Awwwwww, yeah! Looks delish.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1025440/Fantasy_General_II/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1025440/Fantasy_General_II/)
Oh hell yeah! The original Fantasy General is one of the very few classics I played for years and years after it's prime. Day one purchase for this gamer.
I'll be following this one with doubtful hope that it can repeat the original greatness. Got to have some really cool fantasy units to be a success. Fingers crossed. ;)
Oooooh!
So, Slitherine didn't get the rights to remake Panzer General, and just remade Panzer General (again) anyway -- in several fashions -- like everyone else in the world -- but they somehow got the rights to use the IP for Fantasy General? .......okay. Not complaining.
But I'm about to rant about the writing sample.
I hope the writing is better than the opening narration. It's one thing to rip off one of the catchphrases to the Wheel of Time series; heck, even Peter Jackson did that to start his adaptation of the Lord of the Rings! (Which is like Inception levels of whack.)
It's another thing to rip it off badly. "Three hundred years and heroes become legends; legends becomes myth; myth fades from memory..."
Um, no. Not in three hundred years. A legend might become myth in three hundred years -- arguably the history behind "King Arthur" became myth that quickly -- but once something reaches mythical status sooner than 300 years, it does NOT fade from memory in only 300 years. Otherwise it wouldn't have been popular enough to become myth, and myth that quickly, to begin with!
That's just taking Fellowship's opening borrow of the Wheel of Time, about legend becoming myth and some things that should not have been forgotten, were lost IN OVER THREE AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS! (A timescale comparable to WoT's storyline, too, incidentally. And even Peter Jackson and his writing harem borrowed that line badly, since the story and details they're talking about weren't lost and didn't become forgotten by the people whom the events were important to: Tolkien would have laughed riotously at the whole idea. But they sold it better in the delivery. ::) )
The original catchphrase from WoT works better, largely because RJ didn't claim, either in the catchphrase or in the story itself, that people forgot the myths. The myths were left over from what people did forget, but narrative stories across that whole span of time were still being made and going on, bringing along echoes of the old history with them.
........ :pullhair: #:-) :hide:
To be fair, the writing for the spiritual sequel Fantasy Wars/Elven Legacy wasn't great either, and I love that series to death. Writing turns out to be hard. And there's no guarantee that the promo narration will be the opening narration, or that the writer(s) of that will be the writer(s) of the game's actual storyline. The game is only alpha at best. There's time for improvement. O:-)
On a different level of geekiness, I see those Phoenix Knights in the trailer and remember how broken they were in the original game! :D They could take a turn not only to heal all wounds, but to resurrect all dead units. That was on top of being the best fighting units in the game by a fair margin.
I was home to catch the Slitherine stream today, mentioned that GOG had the rights to FG, and they were partnering with them on FG2. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/408091189 the FG2 stuff starts about 47 minutes into it.
Nice visuals.
I better play the original soon to get ready.
Intrigued. I saw the announcement this morning.
wow just wow
Hell yeah! <:-)
Quote from: -budd- on April 08, 2019, 08:17:55 PM
I was home to catch the Slitherine stream today, mentioned that GOG had the rights to FG, and they were partnering with them on FG2.
Interesting!
The other interesting thing there, is that Matrixlitherine will be directly partnering more with GoG, which I think can only be a good thing. O0 And then, BY SHEER COINCIDENCE!!?!?, they release two of their biggest most expensive hardcore monster games (plus dlc) on GoG at around this time. ^-^
Anything that helps the Slithermanagement feel more comfortable and profitable reaching out through the well-established distribution channels, should benefit everyone.
Stop it with your 'logic' and 'facts.'
Yon naysayers shall deter me not from throwing my hard earned coin at this game!!!
The hard-earned coin is the best kind to throw at games. I save the easy stuff for drinking and porno. :clap:
^Hear, hear! O0
A wise man once said 'There are three things in life that you should never pay for. Pencils, porn, and concert tickets.'
I thought, 'free love' was one too.
If you're paying for free love you're not doing it right.
We all pay for free love. It's just a question of whether we pay before or after.
This does look sweet. I have great nostalgia for those titles.
That said, I'll be curious to see what they bring to the game that's new. The puzzle/campaign genre with units that carry over from scenario to scenario and use a hex-based map genre has been driven into the ground. There's been little new under the sun there in a LONG time (although games like Unity of Command or DC: Barbarossa have featured some nice wrinkles). Putting a fantasy skin on Panzer Corps isn't likely to moisten my loins.
http://slitherine.com/news/2835/Fantasy.General.II.-.Dev.Diary.2.-.The.Barbarians
Looking good!
