We have our initial analysis. We had 4 first-time players, we played a  single game, with Scenario 1, there were several scenarios available to us but we thought to go with the first.

Setup

The game has a solid design quality. The plastic miniatures are well detailed. The trait bags are of good quality. The map is very clear to read. The dynasties are obviously representing a source material that should be very recognisable to those that have played the PC game. The different sections of the board for card pools are clear and make for a clean setup.

Rules

The rules are methodically laid out for setting up the game but feel overly complex. The structure of the game is based on nested loops: 3 Eras, each containing 3 Rounds, each containing 2 Turns. This will feel quite familiar to people who have played games like Nations or 7 Wonders. Unlike those games however there is no progression or scoring with the changing Eras, so the game is ultimately just 18 Turns with a number of periodic clean-up and setup phases.

The individual player rules cards are vital for working your way through the process but there is little to distinguish where in the overarching structure you currently are, with no Era/Round/Turn marker on the board and we often found ourselves accidentally skipping phases and having to rewind to catch a missed Dynasty phase.

The first playthrough of the game was messy with numerous actions being taken without full comprehension of their effect. The rulebook was passed around like a hot potato and was not always exactly clear about how play should progress. While it does look like this game has been playtested, some work could still be done on clarifying the rulebook.

Primary Loop

The majority of the game is spent taking Actions. These include taxing your lands, building castles, mobilizing forces, assassinations, invading territory and sending your family members out on crusades. Each Era the Player forms a hand of 8 Action Cards, choosing 2 cards to play for each of 3 Rounds (playing 6 of the 8 cards before reforming their hand). Each Action Card comes with a consequence however, as Taxation causes uprisings, Mobilizing Troops breaks Pacts, and Queens are popping out children faster than history can track their names.

The flavour of the PC game, and its historical source material is evident throughout these actions and their consequential events. A lot of love and attention has been put into giving the feel of an ever-changing dynasty and the stories that come from it.

The Trait System

Crusader Kings adds more flavour to the mix by assigning random trait tokens to each character in the game. The Kind, Lustful King Robert V, and his Strong Wife Helene have three children Louis the Drunkard, Ugly Cathaline and Pious Henry. These traits are a key element to the humorous narrative that the game helps the players create. “Guillaume the Godless goes on Crusades… unsure of why but successfully claiming victory for his ‘faith’ nonetheless…”

These traits hold another fundamental role in the game though. Positive traits are coloured green, while the negative are red. As dynasties reshuffle and new monarchs ascend their traits join an ever-growing pool of their family’s history and form the games luck element. Most Actions require a draw from this trait pool with success coming through drawing positive traits.

On paper, this is an intriguing (if not completely novel) mechanic that should reward strategy by allowing players to modify their luck. In practice however, the main methods by which the Trait pool is modified are out of the player’s hands (random traits assigned to children or independent spouses and/or cards played by other players). The result is a system where players can play very strategically and yet get repeatedly punished by compounded bad luck earlier in the game.

The Trait system offers further confusion with its use of Critical symbols. Each Action has an associated positive trait and a negative trait that flip from success to fail or vice versa. The Kind trait, for example, is a success in most instances but a fail when going to war, whereas cruelty is usually a negative trait but a success for war. The flavour of this is logical and there has certainly been some thought put into how this can promote certain styles of play for different factions, but it has a jarring effect on the aesthetics and semiotics of the game.

When a player has to choose between two green Traits, modern boardgame design will instinctively draw the player to the one with more Critical symbols as they’ll feel like an added bonus; this is the worse choice for this game. This could have been solved with some intuitive tweaks (e.g. a red X through the symbol on the green tiles, or a green circle around the symbol on the red tiles) that would have made a big difference in the way these are perceived.

War

War is unsurprisingly a key element of Crusader Kings but we barely scraped the surface of it in our first game. Committing to attacking another player requires three separate Actions: Mobilizing forces, Declaring Cassus Belli, and Invading. Three actions are 1/6 of the game which may be wasted with a single dud draw from the Trait bag, so the economic cost of a lost fight is a steep barrier of entry.

