When I started playing Massive Chalice, I really fell in love with the concept; family based warfare in the vein of HBO’s flagship program, Game Of Thrones, meets an XCOM inspired combat system. As a huge fan of the XCOM franchise as a whole, this naturally popped up on my radar and on paper, this game has potential and more or less works. With that being said, my optimism wore off after I was about 5 hours deep.
Before I continue, I should say I did not purchase this title through Double Fine’s semi-controversial kickstarter. I had no prior knowledge of this game going in, except from what I’ve heard through sources such as the lovely staff here at Giant Bomb, Game Informer, etcetera. In my opinion this game, as a franchise, has a bright future despite it’s faults. In context, the voice acting is very well done and instructive when first starting out, in ways that other strategy games aren’t. The overworld is well put together and, most importantly, the game is accessible enough for players who are new to the strategy genre to pick up and run with.
At this point, the game’s structural skeleton begins to show.
My biggest complaint with Massive Chalice is it’s lack of depth. Mr. Vinny Caravella said in, either the quick look for the game, or in the Beastcast, that on the surface this game appears to have a deeper level of understanding that is apparent to it's devoted players, and dear god I wish that was true. The simplicity of this game is a double edged sword. While it does entice new players, people who are experienced at strategy games are left for dead because nothing in the battle system reaches that XCOM level of depth, and it hurts because of it.
That level of simplicity also seeps into the visual representation. Graphically, everything in this game feels too monotone and while I understand that the visual choice adds to the style that the game is going for, I feel that Double Fine handicapped themselves because of it.
When it all comes down to it, I really want to like this game. I really do. Everything this game tries to do, is good. I feel like it's heart is in the right place but it's execution leaves a lot to be desired. If you guys are looking for a decent strategy game to hold you over until the arrival XCOM 2 in November, definitely pick this game up. Just don't expect too much out of it.