The Original Fantasy General did not hold up very well over time. I had it and completed it. I repurchased on GOG a number of years ago and stopped playing about 40% through the game because play and AI combat skills did not hold up that well compared to newer releases. This was a combat AI issue and not graphics.
Like everything else, the combat AI and game balance will be critical in the game. I hope it holds up and does well, but I've stopped preordering and I also don't buy games in development. Too much of a chance that everything goes wrong and too little chance the early payment works out.
I think that the original Fantasy General is thought of better now than it was when it was released more for nostalgia than for play quality.
Airboy, I feel that way about a lot, if not most, of the games I have beloved memories of playing. The memories and nostalgia will grab my attention when I hear "remake", but I need to see a good game incorporating more modern graphics and AI before I pull the trigger. Making a prettier remake of the same game will sell some titles, taking the original idea and breathing new life into it will make devoted fans and even more sales. Fingers crossed.
The original Fantasy General had a great 'mood' regardless of it being ancient, like Steely.
:)
Ha! Gus, you kidder you..... ::)
Funny...but true!
Quote from: Gusington on May 04, 2019, 01:02:29 PM
The original Fantasy General had a great 'mood' regardless of it being ancient, like Steely.
:)
You are right, those missives at the start of each section were done well. But the game play and AI - not so much.
20 years plus is a long time in game years. There's very little, if anything, that I would play from 20+ years ago without it being updated.
I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally; at least twice this year so far, I'm sure!
Quote from: JasonPratt on May 06, 2019, 12:06:47 PM
I still listen to the soundtrack occasionally; at least twice this year so far, I'm sure!
Jason, I hope you know this isn't meant as an insult when I say.....
that may be the nerdiest thing I've ever heard :coolsmiley: O0 8)
(But he can't be the only one because I found this): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jXmzkEAjWY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jXmzkEAjWY)
The files are mp3 sitting around in a folder, so it isn't even hard to do. O:-)
I mix them with the better tracks from Total Annihilation. They go together very well.
(I'm not where I can verify where I add the soundtrack from the Wheel of Time game into the mix, though -- is it there, or with my combination of Age of Wonders 2 and Outland...?)
Honestly, at least half my music is game scores.
Edited to add: it occurs to me we ought to have a thread in the Music/TV/Film subcategory dedicated to game scores...
I listen to a bunch of Skyrim suites on YouTube when I read.
Those are good ambient tracks to work by, too. I don't usually listen to them for driving, though.
(The Dhovakim main them, on the other hand, I have a dozen-ish covers of, mixed in with covers of the Game of Throne theme.)
wow...didn't realize coming out so soon...september 5th
NOICE
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on August 25, 2019, 09:33:40 PM
wow...didn't realize coming out so soon...september 5th
:o
And if it's from Matrixlitherine, it probably won't be early access either!
YES!!! Need to check out their product page to see if its updated.
Checked the site and three different versions, including a season pass and a physical artbook, are available. I love stuff like that so I may grab one of the special editions if the price is not too off the wall.
Day one purchase for me!
Day 1 for me as well. O0
No price listed on The Steam yet :(
Quote from: Gusington on August 26, 2019, 04:46:59 PM
No price listed on The Steam yet :(
No official prices since Matrix/Slitherine never does that prior to release day....but someone guessed prices in their forum and a developer said they were close, but likely would be more than their guess. Here was the person's guess.
Hero: $45
General: $70If I had to personally guess, I would go with something like:
Base: $39.99
Hero: $49.99
General: $79.99
Eek a little on the high side...still I WANTS IT
Assuming I pick this up, I likely will only go with base game. I am probably in the minority, never played the original so no idea what to expect so can't see me going with the top level stuff. Have no interest in art books, soundtracks, and such....but would like the extra campaign so hoping they some day make that purchaseable.
I am interested in the artbook but not at that price.
Quote from: Gusington on August 26, 2019, 05:36:30 PM
I am interested in the artbook but not at that price.
Sample of artwork to make you want it more:)
https://www.matrixgames.com/amazon/Uploads/FG2/FG2%20sample.pdf
I am scared of this game. I remember well that serious ass-thumping the first one gave me back in the day. :knuppel2:
Damn you Grim :/
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on August 26, 2019, 06:00:53 PM
Quote from: Gusington on August 26, 2019, 05:36:30 PM
I am interested in the artbook but not at that price.
