Than you for making this game. I'm enjoying it a lot. There's only one thing, way too much flash back and forth. Want to know the story but the pace is just too slow.
One of the games I made sure to put on my steam profile, it really does give every mechanic its best effort, and has what may be my favorite dev team. They put so much effort into making this work, this game has updated more than any other game I own. I remember when I first got this game someone reported a bug in the discussion forum, they patched it within 30 minutes.
With how much is in the game and the constant updates it receives, it's really easy to forget that this game is an indie title that is surprisingly cheap for what you get. I really got invested in the setting of the game and once you start looking past the bright, colorful style, things are surprisingly brutal once you realize that the story usually isn't handwaving away the fact these are people fighting each other with guns, swords, and magic.
Oh I've been waiting for this review. This is one of those odd lesser known titles very close to me. I've always been a fan of turn based tactical rpgs with sprawling combat set pieces but the sheer build diversity and content in the game made me return time and time again accruing hundreds of hours of playtime. At this point I've spent more time playing Troubleshooter than I have spent XCOM 1 and 2 combined. The developer is very active in the community as well and its really nice to see an indie passion project reach heights this game has.
I loved the story of this game. I think they tried to make it into a mystery and that is why instead of a linear exposition we get to experience it from little flashbacks between missions. As to character progression - it is a first time I saw such an amazing freedom of building my skill set. Items and crafting felt kinda meh. But you can take up to 8 characters on a mission and it creates a lot of fun with skills sinergy.
The story really surprised me because like everything else in the game, you can tell there was a lot of passion and love behind it. When even the goofy Spoonism religion and wild animals are getting poignant cutscenes, you know the devs care about their world. It really is something special imo.
Troubleshooter is hands down one of the best TRPG I have ever played and as of this comment I have pit over 450 hours into the game. Most of it engaging, experimenting, and perfecting crazy, and unique builds. The devs are also awesome and engage with the community daily to fix bugs and add new features. My only regret is that I felt I paid too little for such a great game.
I am the same. I bought all the extra soundtrack and such stuff, which I don't usually do for a game, just because I felt like I had shortchanged the devs for the game I had gotten.
I loved this game to pieces, and i honeslty thing its probably one of the if not the best TRPG on the market, even taking into account its flaws. Yes, they could probably expand a little on the combat system as a whole, and also clean up the story telling, but honestly, i still feel like the worldbuilding and the dynamics of the world is very well done. Must have been hard for a little indie company themself to localize this behemoth of a game. I would love to see what type of game they can make if they had more resources, because the potential to do something absolutely fantastic is there. Also, the developers are VERY active with people reviewing their game, and almost answer ALL of them, and a very polite and respectfully, and if they contain some criticism, they will take it into account. So, fantastic game and fantastic developers
wow this game takes forever and you did your 100% already :o edit: btw i am playing this one too atm because of your videos. I am a fan of x com and so far i am having fun. Ofc i am just at the beginning having 3 troubleshooter atm.
Ye, it's one of the best game overall for me (considering the price etc.). There is so much to do and learn. You can do literally any wild build and have a lot of fun. I love games with deep mechanics because it lets you tests a lot of things. Story is pretty nice, I liked it. Devs are rly lovely people, I like when we see passion in devs (kinda like in Lariand Studio), they care about game so much that even answers every comment (even tho, english is not their language). Tho Im maybe a bit too big maniac because I would want to pay for new DLCs, not getting them for free... ( 600h+ and still I open the game to try few things or make some own challenges xD)
Please share a few other titles you recommend. Xcom 2 is my most played game. I own only a handful of others, since I was on a retro/randomizer kick for the last twenty years.