Comparatively the cost of annexing independent nations was much lower (2 actions, no-fail chance) so most players opted for the cheaper safer option. This was a mistake it seems (see End Game below).
Cassus Belli was another instance of a hole in the rulebook. It appears to be a crux to the PVP combat and yet is only mentioned in sections without getting a distinct section on its own. It was unclear whether the three inter-Dynasty attitudes (Pacts, Cassu-Belli, War) were always two-way, and there are a few too many instances of actions modifying these attitudes without reminders on cards or the player rule cards. Ultimately there is a lot of complication here that probably needs to be better laid out or simplified. Being aware of all of these circumstances may have helped promote PVP combat, but for beginners, they often just added confusion.

In similar fashion to the symbolism issues on the trait tokens, the primary miniatures for the game are knight models that stand proudly on each of a player’s territories. These miniatures have no other function in the game and are not used for PVP or Crusading. Instead, less impressive infantrymen are used for attacking. This choice may be reflective of the PC game in some way but is a touch disappointing for board game symbolism.

The End Game

The game claims to be a 3-hour game and we’d usually add about half the time again for the first play. After four hours we had finished just two Eras (of three) and decided to call it a day. The game was not progressing much faster than when we started, the turn sequence had drained us and grown tiring. We progressed to an early scoring (an option which is offered in the rulebook).

In stark comparison to the complexity of the game, the scoring is overly simplified. So simplified in fact that it brings into question a lot of the gameplay mechanics. Points are scored for territory ownership and being the first to achieve specific achievements.

In terms of the final scoring, the game’s action economy is highly questionable. The first player can spend 6 gold on the first turn to buy three development cards and get a point (1 action, no roll, 1 point). The first player to crusade twice gets a point (2 actions, 2 rolls, 1 point). The first player to build 3 castles gets a point (3 build, 2-3 taxations, 3 rolls, 1 point). All other points are claimed through Invading territory which takes 2-3 actions. The vast majority of actions taken do not score points and are spent modifying board states for little overall gain.

The game feels torn between focusing the player on 1) Crusading, 2) Juggling Flavourful Dynasties, 3) Managing the Primary Loop, and 4) Invading each other that it doesn’t actually do any of these very well.

Storage

The smallest of niggles in comparison to everything above, but if you’re going to provide five sheets of punch-out tokens, please include some baggies in the box to store them in. This is slowly being adopted by the board games industry and needs to be drilled into companies more. If a player can’t easily separate tokens when they come to replay a game they’re less likely to replay it, and therefore less likely to want to buy expansions, sequels, etc.

Overall 52.3%

For fans of the Crusader Kings series, there are probably a lot of references in this box that will mean a lot to them. The game mechanics feel like they’re emulating a computer game, unfortunately to the detriment of itself. While it’s far from the worst of its genre, it doesn’t particularly stand out either. If you’re not playing this for its Crusader King’s nostalgia you’d probably be better off with a game with more grounded mechanics. (Scythe, El Grande, Nations, etc.)

Room for Improvement

• Rulebook updates to fill holes, and overall improvement of clarity
• Scoring for more than just territories, and/or more frequent scoring to push players to PVP more
• New Action cards for each Era to help track Eras, and to help bring people who are behind back into the game. (there’s nothing worse than losing a 4-hour game 20 minutes in)

Stay tuned to GamEir. Also, if you’re interested, converse with us on Twitter (@gam_eir), Facebook (@GamEir), and Instagram (@GamEir). Check out our videos on Twitch (GamEir) and YouTube (GamEir) and we’ll give you all the latest content.

The post Crusader Kings, not as regal as we’d hoped appeared first on GamEir.

He’s back again, Dylan Magner has returned I surprisingly didn’t scare him off and this time around he’s talking about Gran Turismo Sport.