Sample of artwork to make you want it more:)
https://www.matrixgames.com/amazon/Uploads/FG2/FG2%20sample.pdf
I think everyone should have a Hell-Hound Cannon.
Me too!
Yeah, but with the price of Hell Hounds these days, who can afford it? Then the neighbors bitch about the noise. And God forbid you don't scoop the poop. NOTHING does 'steaming hot' like Hell Hound poop. #:-)
:o
The art and game mechanics are very enjoyable. However, I have my concerns. This is no doubt going to be a DLC cash grab. The game ships with a single story driven campaign letting the player control a single faction. There is no sandbox campaign where the player sets up conditions and builds an empire. Additionally, there are only two playable factions in skirmish mode. barbarians and the empire and these appear to just be battles. Finally, the unit lists for the factions are weird. For instance, the Empire, which is sort of like the ruling human power and is largely based on a Roman aesthetic, also contains undead units and creatures. These kinds of units don't belong in this army and should have been a separate faction altogether.
It just seems blatant that they are going to DLC the crap out of this game.
Somehow, in the depths of what is left of my soul...I feared and kinda knew it would be like this. I think I have enough patience to wait for the Ultramega OK edition of this to be released, years from now.
Yikes, thanks for the heads-up Jarhead. This is definitely not going to be a day one purchase then. I'll do what Gus is doing.
Sad how quickly a Day 1 purchase can become a NOT Day 1 purchase.
Actually it's pretty awesome, not sad...just means there's a ton of other games to play 😎
It's more sad how eager I was to just buy it without doing the level of research Jarhead did...
I'm trying to stay positive here.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 28, 2019, 06:16:56 AM
The art and game mechanics are very enjoyable. However, I have my concerns. This is no doubt going to be a DLC cash grab. The game ships with a single story driven campaign letting the player control a single faction. There is no sandbox campaign where the player sets up conditions and builds an empire. Additionally, there are only two playable factions in skirmish mode. barbarians and the empire and these appear to just be battles. Finally, the unit lists for the factions are weird. For instance, the Empire, which is sort of like the ruling human power and is largely based on a Roman aesthetic, also contains undead units and creatures. These kinds of units don't belong in this army and should have been a separate faction altogether.
It just seems blatant that they are going to DLC the crap out of this game.
I'm out.
To be fair, the original FantGen featured only one single-player campaign with an evil partly undead Empire having conquered most of the world except for one corner of not-Australia, from which the local aborigines (who might thus be regarded as "barbarians") rose up to retake the world. And there were only two factions, with a significant amount of "what why" between their unit lists. Also no sandbox campaign at all, no more than in Panzer General or its other related products, at the time and down to today.
And people loved that game enough that Matrixlitherine bought the rights to make a sequel-remake-whatever.
If you want more than one faction and more than one single-player campaign with unit lists that make a lot more internal coherent sense, in colorful artistic 3D turn based tactical battles, based directly on Fantasy General but with lots of upgrades (just not the story-setting of FantGen per se) -- that series already exists (and did have three expansions to its second game). And you can buy it cheap, especially on sale when it gets super-discounted.
That's Fantasy Wars / Elven Legacy. :smitten: See my persistent sig for "PanzOrc Corpz Generals" (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=12285.0) for a very extended sample of the gameplay (about halfway through both of the first main campaigns, which parallel each other. There are nine single player campaigns in the full set.)
Ugh. Good points, Jarhead. In my excitement over the title, I certainly didn't see those red flags. Day one purchase just became "some day in the future maybe" purchase.
Yeah, I shouldn't say "I'm out". I should say, "I'll wait until it's deeply discounted in a Summer or Christmas sale".
Too bad. I was hoping. A fantasy world version of Empires: Field of Glory was more what I was dreaming of. :dreamer:
Quote from: Sir Slash on August 28, 2019, 10:07:51 AM
Too bad. I was hoping. A fantasy world version of Empires: Field of Glory was more what I was dreaming of. :dreamer:
:bd:
Guys...don't get too down on it. What I have played so far of the campaign is very good. Its definitely got those classic addictive qualities. However, I am disappointed about the limited content as previously mentioned and I knew those were things you would all want to know about, as I too, thought there would be more there and at least a sandbox empire building component. It just isn't that kind of a game though.