Even after 500 hours into this game, I've still only mastered my own builds for about half the characters, never touched Kylie's robots, and only have half a dozen pets for Giselle. I do feel like some areas of the game are a bit to grindy, like trying to get specific affixes for your equipment, but with how adjustable the difficulty is you can forgo doing that if you like. My favorite part is probably Giselle's pokemon system, they add a lot to the battlefield, and imo make Giselle the most interesting character to build and play. Btw claiming that Draki are the strongest pets is arguable, there are a lot of OP pet options outside of Draki. I actually like the pace of the piecemeal story. The way I consume media, I've already experienced hundreds if not even thousands of story's told in a more direct manner; so I really didn't mind this as a change of pace, though I can certainly understand how people would have issues with it.
Yeah, the item system is probably the worst part of the game, but I agree that you only really have to care about finding or crafting the exact items you need if you play with the highest difficulty options turned on.
I was really on the fence on this one as I love Xcom and it looked like a really good adaptation. Thank you for a really in-depth review on it. I'm installing it right now.
Game is simply amazing. Bough it for less than half what I paid on XCOM: Chimera Squad and put in three times as many hours on Troubleshooter instead. You honestly get the feeling you underpaid for a game, which in the era of microtransactions and battlepasses everywhere feels like a dream come true. I kept this game installed through the entire last year and it feels like the devs never take a vacation - my steam library "what's new" section ALWAYS has something from Troubleshooter devs there - their update frequency leaves MOBA games feel stale. If you like the genre and want a game to really dedicate yourself too, a game that you can feel safe putting in over a hundred hours and get rewarded for it then just buy Troubleshooter.
Seems to be right up my alley. If i'd have known about this earlier i would have bought it earlier. I just stumbled upon it in one of those "top 10 TRPGs you can play right now" videos that randomly pop up on my youtube. Of the 10 or so in the video, this one was the only one that seemed interesting that i didn't already own. And now i see that it is a TRPG fan's dream from so many people. I'll certainly give it a shot. It looks really good!
As someone who also recently purchased a Steam Deck, I really, really appreciate the section talking about how well it performs on the Deck. Thank you!
This game has always intrigued me since seeing it on Steam in early access. Great to know that I'll eventually be having a lot of fun with it :) Thanks for the very thourough and helpful reviews.
Seems like a lot if you intend to do everything, definitely will pick this up after seeing this review. I love these systems and want to experience them, but seeing all of it is a big ask.
Fantastic game (both in game and story terms), deserves _much_ more attention - good on you for giving it some. (Later note: if I had one minor criticism, it would be that you don't bring enough of the superhero-ey element of the game out. The scenario is basically that some people have mutant powers - that's what the ESP powers are - so it's basically a game that blends kinda-sorta "licensed X-Men" with an interesting post-big-war s-f scenario. There's definitely a superhero-ish flavour to the game, but seen through another lens from the usual comic-book tropes. A lot of East Asian stuff that deals with superhero-like themes tends to imagine them in a realistic scenario - how would the presence of people with amazing powers change society? Well, there might be academies to train them to use their "quirks" safely, etc. Or they might be brought under an official aegis in some way - the Troubleshooter teams are like that.)
Glad to see this comment. I was wondering if the game had a superhero vibe bc I wanted to play a super hero rpg (besides Midnight Sons) I think you just sold me. So would you say there are some My Hero Academia vibes in it?
@@cmadeam I wouldn't go that far, but there's a hint of that flavor there, in that society is organized to cope with these powers and abilities, so there's a system in which they're trained (in Troubleshooter they're trained "on the job", by apprenticing to more experienced Troubleshooters). I didn't mean to say that it's actually solidly a superhero game, I was just adding a bit of balance to the review in that I felt the review didn't mention the superhero angle at all but the game DOES have a slight perfume of it. I will say though that if you enjoy nuXCOM tactical type of gameplay (with some twists like a manipulable action queue and a REALLY deep build system) and a pretty good story told in a non-linear way, the game is tremendous value for money, as it's got hundreds of hours of playtime if you want to play it to that depth (though you can run through it in about 40 say). It's a real indie gem of a game IMHO. Starts a wee bit slow, maybe, but builds up a head of steam once you've got 5 (and more!) members in your team and all your (and your team's) abilities and sub-classes get filled out. There are good guides for it on Steam if you get stuck with the build system (takes a while to get your head around it). There's a good channel dedicated to the game, LifeofAshuram, who has lots of build vids and gameplay tips and tricks (albeit for more advanced players).
