Love that we have sponsored content as well as true unbiased reviews after 100% for those games. Get paid and stay genuine.

While being a game reviewer sounds like a dream job (I know I wanted to do it) Mortismal's reviews are 100% and provides the details of games that people may miss, providing gamers all the information they need before spending their money on a game. Well done, and a MUST WATCH reviewer. Thank you!

Always a fan of your reviews!

I will mirror you note regarding the resource hogging. I have a 4090 too, and either the FPS limiting function in the game isn't working, or they are doing something computational that needs adjusting as my card get hotter playing this game, then going full hog in Cyberpunkt 2077, which blows my mind.

Great review. I definitely want to pick this game up but I think I will wait a few months for it to stabilize itself a bit.

After playing Wartales, I gotta say, I'm just gonna wait for the development to finish. It's difficult to jump in for some DLC, even if the DLC might actually be nice, so I just wishlisted it and will get it in like 2-3 years down the road.

Been watching your content for a while. Love your reviews, sir. They’re unbiased as possible (very rare these days) and very eloquent & well-thought out. The fact that you try to 100% every game is just icing on the cake. Keep up the good work, sir.

Added to my wishlist. The game looks enjoyable, and fun. Thanks for the review Mortismal.

Would play if the many technical issues got fixed.

Great review of the action economy. I wish they did something like Expeditions: Rome where downing certain enemies restored an action point.

I'd love this style of game with a medieval fantasy setting.

Thanks man. Had this game on my list. Always good to know what’s going on before I decide to buy.

I was waiting for such a review since release. I knew that the game has some issues, but I love these kind of games and I can overlook some issues, if the core of the game is fun and appealing. I will buy it and give it a try. Very good and honest review. Thank you!

I second the modular difficulty! Especially the timer in secondary missions, which really killed my motivation to play the game for now (Which is a shame because they've done a lot right). On a positive note the developers have stated that they would look into the timer mechanic, so I am hopeful there. Aside from the timer I have my issues with the upgrade system. I favors going strong with certain weapons/classes (I went with flayers, alchemists and beastmasters. All of them using bow and was able to upgrade the bow a second time even before chapter 3.). Resource management being such an important part of the game, to me it feels diversifying your equipment tends to feel hurt you. I think you may have missed the weapon mastery system in your review. As your characters use weapons (or are alternatively get trained in them in the barracks using time and gol) they unlock more skills to use with their weapons. It's an interesting mechanic that I feel has the potential to add some depth, even if it further pushes into a playstyle that focuses on as few different weapons as possible. Thanks as always for your review! This was one of the few times I didn't wait for it before purchase and maybe I should have. I do have hopes that the developers will listen to feedback and that I will enjoy the game in the future (For me the removal or easing of the secondary mission timers might be enough to achieve this). Looking forward to the Capes review next!

Thanks for the review, the performance issues sound like a pain though, and timed combat is a bit of a drag too.

I hope Skald is on the docket.

Man in thankful for this review and the honesty because it made me realize that I don’t want to play this game anymore.

23:09 Bonus missions to unlock special merchant who sells unique armors/weapons or unique variants of dogs/bears not available through normal quests or Bonus Missions with less stakes which reduce corruption and gives you more gold would be another great addition from the perspective of reducing the difficulty of quests.

Great review as always. I am interested in the game, but as it stands I think I will wait for some patches. I also think the price tag is a bit steep for this one.

Good review. Was looking for a new trpg to play on the switch and i heard this was eventually going to come out there. Guess it moves to near the back of the line. Was looking at this, fell seal: arbiter's mark, redemption reapers, the upcoming Capes and CARDS rpg: the misty battlefield as my next game. Just finished 13 sentinels: aegis rim (one of the GOATs imo). I've also played triangle strategy, tactics ogre reborn, gloomhaven, unicorn overlord, valkyria chronicles and front mission 1st/2nd. Suggestions welcome. ;)

Thanks for the review. I think it would be interesting - and if you think it'd be interesting, too - considering a premise of many of your videos, a deep dive essay into the gamification of... games (e.g., achievements, among other things), could be good. I think most devs add them because it's become an expectation - and in most cases, they aren't necessary. They existed in some games already, prior to being pulled out and introduced as an (unoriginal) spin to encourage playing more - and more so supporting a monopoly of a gaming platform (if I have my facts straight). It wasn't about the game or gameplay. Now, some even look to achievements over the actual game. Anyhoo. Just an idea to consider. If some work is put into it, this could be something special.

