I truly believe this game could be great, but it all remains to be seen because currently, there are many projects competing to be the next RTS that grabs attention.
My thoughts on the campaign:
- Mainly, I don’t think it’s appealing (I’m not referring to the visuals, since after the video released by the new art director, I believe that aspect can improve a lot). The story doesn’t fully capture attention, and the characters don’t have a way of standing out beyond who has fewer polygons.
- Not much more to say, as they’ve already stated they’re going to redo the missions, and I think complaining about something that’s about to be revamped doesn’t make sense.
Regarding co-op:
- The heroes seem overpriced for what they offer. The mode doesn’t have that many maps, and beyond the surprise of discovering that to further customize your hero at high levels, you need to level up others, there’s nothing that makes you want to keep playing the mode.
- I think the idea of having the same objective for different missions is brilliant. You really feel the differences when playing the caravan maps or the portal maps. It’s a good way to create more maps without having to think of new unique objectives. However, I think overusing this would be a bad idea, which is why I like that they decided to only create 2 maps for each objective.
- Please take your time planning the hero factions. It’s appreciated that you’re not releasing one per year, but it’s also disappointing to see heroes released without much difference or something that characterizes them beyond the unique character, hero, or their superior abilities. Thinking about Starcraft, the commanders were really unique and didn’t differ much from the main race to the point that you understood exactly what you had to do. But Stormgate has taken a few steps back, and it feels more like the main race with just a couple of changes.
- Since you’re implementing skins, I think you should add a way to unlock heroes for free through continued play. This way, there would be more reasons to play different heroes, and it wouldn’t feel so bad having to level up a random hero to unlock gear system elements. Also, if you really believe in co-op, maybe you could talk to other companies to use their heroes or races, charging for them as collaboration heroes, just like "DBD" does, giving them something characteristic of Stormgate.
Versus mode:
- I tried it, and I prefer not to continue playing, but that’s because it’s missing the completion of the races. I think that if the game continues to improve, I’ll try them out and play at some intermediate rank when the races are finished.
Community:
- Gerald, keep it up.
Map Editor:
- Please do us a favor and release the editor soon or let us know if well-known modders are testing it to create mini-games or custom maps.
Factions:
- I really enjoy the genre, but I feel there are design flaws that shouldn’t be there. For example, if you want the game to be accessible and easy for users, there shouldn’t be so many abilities on units. Or, if there are abilities, have the most commonly used ones automated like they do in “WC3.”
- I think having units with abilities is key for a game with interesting micro. It’s fantastic when you’re Zerg and use the "Viper"—it’s what separates a win from a loss. But I find it counterintuitive to complicate the whole army when simplifying the macro. Why simplify the macro by half if you’re going to complicate the micro four times? Specialist units are essential for a good army, but I don’t think everyone should have active abilities.
- For example, I think the Celestial Archangel could be a flying unit with an ability to hit the ground, but it’s not very intuitive to have it be a flying Muradin that switches between flying and ground modes. Maybe you could borrow a little from other games and think about how to make it attack both air and ground, like an energy beam or a gust of wind.
- I understand you don’t want the game to be centered on flying units, but I still find it strange that in the campaign, they don’t have a better terrain analysis method than walking. Don’t they have satellites in orbit?
- It seems strange to me that in a world where demons are killing people and Celestials have unknown purposes, they aren’t using penetrating artillery, nuclear bombs, or some space laser that requires something on the ground to concentrate its energy. There are still many scientists, and no investments have been made in military research. How did they get so advanced with the Stormgate project and not dedicate anything to autonomous defense robots or bullets with micro implosions?
- I think the best part of science fiction is that it’s fiction, and the best part of fantasy is that it’s fantasy. Limiting fantasy and fiction only limits how amazing this universe could be. I really liked the redesigns of the Infernals, but I loved the one that only showed the demon with the box. I think the art director will be capable of making wonders, and I hope the rest of the team has a similar commitment to making the factions feel unique.
Monetization:
- No gacha, which is good. The battle pass hasn’t been released yet, but I hope it’s not overly expensive or comes with very little content.
- Hero skins have been announced, but we haven’t heard any updates yet. I hope they reconsider making heroes accessible to all players.
- Pets seem like a healthy cosmetic. Even though they’re not very visible, they add something that makes the community feel a bit more accompanied.
- I don’t see the point of accents beyond wanting more money for little work. If they make them something you can earn through challenges or Twitch drops, I wouldn’t have an issue with it.
- I think the fog of war is where they hit the mark. Although I don’t think they should be sold for such high prices, it’s a simple feature that adds a lot to the game’s visuals in the early game.
- Commander consoles: I hope they add something to customize the HUD like in SC2.
- Heroes are excessively expensive. With the Warz discounts, they’re at a good price, but I think it could be a little higher and still worth it. However, the original price is too high.
- The chapters (those with 3-4 missions) and tomes (the 3 chapters) are also overpriced, but not excessively so.
Conclusion:
Right now, I don’t think it's worth buying anything, but I don’t think it deserves harsh criticism either. Game development is complex and extensive.
I believe Stormgate has the potential to be a very good game, but it’s being weighed down by pessimism and overpriced items.
I also think you could be more communicative regarding the development. It’s fine to release roadmaps and explain what’s been released, but I think it would be much healthier to communicate through official channels. For example, the last roadmap didn’t mention co-op at all—why? Is it not a priority? Are you going to release everything else before touching co-op? Roadmaps serve for a general explanation, but there are aspects that can’t be summed up in a few words.
Finally, I hope for the best for the game, and I hope there aren’t more bots. I hope that version 0.3.0 gives us plenty to talk about, in a good way.
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