An absolutely fantastic game if you share a passion for Eldritch god simulators that let you not only directly destroy mortal kingdoms, but also sow panic and discord, turning valiant heroes against their own allies, and so on. If I had to compare it, I’d call SoFG the Ruinarch of global strategy. While in Ruinarch you were dropped onto a local map where a couple of villages and towns served as victims, here it takes place on a planetary scale, affecting countless mages, knights, rulers, and their families.
I’m particularly pleased with the real variety in the gods’ gameplay, which isn’t limited to one evil creature getting +2 to intrigue and another getting +2 to lore at the start of the game. One god literally plunges entire countries into darkness through his agents, a darkness that gradually spreads everywhere and which heroes and rulers are forced to fight, consecrating shrines and casting protective spells. And while they battle the obvious darkness in the south of the country, in the north your preacher turns the local duke into a bloodthirsty bastard who slaughters his subjects, sparking a rebellion. Another God uses the shadow only to later dispel it himself with false light, forcing frightened people to worship him willingly as their saviour, organizing a separate faith, and then zealously marching under false banners against the righteous who are desperately trying to seal you back away. Another goddess distributes gifts that at first bring great benefit, but then the hour of harsh retribution arrives.
The variety of ways to get back at mortals is also impressive. You can unleash plagues, raise the dead, perform unholy rituals, incite peasants to revolt against their lords, spread curses, poison heroes, orchestrate assassinations, study various forms of magic, and much more. The heroes have their own priorities; some hate fighting and prefer diplomatic missions, while others remember how your agent killed their friend and now, having given up on everything, are trying to track you down, all while you deliberately lure them into the lands you’ve corrupted to finish them off.
And then there’s a separate hero on the map, the Chosen One, who, just like in those fantasy movies of yours, must fulfill a prophecy and seal you back away. As long as he’s in his typical state of plot armor, there’s nothing you can do to him. But just like the heroes in those movies, he’s an emotional softie and an idiot. See him going to clear the mind of the ruler you’ve enslaved? Oops, orcs have attacked your hometown and burned it to the ground; now you’ll spend the next 100 turns fighting their tribes, seeking revenge. Going to organize an alliance against the forces of darkness? Remember your mentor from the first episode of the series, the one who later dies dramatically and brings the viewer to tears? Well, that episode has arrived; my agent smeared him all over the walls of his house. I hope you won’t be too upset.
Speaking of the downsides, I want to say that the game’s strengths are definitely worth overlooking these issues. The main complaint is the clunky UI, which makes it very difficult to keep track of what’s happening where, which character is where, and especially where their loved ones are—since that’s crucial to the gameplay. I know that the sorceress Sarah loves the healer Jonathan, but where the heck is Jonathan right now? On top of that, there are a huge number of pop-up windows, most of which can be easily disabled, but then it becomes harder to keep track of important events. It would be better to implement this as a single events window at the beginning of each new turn rather than displaying each one separately. Also, I’d like to see more attention paid to the rulers and their families; interaction with them, unlike with the heroes, is extremely limited.
All in all, for its excellent execution of a rather niche genre, I’d give the game an 8/10 in its current state, where my main complaints have more to do with the convenience of the gameplay than with its content, which is the best part.
