first things first: yes, [b]stratside[/b] is a particularly ugly game, and that's coming from someone who doesn't care about graphics, even less so in puzzle games. it's also clunkier and less polished than it should be, especially at this price, almost matches the quality of the graphics. unfortunately, it's unlikely that anything will change, but the concept and the game itself is still fun for the most part.
it's [b]tower defense without the fast pace and frantic clicking[/b], ideal for me. the goal is to place various gadgets around the level that will hurt and eventually stop a single enemy from reaching the button and destroying the planet in the background. yes, [b]only one enemy, but it's pretty smart[/b], always knows what to do and where to go, it can even switch gravity, walk on the side of blocks, jump around, etc.
however, instead of quickly placing turrets and whatnot on the go, you can [b]preview enemy movement via a hologram[/b] (or tiles on the level lighting up), [b]adjust gadgets accordingly[/b] to outsmart the ai in advance, then [b]press the invoke button when everything's in place[/b]. it turns green when you're ready to cause as much damage as the enemy's hp, no point in pressing it before that. the alien's [b]hologram keeps running the level over and over[/b], always adapting to the current situaton, which is pretty handy, but sadly, [b]there are no hologram controls[/b], can't pause or rewind and sometimes have to wait until it reaches the button before it starts over so you can see what your changes caused.
there are [b]120 levels[/b], only one unlocked at a time, [b]no timer or other limits[/b], except of course the arsenal available for the current level. there are [b]about 12 gadgets[/b] introduced as you keep playing. mines trigger when stepped on, the big hand slaps the alien if it stands next to it, the flamethrower hurts it from 2 blocks away, and there are others with bigger distances, some even go through walls or attack diagonally, etc. the problem is [b]the currently held item is not visible, only an empty cursor[/b], so you have to constantly monitor the numbers in the top left to see if you put back all the removed items and not holding one without realizing it.
[b]tutorials[/b] are available before certain levels and they can be checked again in the main menu, but [b]the tutorial menu only appears after completing level 1[/b], which is just as unintuitive as dumping 11 (ELEVEN!) screens' worth of tutorials on the player before starting the very first level that only involves placing a single item.
[b]there are a billion settings available[/b], basic stuff like windowed mode, resolutions, separate volume sliders (though ui sounds can't be muted without muting the entire game, 'sound effects' don't cover those for some reason, so can't have just music without the annyong clicking), there are also graphics settings like brightness, shadows, textures, anti-aliasing, etc. nothing will make the game look decent though.
[b]controls are a bit unintuitive but rebindable[/b] and there are a lot of them, plus many other things to tinker with, some more useful than others, but it's mostly unnecessary. people won't know (or care) about most of them, a few could use a bit more explanation, and [b]settings aren't available while playing a level[/b], which is a huge bummer.
there are [b]two things I recommend changing in the settings:[/b] tick [i]'item auto-pick'[/i], so if you have more than one of the same gadget, you can place them quickly without selecting the same thing in the corner or with a hotkey again and again. the other is a keybind: [b]rotating a placed gadget is only possible with a hotkey[/b], another truly unintuitive thing, but binding it to the mousewheel/middle mouse button works well, even though left click should do it by default, it doesn't do anything in that situation (right click is for removal). don't forget to change [i]'pick item from selected supplier button'[/i] to something else, can be whatever, you'll either directly click items or press the numbers to select one.
while the graphics are subpar, [b]the music's pretty good and there are about 80(!) tracks covering 11 styles[/b] from rock to sci-fi, action to spooky, and you can set how often you want (or don't want) to hear each type. same goes for graphics, you can toggle background movement and how often should each planet and background type appear, though [b]planets themselves can't be turned off[/b] even by turning their probability to zero. sure, that's what the alien's about to destroy, but you won't waste time trying incomplete solutions until the game tells you it's all clear anyway, and [b]planets are a real eyesore as well, so I'd very much like to get rid of them[/b].
the game is [b]very much a mixed bag[/b]: the concept is great and it's mostly fun, but you often have to wrestle with the controls even after rebinding them. there is a level editor and workshop support and [b]mid-level saving[/b] (if you go back to a level, there will be a [i]'restore placements'[/i] button), also plenty of settings, but many of them are unnecessary while crucial ones are missing. music is nice and varied, graphics are bad, which will sadly turn most people off immediately.
there's a good amount of content and the potential for even more, but these days I wouldn't bank on too many puzzle games running away with workshop levels, so the bottom line is, [b]15 eur is way too much for something that needs this much polish and quality of life adjustments[/b], and since they're unlikely to happen anytime soon, if ever, [b]only pick it up on deep sale if you have a higher tolerance for jank and clunkiness[/b].
