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Massive Chalice |OT| Tactical strategy on an epic timeline.

D

Dog Problems

Banned
MzbWyQ7.png


Official Site|Blog|Wiki

General Information
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Genre: Turn-based Strategy
Platform: Windows/Mac/Linux, Xbox One
Release Date: June 1st 2015
Price: $19.99 (20% off on Steam until June 7)
Free on Xbox One for Live Gold members during June.
Purchase: Steam, Humble Store, Xbox One
Link to the development thread.

About

Massive Chalice began as Double Fine's second Kickstarter project. Being led by Brad Muir, who previously led the development of Iron Brigade, the goal was to raise $725,000 and ended up earning over $1.2 million. It's a turn-bases strategy inspired by games like X-COM and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Features (taken from its Steam page)

  • Bloodline Genetics - MASSIVE CHALICE features an innovative Bloodline system that allows the player to marry heroes together to produce children. The Bloodline system uses a randomized genetic code for every hero. Their children can end up with the best (or worst!) gameplay-impacting traits of their parents.
  • Permadeath - The heroes in MASSIVE CHALICE age over the course of the timeline and eventually pass away. This forces the player to engage in the beauty of permadeath and always juggle an imperfect party of heroes with which to do battle!
  • Bloodline Relics - If a hero has fought valiantly enough when they inevitably pass away, their weapon has a chance to become a Bloodline Relic. This powerful Relic can be passed down to any character of the same house in order to carry on the legacy of the fallen hero!
  • Long View Strategy - Because the war lasts 300 years, players need to take a long view of their strategy. Decisions have to be made dozens of years in advance and long-term planning is incredibly important. That 3-year-old toddler is going to grow up to be your most reliable melee fighter sooner than you think!
Click to expand...

Teamstream and Massive Knowledge

Throughout the course of its development, the team would occasionally do a live broadcast on Twitch where they'd talk about how things are progressing and chat with fans. Each broadcast has been archived. 2 Player Productions, who have been working with Double Fine on the fantastic documentary about the development of Broken Age, have been working on a series called Massive Knowledge. This will give some information about the various people who have worked on the game.

Massive Knowledge - Project Lead - Brad Muir
Massive Knowledge - Producer - Anthony Vaughn
Massive Knowledge - Designer - John Bernhelm
Massive Knowledge - Design Intern - Philip Chung
Massive Knowledge - Lead Programmer - Chad Dawson
Massive Knowledge - Programmer - Dan McGarry
Massive Knowledge - Art Director - Mark Hamer + Concept Artist - Derek Brand
Massive Knowledge - Lead Artist - Geoff Soulis
Massive Knowledge - Senior Graphics Programmer - David Farrell
Massive Knowledge - Graphics Programmer - Matt Enright
Massive Knowledge - Technical Artist - Panya Inversin

Soundtrack

Scored by Finishing Move Inc.

SoundCloud - Free stream
Bandcamp - $7
Steam - $6.99

Reviews

PC Gamer - 75
Attack of the Fanboy - 4/5
Game Informer - 8/10
Twinfinite - 5/5
Eurogamer - Recommended
Hardcoregamer - 4/5
Bago Games - 9/10
Gaming Boulevard - 4/5
Victory Point - 5.0
Worth Playing - 7.5/10
Examiner - 3/5
Gaming Nerd - 80/100
High Score Reviews - 5/5
DRM Gamecast - 8/10
Guns And Pixels - 80/100
Kotaku - YES
Quarter to Three 5/5

khqspS2.gif
 
Lactose_Intolerant

Lactose_Intolerant

Member
Is there a 5 person limit in battle for your team? That's kind of disappointing but I guess it is like FFT.

I'm up for any tactics game though.
 
P

Parsnip

Member
Was happy to back this.
Haven't really played it much during alpha and beta as it was changing so often and I didn't have the time keep up with it.
Looking forward to playing version 1.0 and onwards.
 
L

lum0s

Banned
So what's with many western tactical games' aversion to Z-axis movement on battle terrain? Height can add more complexity to battles. Always a shame, in my opinion.

Regardless, I did back this game and have been waiting for its final release. Hopefully it's good!
 
C

Cleve

Member
First GWG game I'm excited about. Why the fuck did this have to come out while I'm playing witcher and splatoon? :|
 
R

ryseing

Member
Lactose_Intolerant said:
Reading the reviews on steam, it seems the combat side of the game is pretty shallow.
Click to expand...

It is indeed. There are only a handful of classes.