I still need to dive deeper and play a Mortal Empires campaign of Warhammer: Total War. That will scratch the itch for a while.
Quote from: bbmike on August 28, 2019, 09:19:30 AM
Yeah, I shouldn't say "I'm out". I should say, "I'll wait until it's deeply discounted in a Summer or Christmas sale".
The only thing I buy on day of release is new Order of Battle campaigns. They seem to work out of the box and are not too pricey. Everything else I wait for people to play it for at least a month - and usually wait longer and get it on sale.
Quote from: Sir Slash on August 28, 2019, 10:07:51 AM
Too bad. I was hoping. A fantasy world version of Empires: Field of Glory was more what I was dreaming of. :dreamer:
That's sort of Sovereignty (from Matrix). Which I've heard is a buggy mess, although I haven't played it personally enough to find out. It's an ambitious game, but it isn't exactly a sandbox because it doesn't have a random map (so far as I recall). I think in principle it compares well to FoGEmp.
There are plenty of fantasy sandbox 4x games now, and Matrix is going to work on remaking the original Master of Magic, so that's coming.
Fantasy General was always Panzer General, and that is NOT a sandbox game, NOR a version of FoGEmp (which the TW:Warhammer games fill pretty well). Matrix has plenty of WW2-ish Panzer General inheritors, including a direct remake, and including a version for freaking Wahammer40K (i.e. Armageddon). If FantGen2 is like that, there's a reason.
Don't forget the hollowed pixels of Age of Wonders II and III.
Quote from: JasonPratt on August 28, 2019, 01:02:47 PM
There are plenty of fantasy sandbox 4x games now, and Matrix is going to work on remaking the original Master of Magic, so that's coming.
Quote from: Gusington on August 28, 2019, 02:02:32 PM
Don't forget the hollowed pixels of Age of Wonders II and III.
They are indeed among the number of plenty of fantasy sandbox 4x games now. O:-)
Deity Empires is well designed although I think the AI is lacking.
I was thinking, 'Fantasy' Bactria might be able to win a game. ::)
>:(
Quote from: Sir Slash on August 28, 2019, 06:36:37 PM
I was thinking, 'Fantasy' Bactria might be able to win a game. ::)
:DD :DD :DD
Well, I did say, 'fantasy'. :hide:
Laugh it up...fuzzball.
The developer has just spent some time alleviating concerns (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1025440/discussions/0/1640917625021116511/). Don't take it off your wishlists yet!
I liked the responses and the thought process behind some of the decisions, especially the response to the undead. I loved the original Fantasy General and while FGII will definitely remain on my wishlist, I'll wait and see how the reviews land before pulling the trigger.
Fantasy isn't my main thing, so this was never going to be a day one buy for me. I like the answers, and seems like a decent value if the campaign is 28-33 maps long. i don't mind the lack of factions if the there is a lot of unit variety, and different build choices. I do wish you could play the campaign from either side, but will reserve judgement until feedback on the campaign. It will depend on how the campaign branches and how interesting the choices are along the way, hopefully there are a bunch of interesting mission types. There's skirmish and random maps, so there's added value there. I do hope the animations are good, its an important feature for me in a fantasy game. At the end of the day i just want to throw some fireballs and lightening around and maybe freeze some enemies so i can feel the power...muhahahaha.
My guess is standard Slitherine price $39.99
Looks like there is a slight language barrier and the concept of 'faction,' or their take on it, needs to be explained better. Feeling better about this title now, a bit.
Yeah. So long as they force you to make trade-offs between complementing your core "Empire" troops with "Undead" versus "some other branch", I'm fine with that. If they just let you pick from a buffet of 30 different units, I'm not sure it will hang together for me, from a narrative source.
And I do think they need one "evil" faction, even if it's just a race of voracious, ravenous creatures that eat everything (similar to the Tyranids in WH40K).
^OR Chaos in WH.
https://www.strategygamer.com/reviews/fantasy-general-2/
^Thanks for posting. Review is kinda short on details, but maybe that is because the game itself is a little lean in content right now?
The full review is on their sister site : https://www.wargamer.com/reviews/fantasy-general-2/
Wargamer eh? Never heard of it.
Quote from: Gusington on September 05, 2019, 09:03:30 AM
Wargamer eh? Never heard of it.
They sound rubbish, whoever they are.
