Skyward Collapse

This is probably the first Arcen game that didn't hit the mark. All of their games so far have been fresh and quite fun, but have also always been flawed. None of them have been perfect, but they were innovative, and always try a different formula of game and were ultimately fun to mess around. Skyward Collapse is another really cool idea, but the game doesn't come together. Resource management is tedious, the idea is really cool, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Turns keep taking longer, and every turn becomes a bit more boring than the last. I really want to like this game, but the longer it drags on, the more you see the game's flaws come together and create this game where there's a lot of different parts of the game that either don't feel fun, or feel out of place. If you're interested, make sure you watch some gameplay, or try out some demo's. This game just isn't for me.

Perhaps I had too high of expectations for this game, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to them. In more ways than one, [i]Skyward Collapse[/i] feels more like a mobile game than one which, it seems to me, was developed for desktop computing. Its simple graphical sprites would feel right at home on a tablet, but seem out-of-place on a PC. Making matters worse, the clunky user interface manages to simultaneously overwhelm the player with information, while not giving her enough data with which to learn the game. Though the tutorial helps by walking the player through the early steps of gameplay, it seems very fond of telling her about things you'll have to worry about later on in gameplay, without telling her any appropriate steps to take when she [i]does[/i] encounter them. By and large, however, the major strike against this game is, well, [i]it's boring[/i]. After the initial setup period, gameplay becomes unbearably slow, a pain which is only mitigated by the shortness of the games themselves. The position the game puts the player in changes throughout the game, leading to what are arguably contradictions: she has both the power to summon wild beasts and unquestioningly place down buildings to aid the mortals, but is subject to the resources they have on hand. Resources the game is fond of telling the player she's missing, but not how to acquire without a scavenger hunt through the long-winded information prompts scattered throughout the game. While [i]Skyward Collapse[/i] shows great potential through its promotional screenshots and videos, it fails to live up to it in execution, leading me as a player to be very disappointed in the overall game.

My biggest problem with this game is that the ai does not do anything. both sides will stagnate and not do anything if left alone, and you are tasked with growing them to defend against bandits while stoping them from killing eachother, this is not entertaining. you end up having to grow both sides while defending against bandits, and it fails to feel like these are 2 civilizations, they are more like blocks you throw down, compleately inanimate. This can be fun, but you end up having to build the entire game and create everything becuse they won't build a single hut on thier own. I would enjoy the game alot more, if they showed a little bit of autonomy.

If being a God is like this game, it's pretty lame. Let's be honest: it's not the worst game ever, it's a game that is just average in everything. The graphics are pretty simple, and I understand that top notch graphics aren't required to a game be any good, but the lack of things like character animation make this title looks worst than most of f2p cell phone games. The objective is very inovative and distinctive from other God games: you should keep the balance between the factions. But it's simple boring, sometimes I just skip to the next turn waiting for something to happen, sometimes you need to make your "civs" ready to wage war, because there are an amount of points required to win the match in each difficult. And... that's it. The interface is kinda messy, the game doesn't do a very good job in order to show to you what is needed to be built and what are the requirements for each unit... I'm not saying that this info isn't available, it's just so much pain to get to it. So, let's wrap up: the concept is great, the interface is messy and clunk, the graphics are sub par and the music is quite good. Thats it, I can't recommend this game, but I would like to see this concept in a more polished and diversified game.

It's an interesting premise; I rushed to it because I missed playing god games. Unfortunately, it doesn't manage to be a very good god game, leaning more towards the TBS side, and it's not a great TBS either. If you're anything like me, you'll probably love it for the first 20 rounds or so; then your interest will fall more and more. By turn 70 I just wanted it to be over. Some have said that the main problem is a lack of challenge: once you figure out how to play it, that's it. But if that was the case, you could just get more bandits and woes. (In fact, I managed to lose it once, and that didn't make it much more interesting.) In my opinion the problem lies elsewhere: it gets repetitive, and it feels pointless. In a god game, you usually have a “project” in your head, something you want to do; in an RTS or TBS, you're constantly under pressure by the opponent(s). Here neither thing happens: no use having a project because you have very little control over what will get destroyed, and also because there is simply not that much you can do; and the pressure simply isn't there either, since winning is “score X points and make sure both factions survive” — once you reach the required score and have one well-fortified town of each faction safely away from the conflict areas, it's an annoying game of attrition. Again, it's a very interesting premise, and I'll keep an eye on it — it has a lot of potential to be fixed in an expansion or sequel. But as it currently stands, I don't think it works.

This is a fascinating but poorly understood game which is effectively the only inhabitant of the genre it created. Lots of people don't really like it, as can be seen from the mixed reviews here, but for me it's a perennially good game. I'll play a round or two then put it aside for a few months... then come back and play it again when I'm in the mood. It never stops being interesting, and it feels like there's always more stuff to discover. It does take some time to grasp the intended "play style" of the design, which is essentially to build two civs at the same time, and to deliberately *unbalance* them, but not *too much*. A perfect balance will create a stalemate where nobody takes enough damage and you don't score enough points. An excessive imbalance will destroy one civ or the other. So you try to create an imbalance that's "just right", then violently see-saw between favouring one side and then the other. Would love to see the concept developed further but sadly the weak sales of the game make that a fairly unlikely prospect.

I really like this game for it's somehow chaotic gameplay which makes it unique in the strategy genre. It is turn based and best comparable to a very complex board game. This is also how it is presented. You as a player have limited and mostly indirect control over what happens. There are many random variables. But the offered possibility space of what to do to react on the events is strikingly huge. Every time I start a new round I find something new to try out. It has its lengthy parts and I think the 60 rounds variant is much more enjoyable than the standard of 90 rounds per match. I think the suspense in this game is great. For the first 90% of the game you have to do careful adjustments to keep your civilizations alive. But when it becomes obvious that you are about to win it's up to you to wreak as much havoc as possible. As you only get points for destroyed buildings and units. This is immensely satisfying.