Car porn. Those were the best words I could come up with when attempting to sum up Gran Turismo Sport in a single phrase. Because, well, that’s essentially what it is, whereas in other games cars are a tool used by your avatar to go from one objective to another, here the car is the objective, the car is the avatar, and this will ultimately determine your long-term enjoyment of Gran Turismo Sport. Totally uncompromising – as it should be – the vehicle is the star in this, an unadulterated love letter to car fanatics and racing devotees.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s played a Gran Turismo game before that one of Sport’s biggest strengths is its graphics and presentation. The game’s main menu is ultra sleek, with access to its various modes and options lined up at the periphery of the screen, with the vast majority of the space of the screen being occupied by a slideshow of shiny automobiles, displayed in beautiful locals and showrooms, again putting maximum emphasis on the cars themselves. The graphics themselves are gorgeous; aside from the cars which, naturally enough, are wonderful to behold, the tracks themselves and the various locations all look fantastic: from bustling enclosed racecourses to wide open mountain ranges and sea horizons glistening in the far distance, they are a joy to behold while driving through, and all look great at the first light of dawn, dusk or anytime in between (different times of the day can be selected when taking part in arcade races). The only criticism I have about the graphics of the game – and it is a big one – is the absence of vehicle damage. I noticed this emission early on when a badly timed turn had me careening into the side of a barrier; at one point I drove a high powered sports car I was racing head-on into a barrier at over 120mph and it didn’t even dent it. It is an oddity which cannot escape notice, as if the game is attempting to preserve the beauty of its various automotive works of art at the cost of realism. It’s an unforgivable omission, and as a consequence can totally cast aside the experience of immersion for the player. Speaking of the cars, there are hundreds of cars from over a dozen real-life manufacturers to be unlocked and test driven – these can also be customised, with paint jobs, wheels and logos all alterable, along with smaller details like your driver’s helmet and racing jacket.

Aside from all this, how do the cars actually handle? In previous console generations, Gran Turismo could distinguish itself by offering a genuinely unique driving experience when other games with driving elements utilised very basic control schemes in order to compensate for limited disc space and technological power. Now, however, games like Grand Theft Auto offer genuinely enjoyable driving mechanics with realistic physics and handling, so a game like Gran Turismo has to distinguish itself by offering a more nuanced simulation of driving. Thankfully, Gran Turismo Sport achieves this by offering the player a host of different vehicles types, all of which handle differently. For example, while a high powered four wheel drive race car proves advantageous when speeding past opponents on long stretches of straight road, it can prove disastrous when approaching a sharp corner or navigating trickier passages of a track or rougher terrains like dirt roads. This is not a bad thing though, because not only does it add an additional element of realism to proceedings, it also provides additional in-game challenges for the player; the first time I negotiated a difficult corner with a high powered vehicle at full speed with a well-timed drift was a genuinely satisfying moment. More advanced players looking for an additional challenge can also choose to drive the car manually, putting the responsibility of things like changing gears in the hands of the player.

Gran Turismo Sport is comprised of three main modes: arcade, campaign and online racing. While arcade mode allows you to explore the tracks more freely, engaging in races (either alone or in two player split-screen), of the two offline modes campaign is the most appealing. Comprising of three main parts, driving challenges, missions, and circuit challenges, your goal is to complete all the challenges in each section, getting a gold, silver or bronze rating depending on how well you do. Most of them are timed challenges, such as travelling a certain distance, drifting around a corner or coming to a stop within certain parameters by quickly applying the brakes; failure to complete them within the time period, or committing certain penalties (such as going off the track) resulting in a fail. These challenges are extremely addictive, and you will unlock rewards such as new vehicles as you complete more of them, getting higher scores and gold rating also result in more experience points which, in turn, result in more unlockables; campaign is also the quickest way to level up, appealing to the completionist which exists inside most gamers. The only problem with this mode are the lengthy load times, which prevent you from quickly moving onto the next challenge (you also have to go back out to the challenge menu to access the next challenge, with a next challenge button being gallingly conspicuous through its absence), which disturbs the modes flow when you’re in the thick of it.