Just as a note of apology - Google doesn't like it if I replicate content between sites and FG2 could legitimately be featured on both. Since I don't want to pay for a second review, I decided to have the main review up on WG, with a summary post on SG.
Sorry if that's caused any confusion.
You're the chief are you not? You can do it however you wish. 😊
Perfect timing. My ten year anniversary discount from Matrix has arrived! I think this might be worth $22.39. O0
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on August 26, 2019, 04:53:37 PM
Quote from: Gusington on August 26, 2019, 04:46:59 PM
No price listed on The Steam yet :(
No official prices since Matrix/Slitherine never does that prior to release day....but someone guessed prices in their forum and a developer said they were close, but likely would be more than their guess. Here was the person's guess.
Hero: $45
General: $70
If I had to personally guess, I would go with something like:
Base: $39.99
Hero: $49.99
General: $79.99
two out of three correct:)
Well done!
$40 a bit steep for me, maybe when i get my yearly discount code later this year....
Good review, Joe O0
I'll admit, little puzzled on their pricing strategy for the various editions based on what you get.
$39.99 Base Game - Don't have too much of an issue with that, seems most games in this range.
$59.99 Hero Edition - Comes with the extra stuff that I don't care about (i.e. soundtrack, art, etc.)....but I would like to have the extra campaign. Seems like it is a short 4-6 hr adventure and just don't think I could justify the extra $20 for it. Wish they would sell it separate, but I assume they did on purpose to get people to buy that bundle.
$79.99 General Edition - So you basically get (2) DLC with this. Thought I read somewhere that said buying these (2) as part of the bundle would be cheaper than separate, which makes sense. But then that implies each DLC was going to sell for more than $20 a piece when they came out? Unless they are huge expansions (maybe they are), that seems a bit high and makes me very afraid as to what the normal price will be.
Hate all these bundles, too many things to think about and then I end up just not buying:)
Man, I'm jelly of you Grogs. My rig can't handle the requirements of FG2. Like not even the minimum requirements.
My loin moistening will have to suffer the walk of shame.
Groggy
I enjoy a nice light-hearted romp, but I grew kind of tired of the following PG formula a while back.
Iteration #1: Play a campaign a handful of times, until you get far enough in to realize the mistakes you made in your early-army selections that left you woefully unprepared for Scenario #XX.
Iteration #2: Restart a campaign, eschewing all investment in anti-tank guns (or whatever) to focus on the only 2 or 3 types of units you'll need to win most of the game.
Iteration #3: Start to face really brutal scenarios where the only way to win a decisive victory against an artificially opposed time limit is to play the game once, figure out where all the important enemy units will be (i.e., "dispel fog-of-war through grinding"), then start the scenario again with a carefully tailored disposition of forces. Hope to win a decisive battle through a combination of lucky combat rolls at the start and trial-and-error.
Iteration #4: Rinse, repeat, ad infinitum.
Iteration #5: After winning the last big scenario, restart the game, but see if you can win it by focusing on different unit types (e.g., "Can I use Archers instead of Crossbowmen to great effect in this game? Or does the 1 additional hex of Archer range not matter against tough units, compared to the Armor Penetration ability of the Crossbowmen?").
A little of that can be fun, but if all you do is grinding through trial and error, it becomes silly. I hope they offer up some different fare for this title.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 05, 2019, 06:20:27 PM
I'll admit, little puzzled on their pricing strategy for the various editions based on what you get.
$39.99 Base Game - Don't have too much of an issue with that, seems most games in this range.
$59.99 Hero Edition - Comes with the extra stuff that I don't care about (i.e. soundtrack, art, etc.)....but I would like to have the extra campaign. Seems like it is a short 4-6 hr adventure and just don't think I could justify the extra $20 for it. Wish they would sell it separate, but I assume they did on purpose to get people to buy that bundle.
$79.99 General Edition - So you basically get (2) DLC with this. Thought I read somewhere that said buying these (2) as part of the bundle would be cheaper than separate, which makes sense. But then that implies each DLC was going to sell for more than $20 a piece when they came out? Unless they are huge expansions (maybe they are), that seems a bit high and makes me very afraid as to what the normal price will be.
Hate all these bundles, too many things to think about and then I end up just not buying:)
I think you get the Hero addition with the General Addition. So $20 of the $40 General Edition upgrade is for the Hero Edition and so each General Edition DLC is $10...no?
Quote from: JudgeDredd on September 06, 2019, 12:45:12 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 05, 2019, 06:20:27 PM
I'll admit, little puzzled on their pricing strategy for the various editions based on what you get.
