THIS GAME BLOWS MY MIND. It sat languishing in my "to play" que for far too long... I was craving city builders, but picked up "Timberborn" (an okay city builder but not as good as this one!) first, and after struggling with the unforgiving and fiddly mechanics of that game AGAINST THE STORM was like coming home to steak and all the ale I could drink. This game takes the WORST elements of city builders and REMOVES THEM COMPLETELY. Bad/Blocked Pathing, ridiculous need for "coverage" or supply lines for amenities or maintenance, everything that makes city builders UN-fun... GONE.
Now let me talk about what it does right. FRIGGIN' EVERYTHING.
Diverse races with varying needs. Voluminous amounts of resources and processed goods, though the interface and mechanics are elegant and refined to the point where many complex tasks can be intuitive quickly to the beginner. Randomization of SO MANY factors creating different town/caravan interactions every time you play. Bad conditions, good conditions, different biomes (MANY), different combinations of resources for different environments. FUN trading and Import/Export Mechanics. Quests (called orders) that motivate you to try different things and that at higher difficulty levels have multiple tiers to make them more challenging. The game is constantly rewarding you for playing well and seeing the big picture. Game has variable difficulty and options to kit out each scenario so you can tailor somewhat (not always or perfectly) to your play style, but shakes things up enough to keep you guessing. Cycle of good seasons and the especially scary storm season is fun and keeps you on your toes.
Raw materials. Finished goods. Luxury Goods. Materials crates, treasure, perks, blueprints (did I mention this game has so many buildings it makes many other city builders look lame?) Different needs for different populations. Dangers, loot, and opportunities all over the map.
I played this game for two days straight once. literally couldn't put it down for approximately 30+ hours, maybe more.
And I keep feeling like I'm just scratching the surface.
There is an overmap mechanic where you build a chain of settlements, choose special conditions or events for some caravans, a kick-ass overarching quest that connects all your city building and makes the game-loop feel valuable and meaningful. Out of game resources you use to buy upgrades for future caravan/settlements that make every win a race to the upgrade city to "level up" your Viceroy.
Everything old about city builders refined to a monomolecular sharpness, then adding so many features that are all it's own that just HIT HIT HIT for this genre of game. I've had awesome victories, every game has been a thoughtful one in the middle, and I've had a few crushing defeats from mistakes, forgetting cause and effect between conditions that can have a domino effect, or just biting off more than I could chew with the difficulty level you're dared to attempt. (I usually play on Veteran but up the difficulty to Viceroy to amplify the stakes when they are especially high, but don't have the courage for the "Prestige" difficulty I've unlocked and I know there are levels beyond that.
My only negative to say about this game is that it has a "Home" mechanic where you're supposed to store trophies and talk to an advisor... this aspect is purely cosmetic so won't compromise the game in any way -- but it seems extraneous and if it was done better it would be even more fun to come back to the city between missions. A small gripe that one tiny aspect is middling ONLY BECAUSE THE REST OF THE GAME SHINES LIKE THE FRIGGIN' SUN.
Amazing game. One if not the best city building games I've played out of dozens I've played in the genre.
RECOMENDED -- ESPECIALLY IF YOU GET THE DLC... it makes a banquet into a FEAST to have all the extra variations, and I'd go as far as to say buy the game with any/all DLC up front. You'll thank me.
This takes "one more turn" and straight jumps into "one more game!"
EXQUISITE.
