Oakenfold

It's...not awful. Oakenfold is a tun based strategy game, clearly inspired by Into the Breach, but inferior in every single way. There is less variability, less strategy, more randomness and it's a lot less fluid to play. Otherwise the game is serviceable (I got to the third boss before getting bored and requesting a refund), but it's just doesn't have the same depth or amount of content that ItB has. Having only one controllable character instead of a squad really limits your options, and while the timebank/timeunit mechanics are a good idea on paper, there is just too much randomness in the game to really plan around with them. Because of the way they are implemented, literally every step matters, but while you do know where the enemies currently on the map will attack, you have no idea where the newly appearing ones will go. ItB has this problem but it is mitigated by having more than one unit and not using every single step you take as a resource. Also unlike ItB, you do not have an extra layer over the runs, there is no unlock system for new characters or moves or anything, you get a score which is - well I'm sure there is someone out there who cares about it. All in all, if you really, really like Into the Breach and have played it to absolute completion you might want to give this one a go, otherwise just do another run in that one.

Oakenfold is a turn-based strategy game with a neat time reversal mechanic. The goal: protect your crates. On the surface, this seems simple enough; use your 12 actions each turn to position yourself, use abilities to defeat enemies or put them out of position to stop them targetting your crates, collect energy from fallen foes to buy new or upgrade your main abilities, rinse, repeat and hopefully emerge victorious. But once you get into it, you'll find that in Oakenfold, it's about the little things. Every mistake, no matter how small, could end up hugely costly. And in this game a mistake can be easily made. That's where the time reversal mechanic gets into play. In Oakenfold you are able to undo all your actions by simply reversing time, this really encourages you to get creative. You can easily get lost in finding that perfect combination of actions to escape a possible deadlock and when you do, it can be so fulfilling! Every stage in Oakenfold is procedurally generated, which means every ride is different. While this is great and provides the game with a ton of replayability, the positioning can sometimes put the player at a disadvantage, to a point where you sometimes even have to make sacrifices to limit the damage you incur. Although the game can feel cruel and unfair at times like these, it really ups my motivation to try and beat it. And in case you do fail (which happens a lot, not gonna lie), that next run is always lurking around the corner. I actually want to play again now... The overall presentation is great, I really dig the artstyle the developer went for. Also, I want to mention the music, an often overlooked but such an integral part of a game. The atmospheric/ambient OST really enhances the dark setting of Oakenfold. It really makes you feel like you are alone on a mission trying to save mankind. At the same time it's relaxing and allows you to really focus on the important task at hand. Oakenfold has received comparisons to Into the Breach, and although one can't deny its influence, I think it's safe to state that Oakenfold sets itself apart and provides a unique take to the TBS genre. No small achievement, especially considering the fact that this game was developed by only one guy. Recommended!

It's okay, but it's not £17 okay. You can't just release an inferior clone of another game and price it 50% higher than the game you're cloning. Yes, Oakenfold introduces some original and fun mechanics to the formula, but they're not enough to justify that. Many of the enemies, items, and level modifiers have been taken straight outta Into the Breach without much of a change, way beyond the point of simple inspiration. And the store page doesn't even find it necessary to mention Into the Breach anywhere. The amount of content doesn't even come close: I beat all three characters on hard difficulty in just 10 hours, and I don't see any reason to keep playing, other than to hunt for achievements. Which are, admittedly, pretty fun, though the descriptions of some of them don't match what you actually have to do to get them. There's also an ugly unpatched exploit: undoing during the enemy phase of the last wave and then redoing allows you to continue the battle forever. This lets you use the upgrade stations that are meant to be under construction (multiple times), plus gets you infinite score from infinite time banking.

Very much in the vein of Into the Breach, but with enough clever ideas of its own to stand alone. Having a lot of fun with this very challenging puzzler - two thumbs up!