I spent over a 1000 hours in this game. The second DLC is completely unhinged bazooka tag where both sides do 5-digit damage on critical hit and if you can't get block chance to 150%, your character just gets deleted. And with all the reaction fire, survival tools like Impulse Fields and even Final Resistance become pretty useless. On top of that, armor shredding becomes a pretty regular thing. The missions can't be completed even on Story Mode without literal game-breaking builds. And the absence of mission variety is starting to make itself felt. I actually criticized that and the developers responded that they are "daunted" by that kind of criticism (I was being VERY polite and chose my words very carefully and even suggested multiple mission types). Their response boiled down to: "we want the kind of audience who wants to make overpowered builds." The second DLC is paid too. If their next game: Troubleshooter - Banished children, is going to be just "kill everything that moves" bazooka tag, I'll pass on it.
Definitely one of those tactical games where, if you just love tactical games and need a fix until the heatdeath of the universe, you can just play this. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or anything, but I never had a bad time playing it, though replaying the game makes you realize how slow the start (hours 1-4 I'd say) really are. And as many on here have stated, some of the most genuinely awesome devs I've ever seen. One of those games I wish existed when I was younger and could just drop six or so hours at a time to just play.
best review of a game that i watch in my life -not for the positive of the game but because of your capacity to explain it part by part and in little time
I saw you had mentioned this game as your top pick of trpgs of the year. So i picked it up on sale. I am now 60 hours in and I still only have 4 team members 😅. I did select the hard game difficulty, and agree, that you can set your own pace via missions and their individual difficulties. I am loving this game! It’s been a while since I felt on the verge of addiction to a game but I am now. Thank you for your recommendation!
I bought this gem after watching this video. Thanks for the fun 130h playtime. I always bunkered up and pulled all 100 enemies to me. For a big fight. But the strongest pet is the moss crabmit not the draki!
In terms of characters I got weirdly attached to that one police officer Joel that was in the story rather episodically. I don't know why, he felt like a little brother or a new co-worker that I was in charge of teaching. Everybody else was more in a "oh, so that's why" line of thought and mild general interest, but I remember him specifically.
This is my guilty pleasure of a game, like you i play a lot of TRPG's, and quite frankly there is nothing on the market quite like this one. I feel guilty because people looking over my shoulder wonder why i playing a game with cute 13 year old big eyed girl with a chainsaws in it. But the depth of character building, all the sub systems, the world building, they all just hit the right note to set it apart from other games in this genre making it a unique experience in a genre that can feel quite stale at times.
Troubleshooter is a genuinely great game. Perhaps my favourite of all time. All the fun Xcom strategy with none of the "No way am I losing my best soldier to a random cross map crit" save scumming (or the alternative just bad feels). Instead you only lose your unit for that mission and they come back right as rain for the next mission. It's high enough stakes that it's interesting but low enough stakes that you don't feel bad when the enemy pulls out some BS. Plus, by the mid-late game you have quite a few people on your team and losing one or two due to bad luck rarely costs the mission. It feels like there's a lot more back and forth than in an Xcom game where you kinda only want to be going forth and never taking losses. The story is a bit convoluted but I actually think it's told in a really interesting way. It's not told as a cohesive story. It's told as lots of smaller character stories. This can make it seem disjointed as you're trying to piece the story together but it also gives you an excellent idea of where exactly every character factors in and how the grander story has affected them. Even the gangsters, who could have just been left as generic gangsters, have been given compelling characters and interpersonal dynamics/drama. So it's not that the story is told badly, it's that the focus is on the stories of the individual characters, and it honestly does amazingly well at fleshing out such a huge cast of characters. It's only once you build a big picture by putting all the character stories together that you get the political scheming and understand the "abandoned children" part of the game's title. The late game gets hard as balls. You can beat the main story pretty comfortably with some relatively decent builds but going into the first DLC you really have to start perfecting