Hopefully they figure this thing out for steam deck soon.

Looks like something worth trying if you ran out of tactical RPGs, which is hard to do as there are so many since Xcom revitalized the genre : 40k alone has like 5 now

Timers in T-RPG = No thanks

Really enjoying this game so far, nothing spectacular but still a solid edition to my collection.

Good show sir

Hope the developers add Armor for head+torso for those Animals under Beastmaster, increasing their defense considerably simultaneously boosting vitality slightly or moderately depending on rarity.

Loved the demo, when I saw you could get a bear companion I was sold haha

This would be an easy purchase for me if not for the presence of mission timers and as you put it, the absence of an in mission “AP economy”. With the addition of AP modifiers, it would turn the battles from a checkers type of battle game to chess.

I was kinda looking forward to this game, but then I played the demo a while ago and I found the controls to be very finicky. Especially when trying to choose the facing of my units, so they more than once ended up facing away from the enemy rather than towards them. Have you encountered this problem as well, or did the controls work well for you?

ye i experienced a lot of crashing and frame drops etc on Xbox atm i have given up with it till its patched shame great game.

Probably pick it up on steams winter sale

Hey Mort! Would love to see a top 5 list with your favorite soulslike games!

Mortismal your videos really speak to how much work and time and effort it takes to be a successful content creator. Do you ever take vacations and do you have dedicated days off or is it 7 days a week?

This dude is pretty much THE reviewer I watch for, for a game I'm interested in.

how does this work ? as streamlined experience or more like sandbox in wartales ?

Looks good. But I'll probably wait for a few patches to come out first before jumping in.

Lets hear your words :)

I like the review, but I also always kind of wish reviews like this would go more into one of the other reasons to play CRPGs like this, which is character customization and emergent storytelling. The ability to grow attached to a character and being on the edge of your seat because you want them to survive is THE key feature of XCom to me, and there just aren't that many games that deliver that. I have high hopes for Crown Wars to be one of those games, but I'll probably wait for a sale on this one.

Have you ever done a top 10 list of turn-based games for people new to the genre?

perfect ! eyactly what i wanted to know

Thoughtful review. Been waiting for this game to be in a more enjoyable state, I had so much fun with Wartales, almost 200 hours play. Its a shame that they didn't make this an open-world though, it would open up so much great potential features.

Yeah timers is a no go for me. Good luck with that. Thank you for the review.

Put it on my price watch. In my experience, these sorts of games get better over time with patches and DLC. Not necessarily. But I often get strategy games in bundles.

>Hundred Year War Me: You've got my attention >Occult Me: You've lost my attention

Thanks for the vide. Outside of fighting and sports games, timer mechanics are always garbage. Onward to 400k. All glory t the algorithm.

Dude, you 100% complete games faster than I wishlist them.

I wish there were more games in unique settings. Someone should make the Brontë sisters’ novels into a TRPG hehehehe, or sense and sensibility or something. Make it sort of like Japanese high school punk games where social exchanges devolve into weird combat. River city girls plus sense and sensibility plus xcom

Timers in this TRPG? That’s the exact reason I couldn’t play XCOM 2

the balancing and timers really ruined my fun. sometimes the groups would be so close together you's have to fight two groups at once.

I've been looking to scratch an itch left by Battle brothers and wartales. This has looked a bit promising.

Is Denuvo being used?

Did you have a problem with all recruited units always missing health? My original units always start battle with full health, but anyone I've recruited, start battle missing health. The health missing seems proportional to how high their level was when I recruited them. The missing health doesn't get treated as being wounded though, so if they don't take damage, they can go out again. The same unit always starts battle missing the same amount.

yeah, the actual gameplay was nice. I didnt love the timers and darkest dungeon style company management aspects much in the demo.

This reminds me a looooot of expeditions.

I find the generic enemy scaling frustrating. My guys get better but the enemy gets better too and it seems they scale with your max rank squad. So trying to train recruits is extremely punishing. I like the unique gear you can find though. Waiting for more patches in the future or mods.

How much do you play games a day. You have one or two of these every week.