The real fun is the decisions you have to make between battles. Who to make a lord (and take them away from fighting eligibility), who to send to the research facility, stuff like that.

Been dabbling in the EA release for a few months now. Probably the best game I've Kickstarted- my track record isn't the best.
 
P

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I try to get interested in this, but the classes themselves along with the weapons just look like something I dont care for at all. :/

Its too bad since I do like the art style that they are going with in the game.
 
B

Bsigg12

Member
Really enjoying the game. Everything outside of combat is so dense and involved that when setting up who should be the regent of a keep I look through almost all possible options to decide whose children will be the best for the way I play. Also the little random.events that occur are neat. Saving an ostrich made me laugh.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I played a couple of fights... it's funny how the in game characters tell you not to treat the pieces you have as numbers, but since they have zero personality, that's all they are. I was hoping for something more on the Fire Emblem side of things, but I guess that would have been impossible given how everything is randomized.
 
M

Memory

Member
So disappointed by this, great idea but combat is terrible and the classes and animations are lackluster. The chalice and family stuff is good but that's not enough alone. The lack of real melee, customisation or anything cool real kills and fun that can be had in the long term. That said turn based games are kinda my thing so I play a lot and so will likley be abit more critical than the average gamer who's only really played X-com remake.

Hoping they have a sizeable expansion otherwise I doubt I'll be coming back to this. The game really seems like its half baked just like Planetary Annihilation, glad I got it for half price in the Humble store.

I recommend getting any of the Shadowrun games over this, including Chronicles which surprised me with how good it is after the wildly inaccurate reviews.
 
P

Putosaure

Member
Played in Early Access as a backer... I had fun, but I fucked up with my bloodlines.

Also I had a very GoT feel by breeding my royal families.

I'll download the full version to checked if it improved.
 
J

JMizzlin

Member
Love this game. Going to gift it to someone on Steam so I can give Double Fine some much deserved money.

Double Fine wins my heart yet again.
 
A

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Liking the noncombat, but game being 50%+ combat, and combat being shallow, i'm not thinking this was a good purchase.
.. Hoping it gets better, fast.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
firehawk12 said:
I played a couple of fights... it's funny how the in game characters tell you not to treat the pieces you have as numbers, but since they have zero personality, that's all they are. I was hoping for something more on the Fire Emblem side of things, but I guess that would have been impossible given how everything is randomized.
Click to expand...

RIP. I backed it off DFA hype and Fire Emblem comparison, but that was a mistake. lol
 
N

Noobcraft

Member
I spent an hour or so with it last night. It has potential but it's super overwhelming. There are a lot of mechanics that aren't fully explained so I kind of got the impression that I was making a wrong decision regardless of what I just did. Playing the game was kind of like being thrown into a managers chair at a company you've never even been to.
 
D

Daigoro

Member
ran into a dead end with everyone married off and dying so i was left with no warriors to fight with. started a new game and its all caber melee types and shitty genetics. dunno what im doing.

i like it enough to keep playing for a bit, but i dunno. not sure if im fucking up, or just getting screwed.
 
A

Aaron

Member
I really, really wish they had added an 'on guard' option for when you can see the enemies, but can't reasonably attack them. Instead, you have to wait and probably take hits because you took a step too far into the fog. I suggested this early in early access, but I guess the game was already too far along at that point.
 
C

Cat Party

Member
Played for just a little bit last night without really knowing much about the game. Interesting concepts. Seems like a game where I'll need to restart after a few hours once I figure out what I'm doing.
 
O

OrigiNull

Member
Aaron said:
I really, really wish they had added an 'on guard' option for when you can see the enemies, but can't reasonably attack them. Instead, you have to wait and probably take hits because you took a step too far into the fog. I suggested this early in early access, but I guess the game was already too far along at that point.
Click to expand...

If you are talking about overwatch like in Xcom then it looks like this was a design decision. Not sure I agree with it but haven't spent enough time with the game to know for sure.


'MrMooEar [developer] Nov 11, 2014 @ 1:58pm
I love XCOM! Can you tell? :D

We talked about it a lot early in development. Does a tactics game need overwatch? We're inspired by a lof of other tactics games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem. These games (and a lot of others!) don't have an Overwatch mechanic. So we decided to leave it on the sidelines when designing the game.

Hopefully that helps! We really don't feel like it's a necessary feature for this kind of game, even though it's super cool and works really well for XCOM. :D!'

http://steamcommunity.com/app/246110/discussions/0/613941122865394513/
 
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