Skyward Collapse is a turn based god/strategy game. The goal of the game is to balance two opposing factions by supplying them with resources and buildings. You must cause enough chaos between the two factions to get your score high enough to pass through three rounds until you reach the end of the game to achieve a victory. Skyward Collapse features one of the best tutorials I've seen in awhile. The game can be overwhelming at first, but the tutorial does a great job of holding your hand through your first game. The tutorial will teach you the basics of the game while giving you the freedom to play around and experiment as you see fit. You won't know 100% of everything after your first play-through, but you should understand the basic concepts and be ready to play a better game on your 2nd time around. Skyward Collapse features very basic animation and graphics, it's best to think of it like a board game. Units move around the game like pieces on a board, and when they fight, they just bump into each other until one falls off the board. I would say if you are interested by this review at all, you should go ahead and pick the game up. It is only five bucks, and even if you end up hating it, you've only wasted a few dollars. If you do not like turn based strategy, or if a lack of graphics or animation is a big turn off, stay clear of this one. For more info, you can find my full review here: http://hashron.com/display.php?id=18

[h1]A Paladin's Steam Review: Skyward Collapse. An Intriguing Combination of God Game and Turn-Based Strategy.[/h1] [list] [*]Genre: Turn Based Single & Co-Op Player Strategy God Game [*]Developed and Published by: Arcen Games [*]Platform: Windows, MacOSX and Linux [*]Business Model: Base Game + Expansion DLC [*][i]Copy Gifted by a Friend[/i] [/list] [b]Overall Gameplay Thoughts[/b] Skyward Collapse is a combination of turn-based strategy and god game elements. Where your goal is to keep two factions in a balanced war while building up the continent they exist on. If one side takes out the other, it's game over. The trick to accomplishing balance is that you have no direct control over the faction's actions, there are independent factions and cataclysmic events that can change the landscape. You don’t have direct control over the units in the game but you can influence each faction and their actions. Each turn you can create land tiles, military/resource buildings and semi-direct the flow of the game. While you might think "just turtle/don’t build units and you’ll achieve easy balance", well, Skyward Collapse won't let you. You have to achieve certain point goals every X turns or you'll fail the game. And you only get points through units/buildings being destroyed. Expect units and buildings to die. A lot. You’ll need to keep producing more buildings and units for each side to kill. Keeping this balanced is exceptionally tricky, especially when chaotic forces intervene. Just so you know, you do have some direct actions you can take such as smiting buildings or putting down a way point that the faction may or may not respond to. So you’re not completely helpless. [b]Learning Curve[/b] The game has a fairly difficult learning curve to it, though it’s not TOO dense. There is a tutorial which can introduce you into the game and give you a good idea of what’s what. But you’ll have to figure out several tech trees, which buildings are important and what units are most effective towards your goals. Additionally, each faction has a distinctive personality with their strengths and weaknesses to understand. The UI is great with displaying information but the amount of information can be overwhelming at times. The game itself can be chaotic with the neutral factions spawning their units and Woes creating widely variable situations (think plagues or earthquakes splitting the lands). There is a LOT of content in this game and learning it will take a decent amount of time. You’ll be playing a few maps to really get your head around it. [b]PC Settings & Multiplayer[/b] V-Sync, resolutions, audio sliders and mouse options (edge-scrolling, speed, etc) are here. There isn’t any important settings missing. Skyward Collapse is very stable, having no visible bugs or crashing problems. The Cooperative aspect in this game is ok but it feels a bit bare-boned. All your friend(s) can do is be a creator and try to keep things in balance with you. The soundtrack has a mellow piano and guitar setup, keeping you relaxed even in the most intense/frustrating situations you'll often find yourself in. While it isn't the most distinctive of the soundtracks Pablo Vega has made, it works very well for this game. Additionally, you have a lot of options to change how easy or difficult the game can be. You can increase how Woe's (special events) impact the game, how stringent the score requirement per round will be and how many turns you must survive in order to succeed. [b]Final Thoughts[/b] Skyward Sword is one of Arcen's more intriguing and, in my opinion, well executed experiments. The combination of god game & turn based strategy works very well. I really enjoyed building up cities and seeing armies fighting it out while I watched from above. The flow of the game will swing one way to the next as events happen, really giving me that “one more turn” craving. While not having direct control made me feel a bit passive or understandably frustrated when things go horribly wrong, it’s still a lot of fun. You should also pick up the DLC for the complete experience as it gives you another mechanic to win the game and the Japanese faction to really spices things up. Skyward Collapse is a definite recommendation from me. [h1][url=http://wp.me/p4fZDz-21o]Read this review and more on A Paladin Without A Crusade[/url][/h1]

I really wanted to like this game, but in the end I saw what many others ended up seeing. While the game sounds great, it falls utterly short. This is a game that should have been sent back to the drawing board like Hellraid was. Why? Because it's BORING. In Skyward Collapse you get to play as the ultimate ruler of everything. You build cities for two opposing sides, trying to protect them from themselves as well as bandits and natural disasters. You can keep your world thriving by consistently making new cities, consistently placing down gods or special units to turn the balance towards a losing side to re-instate "balance", which is the key in this game. Then you watch your actions have effects as you hit "end turn". And then you do it again, and again, and again, and again. No variety, no excitement. Just the same strategies again. Place some buildings, end turn. Place special units. End turn. Etc. The game was honesty better on paper than it is in-game. I give it a 3/10. Now it's not buggy in any way, so that's a pro, but that's all it really has going for it. It's too boring, and games are suppoed to be fun. This doesn't fit the bill, avoid it, save your money.