require a lot of skill and focus. I loved everything about its roguelike elements that made each little venture different, and the game felt simply enormous to start out. Best of all, the UI is probably the BEST I've ever seen in a city simulator or any kind of strategy game. It easy to understand, to find new things, and to teach yourself. When I found out that DLC was available to expand my options, I instantly bought it after getting a taste of just the base game.
Set in a unique world that's all built around the concept of rainfall, you're tasked with exploring a procedurally generated wilderness with various terrains in the pursuit of completing a level they call a "seal." After doing so, you can play on these maps for longer and on higher difficulties before they rewrite themselves--all while steadily unlocking new buildings, races, and perks. As you learn the game, you're constantly finding new content in challenging events, the use of those optional perks, and given assignments to complete. Since you can pause and manipulate things as you like, it lets you be patient and make intelligent choices to protect your little settlements and ensure their survival. The graphics and artstyle look phenomenal, and the interesting technology and building options kept my interest for a long time. No two settlements are the same, and it encourages you to constantly try new ones (which is one of my favourite things, as compared to spending 20+ hours on one city).
As the difficulty ramps up, you have more options but it can be severe. By the end of my interest, I was playing on Prestige 6 out of 20, and I just found that I was having so much trouble it had lost the relaxing vibes and I was starting to feel a little pigeon-holed into "metagaming" it, rather than using my creativity. That isn't to say someone else couldn't find a good blend of both, but I think this is one of the best games where you just free-form play, and don't focus as much on trying to meet the "point" of Seals. I just wish there was more ways to keep me engaged and having fun on those lower difficulties where I was able to engage my imagination, without having to feel the enormous struggle on the prestige difficulties. It's one of those games I would love to be able to erase my memory of, and try again. Especially as permanent upgrades are most interesting near the start, but it can take so long to finish the "tech-tree" that by the end, it feels like you aren't unlocking anything significant.
This was one of my favourite games of the year, and one of the best city-builders I've seen; I hope that one day I'll be in the spirit to return to it and renew that hope it inspired during my first week of nonstop play.