your characters, otherwise you're just not going to stand a chance against some of it's hardest enemies. To be fair though, I think I'm thinking of optional arrest missions, which basically put 12 bosses in a mission and about 100 minions, then tell you to arrest as many as possible. So they are supposed to be really challenging. The mastery system is maybe a bit hit of miss. For me it was a huge hit. I loved it. Super complex but introduced as very simple. The early game it's just putting on one or two new skills every now and then, but the late game it's scrapping the whole board and building from scratch with specific masteries in mind, specific sets in mind, a specific playstyle in mind, using modifiers to give yourself extra skill slots in a certain area (like more attack modifiers), etc. I would HIGHLY ADVICE people DON'T look up metas. Why ruin the game for yourself like that? Just enjoy playing missions, seeing enemies using certain masteries and thinking "wow, that worked way better than I expected it would" then trying it on your own guys. There is a guide on mastery sets on steam. I think it's entirely reasonable to use that, as it's basically just telling you what pieces you have available to build with, while you're still the person making the builds. The mastery system can seem daunting but it's honestly such a good system. You'd also be surprised just how few masteries are useless too. The most 'useless' ones tend to be very specific builds, like "during evening, dusk and night you get (big bonuses)" which are obviously useless during morning or afternoon missions, but could be a good option if you wanted to make a specific build for night missions. With the mastery boards acting like loadouts you can swap back and forth easily too. You are right about mission variety tending to be a bit "just kill everything", however I disagree that the enemies are samey. They have samey models, for sure, haha, but the builds they have tend to get more powerful as you progress and they'll often have new abilities and effects for you to deal with. Plus, the combination of enemies matters quite a lot. Fighting a single sniper and a bunch of grunts is different to fighting a single grunt surrounded by sniper support. There are also a LOT of maps, and for many of them you can choose between multiple entry points. So that means a lot of missions play differently purely on where the cover is, what routes you can travel and even how wide those routes are since characters can't move through each other. The bosses are numerous and varied too. Like, there are probably more boss variants than grunt variants. Either way, I don't really see the limited mission type as an issue. It wasn't an issue in Xcom and it's not an issue here. Variety is often nice but I also just don't think this kind of game suits too many other objectives. The only real way to go is things like timed missions. Where you have to get to an objective within a certain amount of time. I think Xcom did some rescue missions too, but they didn't really change anything, you just hide the person you're rescuing out of sight and kill all the enemies before advancing toward the extraction. Or with the save civilians terrorist attack missions it was just "kill everything, but quickly this time". Defense objectives would have been interesting. They have a few missions where you have to prevent enemies getting out the map, but having enemies try to reach an objective in the middle of a map and having to keep them away would have been interesting. Although, again, that could just be "kill everything" again, but this time everything is coming to you instead of you going to it. So yeah, all in all, I just don't think there's a way to create missions that aren't "kill everything" in this kind of game. They did do one stealth mission at the start of the second DLC (cause that's out now) and while it was fun, it's also a play style that's way too slow for normal maps, and also kinda hit or miss in that getting discovered just turns it into a combat mission anyway. Closing notes: yeah, some of the English is a little off but the vast majority of it is good. I'd say 99% of it is grammatically correct. Some of the word choices or wording of some things can be unusual but it's still technically correct english, so it almost reads more as dialect and world-building flavour than anything else. Besides that there's maybe one or two instances where they use a present tense word instead of the past or future tense. For example, I think there's a skill called "Advance Tactics" instead of "Advanced Tactics" very very small and honestly barely noticeable. Honestly, I'd say it's pretty much on par with any English dev's natural typos, haha. All in all, a good review of a great game. I hope lots of people see it and pick the game up for themselves. It's truly a diamond in the rough.
It takes an amazing amount of dedication to 100% Troubleshooter. Bravo! Love the tactical aspect and the art direction, just wish gameplay wasn't so intricate.