$39.99 Base Game - Don't have too much of an issue with that, seems most games in this range.
$59.99 Hero Edition - Comes with the extra stuff that I don't care about (i.e. soundtrack, art, etc.)....but I would like to have the extra campaign. Seems like it is a short 4-6 hr adventure and just don't think I could justify the extra $20 for it. Wish they would sell it separate, but I assume they did on purpose to get people to buy that bundle.
$79.99 General Edition - So you basically get (2) DLC with this. Thought I read somewhere that said buying these (2) as part of the bundle would be cheaper than separate, which makes sense. But then that implies each DLC was going to sell for more than $20 a piece when they came out? Unless they are huge expansions (maybe they are), that seems a bit high and makes me very afraid as to what the normal price will be.
Hate all these bundles, too many things to think about and then I end up just not buying:)
I think you get the Hero addition with the General Addition. So $20 of the $40 General Edition upgrade is for the Hero Edition and so each General Edition DLC is $10...no?
correct but developer implied specifically getting the dlc with the general content (including hero) would be cheaper than buying the dlc seperate. so to me that meant if you buy the 2 dlc seperate (regardless of hero content) it will still cost greater than $40. otherwise buying seperate would be cheaper assuming you didn't want the other content.
Quote from: FarAway Sooner on September 06, 2019, 12:26:47 AM
I enjoy a nice light-hearted romp, but I grew kind of tired of the following PG formula a while back.
Iteration #1: Play a campaign a handful of times, until you get far enough in to realize the mistakes you made in your early-army selections that left you woefully unprepared for Scenario #XX.
Iteration #2: Restart a campaign, eschewing all investment in anti-tank guns (or whatever) to focus on the only 2 or 3 types of units you'll need to win most of the game.
Iteration #3: Start to face really brutal scenarios where the only way to win a decisive victory against an artificially opposed time limit is to play the game once, figure out where all the important enemy units will be (i.e., "dispel fog-of-war through grinding"), then start the scenario again with a carefully tailored disposition of forces. Hope to win a decisive battle through a combination of lucky combat rolls at the start and trial-and-error.
Iteration #4: Rinse, repeat, ad infinitum.
Iteration #5: After winning the last big scenario, restart the game, but see if you can win it by focusing on different unit types (e.g., "Can I use Archers instead of Crossbowmen to great effect in this game? Or does the 1 additional hex of Archer range not matter against tough units, compared to the Armor Penetration ability of the Crossbowmen?").
A little of that can be fun, but if all you do is grinding through trial and error, it becomes silly. I hope they offer up some different fare for this title.
This is kinda my thought process too. The PG formula which lacks any sort of randomization makes the games a puzzle, nothing more.
I agree with that - PG and similar games have always felt like puzzle games to me. But sometimes that's all I really want. I am a simple man.
Quote from: FarAway Sooner on September 06, 2019, 12:26:47 AM
I enjoy a nice light-hearted romp, but I grew kind of tired of the following PG formula a while back.
Iteration #1: Play a campaign a handful of times, until you get far enough in to realize the mistakes you made in your early-army selections that left you woefully unprepared for Scenario #XX.
Iteration #2: Restart a campaign, eschewing all investment in anti-tank guns (or whatever) to focus on the only 2 or 3 types of units you'll need to win most of the game.
Iteration #3: Start to face really brutal scenarios where the only way to win a decisive victory against an artificially opposed time limit is to play the game once, figure out where all the important enemy units will be (i.e., "dispel fog-of-war through grinding"), then start the scenario again with a carefully tailored disposition of forces. Hope to win a decisive battle through a combination of lucky combat rolls at the start and trial-and-error.
Iteration #4: Rinse, repeat, ad infinitum.
Iteration #5: After winning the last big scenario, restart the game, but see if you can win it by focusing on different unit types (e.g., "Can I use Archers instead of Crossbowmen to great effect in this game? Or does the 1 additional hex of Archer range not matter against tough units, compared to the Armor Penetration ability of the Crossbowmen?").
A little of that can be fun, but if all you do is grinding through trial and error, it becomes silly. I hope they offer up some different fare for this title.
Agree with all you said. I prefer my panzer games to be less puzzle more random.
I bought Panzer General and Allied General back when they came out years ago, but I could never like them. The fixed script battle progression from map to map and the use of toy soldiers on an operational level just turned me off. This looks like more of the same.