[h1]SDHQ STEAM DECK PERFORMANCE REVIEW:[/h1] [table] [tr] [th] Follow our [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42495043/]curator[/url] page for more Steam Deck reviews and our [url=https://twitter.com/SteamDeckHQ]Twitter[/url] for immediate updates on all SDHQ content including reviews, news, and more! [/th][/tr][/table] [i]This review is based ONLY on performance of the game on the STEAM DECK.[/i] [h1]The Game Itself:[/h1] After years and years of humans trashing the planet, now the planet is fighting back. Oakenfold is a turn-based, roguelike, strategy game set in a dark future where the Earth has grown tired of our ♥♥♥♥. Play across a procedurally-generated path and save your supplies. You see exactly how each monster will attack, so use your abilities wisely to kill, move them out of the way, or even have them attack each other. With new upgrades and abilities to craft, a gorgeous visual display, and an undo/redo turn system, Oakenfold will keep you on your toes trying to survive. If you enjoy Into the Breach, you will feel right at home here. [h1]Steam Deck Performance:[/h1] Based on the type of game this is, I didn't expect performance to be an issue, and I was right! In the game and menu to pick your path, Oakenfold will run at around 60 FPS and a 11W - 13W drain. This results in around 3 to 3.5 hours of gameplay at a smooth 60. I was delighted to see this, but there are 2 parts where performance seems to dip down. This occurs in the main menu and the mindset selection screen. With the main menu, the drain goes up to around 17-18W. At the mindset selection screen, each of the 3 choices give different readouts. Scientific gives around 14W drain, Agile gives about 17W, and for some reason, Survival hits hardest with a slowdown to 55-56 FPS and drain that can go up to 24W. I did have the opportunity to discuss this with the developer behind Oakenfold who attributes this to the high quality textures and will be looking into it! While I do enjoy the game, it is sorely lacking one pretty big thing, controller support. I don't mind games being played without controller support as we can use Steam Input to re-map and fix things, but not for this game. The lack of controller support, and lack of documentation for keybindings, means I am not sure what keys to map. This means when playing, you need to use the right thumbstick or trackpad with the right trigger to select things, which can be quite cumbersome in this type of game. I did also talk with the developer about this and they will be looking into support. I have also extended any way I can assist as I do believe this is a great game hindered by something that can be solved easily compared to deeper logical issues. Oakenfold is an addicting turn-based roguelike that brings back those golden memories of Into the Breach, but with some unique mechanics and a welcome facelift. On the Steam Deck, it runs really well during the gameplay, but can't fill that same feeling outside of it. Though I am hopeful and much more confident these will be addressed after discussing with the developer directly! If these can be fixed, this would easily be a Best on Deck game! [table] [tr] [th] [url=https://steamdeckhq.com/]SDHQ[/url] is a website made for curating Steam Deck news, guides, and providing optimization/builds for games on the Deck. [/th][/tr][/table]

I received this game as part of a preview on behalf of the Indie Game Collective. I love a good tactics game and love roguelikes-lites even more. This is a good game with many familiar features found in other tactics roguelikes. The rewind feature is a godsend, but not overpowered because you can still die in a run. There is no rewinding death, only mistakes. Of the three classes currently included, two of them feel very well balanced on "Normal" difficulty. One of them (the rogue analogue) feels very restricted by the randomly generated map obstacles. But there are plenty of interesting and fair challenges in the campaign, and I'm glad to see the developer has already planned for additional content by adding weekly challenges. Story does not seem to exist, or maybe I just did not encounter story events, but the "one more run" feeling is satisfying enough to keep pushing through to the next map and see more delicious art. Overall, recommended if you loved Into the Breach, or other similar games. It's great to look at, has good sound, and interesting abilities.

A great turn based strategy game for a laid back evening after a stressful day at work! I've played for about an hour with the survival mindset now, and I must say this game has a lot more depth and character than I thought it would have when checking out the store page. I feel like I have not even scratched the surface with regard to this mindset and her tactics, i.e. how to use cascading effects to hit multiple enemies in one go. I also tried a couple of abilities from the crafting station, but I find the +1 damage ones by far the most value for money. I mean, those are expensive, but they usually have an effect every single turn, while some of the abilities are very situational (but creative). I do agree with other reviewers that every now and then the seemingly random placement of characters can be frustrating, especially when you find yourself blocked by rocks on one side of the map, and multiple enemies decide to attack a crate all the way on the other side. Usually you or your crates will have to take one or more hits because of it, or you have to hit a rock that's in the way. It doesn't happen that often to become annoying. All in all a very entertaining game!

I loved this game! Disappearing in solving all the complex puzzles feels very rewarding. For me the best part is that you can reverse time and re-play a better version of every move. This makes the game super light and fun.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☑ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☑ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☑ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10 I have been following this game since the production started and I can say that for a solo project this game looks really promising. As you all know game has been created arround the same logic of "Into the Breach", adding elements from other games that will motivate you throught the game iike "Slay the Spire" Unfortunately I couldn't had enough time to play the game at its realesed stage but as far as I can tell, that game is not easy. =) Rolling back on time makes you think again and again. It makes you want to play more. As in it's price range and the gameplay style , if you are fan of these kind of games, you should definitely grab this game and give it a shot. Looking forward to see more products from the developer. Good jobé

I actually liked this better then Enter the Breach. Sue me.