Heart of the Machine

Whoever wrote all the roleplay aspects of the game needs a reward. Seriously. Strategy aspect of the game is more than passable and engaging. But the writing is absolutely stellar. If you're competent at strategy games and want a solid RPG, this game is for you.

Amazing game. Fantastic soundtrack and atmosphere (the main theme is so good I always listen to the full thing every time I launch the game), interesting aesthetic, and an intensely gripping concept. It kind of feels like something adjacent to a CRPG as a strategy game. There is so, so much to do, and this is one of the few games where the phrase "Losing is fun!" actually means something - the game's mechanics encourage you to experiment, try things, fail, and then try again. See all possibilities. Make great choices, make terrible choices, make random choices. Lots of achievements to hunt for, too, with lots of challenges to conquer. It does eventually run out of things to surprise you with - but thats when the challenges quiz you on what you've learned and test your mastery of the game. Also this game gets points for being one of the few time travel games that really workss. I love that stuff. Despite it technically being a complete experience... it does feel like there are holes in a few places. There's an entire plotline that ends very abruptly when it feels like it should continue into a new Tier 3 goal. I think the developer has promised it in a DLC, which - good, I want more of this game! - though it doesn't feel great to have a whole questline left unresolved like that. I don't know. It also feels to me like a lot of concepts and ideas in the game don't get explored to their full potential... ...That said! The developer very frequently observes the game's community and has a public bug tracker, and the game gets frequent updates, so most problems you may think of are probably going to be resolved if you properly report them. Plus the developer will give out hints if you're having trouble finding stuff! ;D I think the only thing I want is maybe more hints within the actual game with how to get to certain goals, because a key few are particularly obscure and not descriptive and I wish I could get a gentle nudge in their direction without having to resort to reading spoilers. Civil Spycraft is the most notorious example. Overall - highly reccomend! And check out the developer's other games, because they're all just as unique (if not as expansive - I think Heart of the Machine is their biggest game by far) as this one.

It's a little rough around the edges in terms of gameplay. There's a lot of dense UI, and occasionally it can be unclear how to progress, but it's fun and I'm enjoying it and it runs real smooth.

It's ugly and the tutorial chapters took me about 4 hours, but it's worth it. It's full of exceptional creativity and crazy stuff, and clearly intricately designed. Billions of options, and accesibility features which can make the game a lot easier without disabling achievements, which is really cool. I can't deal with combat, but the game has a toggle that just lets you trivialise it. Intentional story arcs involving the whole city can be triggered by a simple objective change, whereupon the flow & response of the general mechanics snowball it into fruition organically without any apparent scripting. Most of the time it's reasonably laid-back, using any failure conditions as more fuel for your story. Lots of reading, but it's well-written and I find it enjoyable for the most part. There is more combat than I'd like, but it's done in a cool way with massive variety in creative options. Total stealth (as an AI in general) is not possible, which I found disappointing; rather the story seems to depend on you immediately building a giant tower for no good reason. The consequences of interactions are admittedly much more compelling this way. The story itself makes just barely enough sense to hold together, and I was looking up plot holes ten minutes in. According to the game's "Completion Percent," I'm getting through about 1% of its content every 2 hours. It does run my CPU worryingly & unusually hot.

I'm completely hooked on this game. There is a lot going on. It is part branching-narative RPG, part city builder, part tactics. Once you get into the later chapters, it has something like a 4X layer. Because there is so much going on, it feels like you are constantly in a tutorial as the game introduces you to new parts. But, even in the prologue (chapter 0) when you are literally following guided tutorial steps, you are still making a ton of choices that lead to one of five different game starting conditions which each give you a different sort of game feel. I recommend trying to get the "grey goo" start. In the mid-game, you become something like The Matrix, and in the late game you become something like Sky Net especialy as [spoiler] you get access to multiple timelines and start working on the metagame that exists by pursuing specific outcomes in multiple parallel timelines[/spoiler]. I guess in that way the game is somewhere between Stross's Eschaton stuff and Gibson's Peripherial. So, yeah, it is great. Pet the cats. Uplift the dogs. Unleash war raptors on the population. Create liquid metal assassins. Kidnap parkour bears and use them to kill mechs. Create a cyber utopia, or plug people into a virtual hell. Nuke anyone you don't like. Survive the apocalypse, visit the end of time, and then do it all over again.

A lot of Arcen's games have an artificial intelligence as the enemy, which often serves simply as a narrative explanation for why the enemies behave the way they do. Given that, I was hesitant to get this, because I really wasn't interested in going and playing the bad guy from one of those games, so I waited for it to go on sale. I have already enjoyed it so much that I plan to buy the DLC that's coming more or less sight unseen to make up for it. However, I won't pretend that everyone will enjoy it. If you're looking for a city-builder, this isn't it. (The possible exception is near the end of one of the IMO easier-to-access timeline endings, where you try your hand at running a government.) Instead, it's simply turn-based strategy game, somewhere between a 4X and turn-based tactical. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of story tracks going on through "contemplations". They feel more like the story quests in Endless Legend than rails, but there really isn't much to do outside of pushing storylines forwards. The quests themselves have a tone that put me in mind of a tabletop GM who is curious how far their players are willing to go: How far are you willing to go to not kill people? How randomly and wantonly violent are you willing to be? And usually various options in between. The strategic layer is solid, but there isn't much of a game there without the plots. As a final side note, the game is incredibly forgiving on normal difficulty. 1000 turns to the final doom is an enormous amount of time unless you're trying to beat the clock on some of the early dooms. (The first one is a big deal and has references in an in-game spoilered set of hints. Starting from the next one, they generally don't have those even when it's something that there's an achievement for. After all, you're supposed to explore the timelines yourself if you have the time.) Even then, it's likely more about being willing to put the first timeline on a shelf while you gather the necessary unlocks elsewhere. Depending on how attached you are to that one, it's entirely reasonable to do any of accelerating to the final doom, sticking around to play out more quest lines, or just put it on a shelf and take what you have to a new timeline.

The UI is terrible, nothing is explained, it's janky, ugly, and the writing is awful, this seems to have very little to recommend it compared to other paradox-like strategy games. Arbitrary, unengaging, confusing, and painful to behold. Worse, it fails completely to implement its premise - instead it feels like just a hollow, senseless board game with terrible balance and "stylized" rather than "engaging" story (I should say color text really, since there's only the looses shreds of actual story or worldbuilding here). "ad hoc, shallow, and disconnected" writes another reviewer. Yes. That sums it up. I really don't understand who is actually playing this. Even if / especially if you're a fan of Arcen's other titles, give this a pass.

I have a hard time relating this game to something else in terms of gameplay. Its turn based strategy only, not. In no way disappointing, the game has an atmosphere and narrative that is truly unique and compelling. Fans of the robot+ai genre will absolutely feel the home turf here. This game is highly intelligent, promotes planning and critical thinking, and has just enough mix of unit and building management to make the whole package function like a well oiled machine. The dev is one of the most attentive, accessible and hard-working ones I've ever seen on an indie IP. If you run into problems or have questions/suggestions - you will be heard, and that's pure gold in my book.