That iteration list has a lot of truth in it. Still like the series/concept, though!
Worth noting that Fantasy General 1 did have some random battles during the campaign, in every area.
Also worth noting that this in no way voided the Phoenix Knights as a gamebreaking unit that you practically needed to win the game and so had to level up to sooner or later (and sooner than later if possible). ;)
So who is playing?
Waiting for the next big sale or Matrix coupon. Same goes for Planetfall.
Bought with my coupon yesterday, not installed yet though.
Thinking about picking this one up. Have any grogs clocked in some hours and have something to say?
PG was a formative game for me so I'm a fan of the formula. Wondering how other like-minded folks are finding this title after a couple weeks of play time.
Hardly touched it sorry
That might say enough then,right? ;)
I just got it on my matrix coupon. Be a while until I get around to playing it.
Thinking of getting this with the Matrix coupon, brings the price to about 28.00. Worth it?
Also there is a new DLC out:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1193871/Fantasy_General_II_Onslaught/
I just got these with my anniversary coupon (47% off!) and PanzerCorp2 and Battlestar Galactica DLC. FG2 is first on the list, maybe this weekend.
Post impressions!
Gus, I haven't played the expansion yet but was halfway through the final mission when I stopped playing. I had bought it at release.
It's difficult to rate the game as someone who has played the original Fantasy General, as FG2 is both a true sequel as a step back at the same time.
Some units have special abilities or special attacks, heroes can pick skills and items can be given to units. Some units had special abilities in the original as well and of course there were items too, but they work a bit differently here. In FG, the majority of the items boosted stats or gave units a new kind of attack (giving an infantry unit a magical crossbow gave it a ranged ánd a melee attack, which made ranged items rather overpowered). In FG2, items offer usually small modifiers to various stats (higher morale, decreased chance to suffer kills and so on).
The addition of mana points means you can't use all special abilities/spells each turn, as most cost mana.
My main issue with FG2 is that, initially, it's mostly a ground game. There's little combined arms and there's no vertical component (there are only a handful of air units, but most of them only appear later on or not at all if you don't use summons). You start with infantry and skirmishers/archers, and that's it for a while.
What also isn't really made clear (well, not at release but maybe a tooltip was added since then) is that you need to charm units in order to be able to summon them with the wolf mother. If you don't, the only air units you'll potentially be using will be a (hero on a) dragon and potentially a hero on a pegasus, as well as potentially some ravens. It's very easy to miss the possibility to summon aerial units entirely. The AI tends to use numerous flying units, with stronger ones appearing when you're dealing with the Empire.
As, like in FG, you ideally want single entities to take the most damaging hits (because single entities like heroes always heal back to full strength when resting and don't require replacements that cost resources), the game can be a bit of a puzzle early on due to your limited options.
With certain summons, either magically with one of the heroes or through the wolf mother, the game becomes a cakewalk. Example: the spitting spider could, at release, spit a web 3 hexes (each turn, no mana cost or cooldown) which would glue a unit in place. With 3-4 spitting spiders, you could essentially nullify all enemy heavy hitters. Another option would be an eagle bear spam (but that isn't very cost effective in terms of mana) or summoning lots of spirits with one of the heroes (I didn't take the "summon spirits" part of the skill tree for that hero, so I've never used them).
All of that, combined with a limited unit selection (and limited enemy variety), means you'll be doing the same thing throughout most of the campaign. There will be points when new strategies suddenly open up, but the final missions become a bit of a chore. FG did a better job due to subtly changing enemy variety on each island.
It's been a few months since I played it, and the new expansion looks interesting, but whether you'll like the game depends a lot on what you expect. It feels like one of those modern kind of games where it looks like you have more options than in other games, but in practice it's a more streamlined game than comparable previous games. Panzer Corps 2 might give you the same feeling, incidentely.
Thanks CP! I could not have asked for a better summary.
FYI the new expansion is touted as 'adding 13 different flying units' as well as new campaign modes.
Sounds like the game should not have been released until this new expansion was part of it.
I've played through about the first 10 missions or so of the campaign and I really like it. I never played the original FG, but it definitely has the Panzer General feel to it, so if you like that and like a world of mostly humans, trolls, and undead, you'll probably like this too.
I agree with all of ComradeP's thoughts. Lots of ground, not much air so far, mostly bats and crows, which are my scouts.
I haven't tried the expansion yet either.
Cool thank you.