I enjoy the game, on xbox though after about 6 hours it crashes to the dashboard nonstop, and if it doesnt, turns will take 2 minutes to register. Its become unplayable. Before i started having issues i did enjoy it.

The hardware stuff is giving me Xcom 2 flashbacks Dx Anyone remember the ridiculous lag for the first few months?

Great review. Looks a great game but your comments about long battles and difficulty make me wary. Already downloaded but may see if they patch it. Don't mind difficulty but fighting a battle for say an hour and then have to replay several times sounds a nightmare.

This looks so neat, but it seems like it needs a lot of work… like maybe more than can be parched in.

The prison area looks just like Wartales'.

Some aspects remind me vaguely of lamplighter league

Seems like one of those games that has a good foundation but just needs hella quality of life updates and bug fixes. Not bad but for $40-50 it’s not worth. Def will get it when it’s on sale in a few months

Not even to tier 3 upgrades dang.

free comment.

Gronk!

The timers turn me away especially because you then end up making a sub optimal move to try and find the additional enemies that are hidden in the map as you lack time. Also a lot of the timers there’s no true purpose for the timer it’s just there.

You crank out an impressive amount of 100% videos.

Whats his gamertag / psn id? Want to see all trophies/cheevos of the games

Personally, I actually wish more RPGs would focus on a historical setting. The entire "historical setting with fantasy elements" is, oddly enough, much less original than telling an interesting story within a historical framework. Fantasy games are a dime a dozen but games that actually tell a story about human history are so much more rare.

Great review, though you've succeeded in convincing me to give this one a pass. I'll stick to Warband and the new King Arthur game.

So max cap all upgrades on chapter 1-2 lol then just focus main story

In my opinion, Crown Wars: The Black Prince is not exactly a cRPG. While it shares some elements with RPGs, like character development and story, it leans more towards a turn-based tactics and strategy game with RPG elements.

Apart from escort missions, forced party members for a story section, timers on missions are unfortunately an instant pass on games for me. Not enough time to play games as is, I dont want to stress over it.

what i'm about to say is very noob-oriented BUT i strugle a lot with RNG games; i've quit XCOM and xcom-like games several times because a 98% hit chance failed and ruined an entire mission or playthrough; this was not that much of an issue on BG*, but on tactical rpgs... i hate it and it ruins the (my) experience. I understand the system is build that way, but it's sooooo frustrating and infuriating some times. on the other hand, i loved both warhammer 40k chaos gate and mechanicus mechanics where you always hit and what changes is the damage (or a random parry). as you might expect i'm more of a casual gamer, not a maximizer or whatever, but i do tend to avoid RNG TTRGs, if possible; there aren't many that don't use that system though... right?

I’m really enjoying the gameplay loop. However, performance is a dog’s breakfast on ps5. Like, probably the worst technical game I’ve played on the console.

welp, time to wait for devs to improve the game.

Another game that looked interesting until I found it has timers, and is unbalanced. I've been running into this a lot lately, and I just don't get it. Make the timer mechanic optional, or for highest difficulty and for gods sake have people other than dev team play the game. You have to have fresh eyes on it, not some dev who's been playing it for the last 3 years. Lamplighters league was basically the same, timers and no balance. It's like deja vu all over again.

I enjoy it when it runs smoothly

Bugs are severely ruining the experience on consoles, making the game unplayable. Not to mention the crashes and performance issues, especially when there are many enemies around, such as in those specific side missions where you have to survive for 10 turns. As a result, I've set it aside for now, especially since the trophies aren't working properly either. Despite this, I enjoyed the combat, though it needs some balancing. The story didn't capture my interest, possibly because I stopped playing early, and the voice acting felt a bit emotionless in the parts I heard.

Mission timers suck. Its a shame because this looks like a cool game

The timer mechanic sucks....

Time limit = hard pass

Timers, yeah, no thanks. Pass.

Never heard of this game. Edit: nvm, you covered this one as a 1st impression

I’ll never understand why games like this simply don’t offer customizable options. It’s ridiculous. And can someone plz send out a memo. No one likes timers!!! Why is this still a thing lol

Poorly optimized? Say no more, fam.

You can skip the intro. Nobody really cares why you make 100% or 91% or whatever. Your arguments are always informed. Even new people will trust you.

seems interesting but not for me, good review

I can't stand medieval fantasy. Its so overplayed and not interesting.