Telestians is a turn-based strategy war game that takes place in a dark fantasy setting. Build armies, search ruins, conquer castles, and hear the lamentations of their women!
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All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
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To be fair, the game has a serious problem with the interface. It's obviously based on the old SSI Warlord game. The issues with the interface are simple. Once another player's turn starts, you are locked into the screen, no scrolling. You cannot look at anything, you cannot click on anything, all you can do is sit there and wait. This can be particularly annoying when you want to follow what the other players are doing. I personally enjoyed the SSI version when I played it, a few decades ago. This is very similar to that game. But be warned, the computer does not follow the moving players units, it locks the screen. Other interface issues, once the computer attacks you, you get a battle screen that shows you your forces and the computers. Once the battle is over, it just sits there, you can't close it, you cannot click on the opposing units to get any stats, it blocks everything that is going on after the battle. I recently did an update to my graphics driver, this seemed to have resolved the "game not responding" error I have continued to play since, and am currently 100 plus turns into the main map with no issues. I confess that I am pleasantly surprised to see a response from the developers and am looking forward to continued support!
I'm comparing this directly to the Warlords series of games which obviously inspired it. The Good: 1. More challenging than the Warlords games that inspired it 2. AI is aggressive and seems reasonably competent a few hours in 3. Didn't notice any bugs 4. Unique UI art for each race is a nice touch 5. Random events/wandering monsters are a good addition The Bad: 1. UI notably worse than the originals. Units automatically stack with one another with no sub-stacking and separating stacks afterward requires a lot of clicking 2. UI: No quick way to tell which castles are producing units and which are not 3. No vectoring; all newly produced units need to be moved by hand, and due to the issue in #1 this causes frequent traffic jams. The maps are also huge and this gets tedious fast. 4. UI: Effects that apply to stacks are not shown anywhere. Can your stack fly? Does it have movement bonuses in a certain terrain? Is it receiving bonuses from other units in the stack? No way to tell. 5. Heroes are less interesting than in Warlords. Magic items are rare, limited in effect, and there are only a few slots to use them. Items you can't use can't be transported, but instead have to be left in often inconvenient locations. Heroes also don't do anything to empower the units following them; they feel underwhelming in general 6. The castles are only one tile, which combined with the stacking issue makes unit production a pain if you have a garrison. You will need to re-fortify the garrison every time you produce a new unit, which adds extra clicks for every castle you own every turn or two. Adds up fast, feels like a waste of time. The Ugly: 1. Graphics. The pixel art for the most part lacks the charm of the Warlords games. It's simply unappealing. I understand this is subjective, but it simply looks flat and boring compared to its predecessors. 2. Gratuitous sexism. Female heroes are weaker than male heroes and have no compensating advantages. Why? How does this make the game better? This is something the developer added to the game that was -not- in Warlords, so there's not an excuse that they're just honoring the original series or whatever. If the UI ever gets modernized to at least 1990s standards and the pointless sexism gets taken out, I would consider moving this review to positive. As is, I can't recommend the game to others; it just makes me want to play Warlords.
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Hours played at review time, across 38 reviews with recorded playtime.
Very well done WARLORDS style strategy game where you build an army to take over the map to rule the lands by destroying or subjugating all who stand in your way where you can occupy the castles of defeated enemies to use as recruitment and staging areas for future attacks as well as a source of additional income while fortifying them with troops to defend from roving bands of enemy factions. You can also just RAZE THEIR HOMES TO THE GROUND! Burning and pillaging to your ravaging hearts content leaving only a ruined husk as a reminder to all who would dare oppose your most excellent rule! Graphics harken back to such classics as WARLORDS and MASTER OF MAGIC when it comes to map design while info boxes are filled with gorgeous looking DnD fantasy art work though slightly pixelated it is smooth enough to be enjoyable where you are not left wondering what the heck you are looking at. ELTHARIONX'S TELESTIANS, BUY IT! PLAY IT! Feel THE MUSCULAR MIGHT! THE WONDROUS MAGIC! of a gaming age REBORN with flowing violent rivers of blood and sensuality when gamers were BRUTAL HEROIC AVATARS OF BRONZE!
Can't get enough of this game! It's a turn-based game, with a unique atmosphere, look and feel. Yes, it is similar to a couple classic games from the 90s, but other than those, you really can't find this style game anywhere else. The art is spot on! It all fits together very well, and even when you zoom in on the armies, the details look great. Music is also incredible, for an indie game its unique and professionally done. Gameplay is CHALLENGING. I have put many hours in and still haven't won on the highest difficulty. I would think an "easy" difficulty option would be good to have, just so that you can experience a really dominating game play. Random maps are well done, and give you lots of replay-ability. The medium/large maps produce the best results, especially if you're play against five or more factions. The small maps can sometimes stick you on a small island with a lack of castles to conquer, making it hard to build a large army. It provides a sandbox/map maker where you can create your own maps, which I found pretty intuitive, and have shared some maps already. It would be nice if we could save them to Steam Workshop or some place to see everyone who has made them. Overall, it's a great game that you can place at your own pace, and get immersed into a fantasy world focusing on war.
Seriously disapointing. Concidering its a game in from the 90's so far its both less charming and uglier. why? Make it atleast the same. It is also very very very much "early acces" The clame it will be reliced in 1-3 month is questionable at best. 50 turn limit +alot of missing mechanics +crashes really make me doubt it. If i didnt leave the game running idle overnight I would have asked for my money back. I really hope this gets better with alfa reliace so I can undate this review. in the meantime Warlords 2 is avaliable to play in a browser. for free.
Telestians feels like a light Heroes of Might n Magic from the early 90's. Gameplay focuses on pixel exploration, fantasy army building and territory management. Combat is auto-resolved so picking the good fights with the good troops is part of the fun, bringing tension during exploration and AI roaming phases. The game is quick to play, without a ton of menus but it's still deadly ^^ My Steam play time doesn't take into account my few runs (all failed by the way).
Amazing game, loved it, after I mastered it my IQ increased by 300+ became a millionaire, got a hot wife with big milkers, instantly got a six pack, became 7 feet tall and got a horse sized dong. 10/10.
Telestians is an excellent game that captures tropes that fantasy fans have come to know and love. Players have the chance to build their empires in the name of their favorite factions as they conquer neighboring fortresses and build their heroes. In single-player mode, the game offers the perfect level of challenge to be engaging and rewarding. The music is also absolutely gorgeous and captures the different elements of this world perfectly!
Missing some bells and whistles from the old Warlords game. Seems a bit harder also as I think the AI cheats. Locked up on me a couple of times. Don't think it's a $25 game, maybe 10 tops 15. But I still give it a thumbs up.
A captivating turn-based strategy game set in a dark fantasy world. It challenges players to build armies, explore ruins, and conquer castles in a quest for dominance. The game's immersive narrative and strategic game-play keep you engrossed, while the hauntingly beautiful setting adds depth to every move. With its emphasis on tactical warfare and resource management, this game delivers a thrilling experience that fans of the genre will relish.
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