Online play is excellent when you’re actually racing, with the presentation and gameplay from the single-player mode translating beautifully and naturally into online races which, in my experience, were smooth and devoid of lag. However, it takes a long time to actually access a race, as they are synchronised to real-world time (i.e. one race may begin at 4.00pm, one may begin at 4.20pm), with the shortest time I had to wait to access a race being eight minutes. Sport manages to alleviate some of the frustration by giving you the option to engage in time trials which affect the starting position at the beginning of the race which can have a significant impact on your final placing. For those engaging in online tournaments – or with a lot of time to kill – it’s a neat touch which adds an additional level of immersion to the online experience; however, it makes dropping in for a quick match almost impossible.

The bottom line is this, if you’re a real-life motorhead with a PS4, then the decision to purchase Gran Turismo Sport is a no-brainer. You simply will not get this kind of driving simulation, customisation and real-world licenses in most other titles. For the car fanatic, Gran Turismo Sport gives them the opportunity to amass their dream garage in virtual form, allowing them to customise their toys and race them across a variety of beautiful tracks in fun and addictive game modes. If this sounds like you, then go out and fulfill your fantasy in the virtual world of Gran Turismo Sport.

The post A Review In Progress: Gran Turismo Sport appeared first on GamEir.

New Year, new game and a fresh perspective. Rory Cashin, celebrated Irish film and gaming journalist joins GamEir to give you his review of Ubisoft’s latest video game, Steep. Did he soar like an eagle or did he face plant? Read on and find out.

There is such a thing as being TOO realistic. While the idea of going on a snow sports holiday does sound like a great fun, in actual fact, the majority of the time will be spent getting from place to place, testing your frustration levels with patience-snapping niggles and wading through the cold, emotionless albeit very pretty landscape, all for just a few seconds of exhilaration. Yeah, your Instagram account will be decked out with likes, but was it worth it in the end? Probably not, and the same goes with Steep.

The open-world sports game gets points for originality – usually sandboxes are filled with criminals and cops – and practically from the get-go allows you to immerse yourself in the four different types of extreme sports you can play; in descending order of fun you’ve got snowboarding, wingsuit flying, skiing and paragliding. You can play these in first or third person viewpoint, and the game provides a succession of different points within the Alps for you to start each sport, with more unlocking as you win more and more medals in each of the races.
Only snowboarding and skiing awards points for doing tricks, with each of the sports (and how well you do in them) adding XP towards your character to unlock other areas, as well as customisable outfits and equipment, but these don’t upgrade your character in any way beyond the aesthetic.

This should be cool, right?

While the first few hours hold little hope for what the game might have been, it doesn’t take long for the boredom to set it in and there’s very little that can be thought up to budge it out of place. The visuals themselves are quite impressive, but the gameplay and controls are too rigidly set in reality for them to prove to be too much fun. Once you’ve completed a handful of each track of each type of sport, there’s nothing to entice you back into the game.

There are invitations by other players to get involved in championships and leader-boards, but unlike other sports games which can allow the player to evolve thanks to potential upgrades, there is nothing to be gleaned from Steep other than playing the course over and over again until you know every turn, hill and drop to memory. Even the tactile interaction of racing games where you can crash into each other, or soccer games when I dodgy tackle can result in a send-off or the turn of the tide in a match is missing, as the physical interaction between the players here is almost an impossibility.

You can use your binoculars to find new courses, and fast-travel everywhere in necessity as walking through the snow is the gameplay equivalent of watching paint dry, and you can even make your own courses if you wish, but on a fundamental level, Steep just isn’t very fun to play. Stand one centimetre off while taking off in your wing-suit? Face-plant. Take a corner too fast in your skis? You’re going to spend the rest of the race going backwards. Everything tries so hard to be vaguely realistic that it doesn’t manage to be even vaguely entertaining.

Well, it looks like Rory did not enjoy his experience with Steep not to end on a sour note though here’s Eddie the Eagle trying out Steep himself. We all wish Rory had had as much fun.

The post A Review In Progress: STEEP appeared first on GamEir.