Reviews for Machiavellian Suns

[uni5que]

WELL. I just finished Awakening campaign. And now I playing Conquest.
Firstly - the game is a very well-made politics simulator. You takes weaknesses of your enemies and playing with them all the way you need to. And it is the only way to stand alone at the end. Whole strategy is completely about it. That's unusual, that's great for me. It needs mastering and some ways aren't evident, and at the same time
I'd wish to see the next part of this with new races (Random-doers, Alliance-ruiners, maybe?) and a bit of new actions (like Spy or Stole or...). Maybe a bit of unique perks for each fraction? Still, the game itself is good as it is. And this one is balanced, well-thought sometimes.

But, here comes second. A start of a level. Any level. There is only one way to start one unspecific mission: (SPOILER) you explore, then explore, then build new ships. And if you hasn't found any planets, you start over. Because of - sometimes thing you found kills you or grabs an empty planet, lefts you with nothing. (/SPOILER)
I had some thoughts about this "explore". Like, add a decreasing chance of founding empty planets instead of static number. Or at least to show the total number of planets in the sector. But then I played, fought and won just using this starting combo so... it's not really necessary. Only when you found yourself trapped with the Bear when he attacks you next turn.

And then here comes the third one. Random. It's good sometimes, especially when it plays on your side... still, it's too big here sometimes. What shall I think about that?
"@fraction_name@ win a victory against all odds (4 vs 22)!"
It's like - hey, are you playing a strategy? No, you are rolling a roulette's wheel! First time I faced it I had my head exploding, because of - rules, where did you go just right now?! Then I played, and played again... I understand that the random thing is a necessary one because of, well... Because of the very process of the game becoming very predictable. I truly know who will aid me, who will not, why my enemy will not receive any help - I got a full control. It's starting being boring, and here comes The Random. Still, I'd wanted a little lower level of it.

A Good Game. And I don't vote 5 only because of a massive amount of attempts that have failed because of Random Exploration. 4.5.

[Tpaypp]

I can call it a good game, i can say that i appreciate lore, but can't say that i appreciate when 16 ships destroy 30 ships.

[NerevarRising]

A very intriguing and good game, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it :)
My only complaint with the gameplay is the luck factor, as being beaten despite the odds being heavily in your favour is only irritating after a while... I refer to having 5 planets and 50 ships, only to lose to a faction with 2 planets and twenty ships after they get a sudden streak of luck (true story).
Also the fact that every time I reload the game I have to start again... is that the game or NG? :p

I would reccomend it to any strategy gamer, however people who don't like repetetive or slow gameplay won't enjoy it though. 4/5 (y) :D

[eldt]

While I could appreciate the deep and complex thinking in the game, I have to say the random number generator absolutely screwed me over multiple times. Especially when I had to keep the paranoid as hell Foxes alive. To give an example, the Foxes and I could field more than double what the mice could and we were defending the Fox's home world. While I can excuse the game for giving what amounts to a critical roll to the Mice once; having the Mice beat the odds a grand total of 4 times in one level is maddening. If I could have fielded an amazingly large fleet I would've been able to compensate for the luck factor, but since I had to keep the foxes alive, I skimped out on building early on. While I love the political intrigues of the different animal races, this all ended up with one result. I lost a game that was pretty much mine to win because the rng god favored the mice. What I'm saying is that in order to go through the political hoops to obtain victory, I had to balance on the razor's edge. A razor edge which I could easily fall off due to the winds of fate. If this is what is intended then I'm sorry, but I'm just not one to repeat levels based on bad luck.

[MLScherbatov]

when selecting enemies in combat, a double click shouldnt send me to the info screen. it just slows the game down. if anything the faction info should show up first and then the 2nd click should confirm attack/trade/etc... every time im about to attack i reflexively double click the icon and i think the current menu system is pretty unwieldy.

also, im not sure if the combat is randomized, but im sick of losing battles where the opponent has like 20 ships and i have 70. it makes sense every once in a while, but this happened 3 times in a row in the 2nd mission. i couldnt kill the sheep no matter how many ships i had or how few they did. especially when there is a turn limit on these matches and winning requires long term planning, it's simply unacceptable for this kind of thing to happen. i prepared an army for the entire match, and especially given that ships are the only way to actually win, it was incredibly frustrating to lose 50 ships in 2 rounds when i had like 1 turn left to win. if you're going for roguelike gameplay, i guess that's one thing, but in this context i think its nothing but irritating to throw a curveball at the player like that.

i enjoy games like this but it seems like there are a few balance issues. given that the ships have been so unreliable for me, i would really like to see an alternate avenue of victory. we have trade, but no currency other than ships, and i think perhaps if the levels could be completed by buying the enemy planet or through negotiating their surrender, the game would be a lot more fun. what about if instead of just having 1 dimensional trade agreements/alliances, you implemented a simple loyalty system and factions who reached max loyalty would be considered a victory and/or give bonus ships or currency thru trades?