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review information
time played: 20 hours
Platforms Reviewed: pc
Available at: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Black reflective pieces swarm and spiral in the opening scenes of a strategy game. Misma Chronicles, taking you to a dim and grimy post-apocalyptic Kentucky. The game confidently moves into its setting with this beautiful animated sequence, which lays the foundation for what is to come in the game – and more, perhaps, than its developers, The Bearded Ladies, had bargained for.
The game has its priorities established in these opening scenes; Narrative and world building, character development and aesthetics. Important features, yes, though not necessarily what makes a great strategy RPG (SRPG?)
You meet the protagonist, Elvis, and his robo-brother, Diggs, in this greyscale setting, and through clunky exposition and spirited (if not a little corny) line delivery, they are presented as charming, quirky and earnest characters, albeit sad. is done. Ambient.
We learn of Elvis’ primary goal – to find “Mama”, who had disappeared many years earlier, leaving nothing but Diggs to raise, a strange glove that was filled with spiraling black miasma shards. able to interact with, and a classically unscripted science-fiction mission; To use the glove and find it.
The scene fades to black, and so begins a game as beautiful, as simple, as elaborate, and as gruesome as it is rewarding.
Millionaires, McGuffins and Mutants – Oh My!
Dystopian Kentucky faces a challenge – the arrival and encroachment of mutant life forms that appear to be affected, and perhaps even controlled, by Miasma.
Of course, there is a bigger bad beyond the miasma and its demons; Capitalism. The First Family, a group of enigmatic elite ruling the new America, presides over its citizens’ back-breaking labor expectations and a corrupt system of morals and ethics. Familiar? Well, it should be, if not for our own increasingly apocalyptic-feeling reality, then for the wider world of sci-fi tropes.
Such themes and predictable clichés form the backbone of much of Worldbuilding. Misma Chronicles, Elvis is your classic adventurous science-fiction hero and hits many of the right notes as our hero.
As well as the aforementioned Diggs, a host of colorfully detailed and quick-quipping survivors also inhabit Elvis’ greyscale hometown – and naturally, a severed head with robotic tentacle arms. However, some clichés are less welcome than others; Diggs’ characterization as a robot speaking in dated African American stereotypes demonstrates somewhat of a “heard-but-not-seen” approach to diversifying the main cast.
The RPG elements are limited, at times feeling like the player is being carried around from battle to battle – this is especially true for the dialogue trees. Still, the often clumsy writing is delivered with a genuine gusto that belies the passion of the voice actors involved.
Misma Chronicles often toes the line between sincerity and flattery, but the characterization overall feels surprisingly 3D. Through in-jokes and many more, several Interpretive conversation, you feel a real sense of history, connection and dynamism among most of the cast.
I’ll take my bot down Old Town Road
Misma Chronicles launches you headfirst into its post-apocalyptic, grayscale Kentucky setting with some airs and graces. Every moment of your first few hours in the game feels intense.
To some extent, this is probably intentional; The game is, after all, developed by The Bearded Ladies, a studio best known for its previous turn-based tactical RPGs. corruption 2029 And mutant year zero, It’s fair to assume that this new title will build on the studio’s learnings, but there’s still a distinctly amateur thread woven into the game.
In theory, the mechanics are simple. You navigate a tiled battlefield, using guns, projectiles, and abilities to damage your enemies. Your proximity to an enemy will affect your chances of making a shot (assault rifles perform better up-close, snipers from afar), and some items have status effects or can be used as a distraction.
While this may sound simple, in practice, the combat is choppy and erratic, and you don’t always feel like you’re playing a game; you are playing often Despite Its. Especially in the early levels, winning feels more like a celebration of success than it does finding a crumbling foothold on a sheer cliff face. Glitches interrupt turns, essential mechanics unexplained through tutorials and an overall lack of balance make for a sluggish experience even on normal difficulty.
There are certainly plenty of tactical options, but it’s not always quite clear which road the game wants you to take. Some of the best strategy games have been developed so that, in theory, any one of a multitude of strategies is possible. Unfortunately, at some levels Misma Chronicles Feel very instructional, requiring replay after replay to finally crack the specific strategy you wanted to use.
This could be forgiven if the game seemed balanced, but far from it. For example, the tutorial quickly shows you how to use guerrilla warfare against your enemies, eliminating them one by one with your sniper to make for more manageable combat. it doesn’t tell you explicitly that it’s only about Only You can’t avoid a lot of fights in the game, as there are often quite a few enemies on the field.
Once you get past these initial hurdles, it’s still a very unforgiving game.
Creeping around and picking off rogues like that isn’t much work, but if you get caught or make the slightest mistake, you’ll either have to reload your save or fight on a very uneven playing field. have to face. Your party has limited actions per turn, a limited range of movement to consider with heavy cooldowns and reloads on abilities, and energy consumption – neither of which can be countered by your endlessly attacking, fast-travelling foes. No problem for.
Once you get past these initial hurdles, it’s still a pretty unforgiving game. Its skill tree is heavily weighted to actually affect gameplay more in the game, and there’s little-to-no sense in farming resources and experience. Misma Chronicles Is incredibly conservative when it comes to sharing.
It gets better as the game progresses, but never fully finds its footing. I spent some time playing on its easy mode and personally found it to be a lot more enjoyable – people who aren’t attempting a Spartan playthrough to showcase their gaming prowess may want to do the same. It’s worth noting that as of writing, the developers have responded to customer reviews on Steam promising updates to the game’s balance.
in the cold kentucky rain
As rocky and full of caveats as my enjoyment of the world-building and gameplay were, Misma Chronicles There is an artistic lens through which it urges you to see the texture and beauty in its dismal rural streets.
The graphics in the game actually provide some stunning moments – although some of the in-combat animations can be a bit dull and short. The cutscenes, however, are shrouded in a thick inky vignette that draws your eye to the scene in focus, and rich orange and yellow bursts from the campfire and sunrise contrast against a backdrop of swirling mist and the corroded remains of places – and people. – Caught in the apocalypse.
The inclusion of even more textured, oil-painting-esque stills in the opening sequence speaks volumes Misma Chronicles‘ Value; art and aesthetics Meaning Something for this game. It implores you to find beauty in its bleakness, acknowledging its contribution to depressive narrative dystopia, but offering a generous dose of imagination with how the world – and its inhabitants – find and fight their battles. Choose.
Misma Chronicles Definitely has all the components of a great tactical game. From its gritty setting to its likable characters, it all goes well… until it comes to gameplay. If you’re up for a challenge, you’ve found it – but it’s a tough climb that’s not for everyone.
Whether it’s the relatively barebones tutorial that leaves out some very important tactical abilities or its steep difficulty curve, it’s not for the faint-hearted. it is not to say Misma Chronicles It lacks imagination, but certainly lacks the tools to see through its ideas intelligently.
However, push (and I really do mean push) and you reach the delicious meat and bones of the game. By the time you’re at hour 15, you’re starting to see better skill unlocks, you’ve figured out how to work around some of its quirks, and you can start to sit back and watch something better-delivered. aspects can be appreciated. of the game.