I get what you mean with the storytelling issues, but I think that most of that can easily be fixed by just swapping the places of the different story segments to make more chronological and contextual sense.
I actually dropped this game because I was so overwhelmed when I reached the part where I could start farming masteries. I didn't know they were STILL working on it! After seeing this review, I'll definitely go and finish it with a new save file.
I have no idea why I only saw this video now just when I started to play the game by steam rec. If I did, I would've already been playing this months ago!! It really is a remarkable game and achievement for a TRPG. I am loving playing this (when I am not being mobbed by the entire map) I feel like this is how players expected Midnight Suns to play as when they heard the XCOM makers try superhero tactics. Not that I am dissing on that as it was fun enough building decks..but I gotta admit that that wasn't my initial expectation.
My friends used joke about how every Korean has to "Build a home, raise a kid and make a MMO" on account of how many MMO's originated from there. To me this game is exactly it. With how much hours campaign requires, how many in-depth character progression systems there are and with continuing content support, Troubleshooter:AC can sometimes feel like a single-player MMO.
Didn't know anything about the game but straight up bought it and I am hooked. This makes me miss playing Hyperdevotion Noire, the only Neptunia game I finished.
To be honest, I didn't finish this game, but I've been waiting for the right time to jump back in, because really good Squad-based Tactical RPGs are rare, and this is one of them. The rhythm of fighting, then developing, then fighting, works very well, though at least when I played it, there were some issues where maps were either too big, or the objectives were too hard, even under circumstances where you could clearly win the battle. Some fights turned into bug hunts that went on for hours, and doing this once or twice is OK, but this could happen again, and again, and again on the same maps, since the game rewards hunting rare resources. Hunting resources in a TRPG is actually a good idea, I just hope the devs can eventually integrate that into a system where the gameplay remains tense and compelling from the beginning of a mission to the end. The game really shines in character customization and development. Spending hours trying out different builds for a character was both deep and rewarding. You know, I think perhaps the time has come for me to give the game another try.
Just picked it up today and it’s a lot of fun! Better than many trpg that I have played for sure! Except the 3d model looking a bit dated everything else is interesting and well done. Why is this game not more talked about I wonder ? This game is truly a hidden gem.
Be careful with Cruel/Challenge settings. This actually makes the game easier since you overlevel unless you activate the setting that caps your level to the current campaign mission level. Challenge does give more masteries, but they're random, so they don't give the opposition as much of an advantage as you'd think.
Really happy to see you are now discussing how well a game plays on the Steam Deck. Maybe if you have time at some point in the future, you could make a short video about which of the top CRPGs and TRPGs (RtWP and TB) play well on the Steam Deck. That would be amazing!
I disagree with the storytelling part; I thought it was absolutely great but hear me out on this. I like how mundane it is; it's not 100% action all the time AND it's always told from the perspective of a singular character. This means that in effect you get an "unreliable" narrator sort of vibe. Not everyone knows everything...each character (regardless of good guy or bad guy) has their own perspective and though this DOES result in a havily convoluted story that moves REALLY slow it did give me a sense of realism about Valhalla... people work and eat, and spend free time with friends...slow, yes, but builds incredible amounts of characters for ALL people involved and behind the scenes it also causes a believable flow of 1 situation into the next... Valhalla is alive, Valhalla has a story to tell and it's complex; like real life... you just happen to play a part in it
Playing X-Com since the old MS-DOS games (enemy unknown/terror from the deep) as well a jagged alliance, fallout tactics, othercide and several others i was pretty surprised when this game suddenly popped up in my steam recommendations last sale when i never heard of it before. So far I like it very much.
Just got this game the other day, gotta agree with your opinion on the story. At best it's okay, at worst it's a nuisance especially after navigating the convoluted menu and you just want start the scenario fight but you have to read this story about the gangs and cult that all look like generic NPCs with different clothes. I know you can skip it, but man they sure focus on the enemy NPCs a lot. I wish it didn't and just keep focusing on the main characters instead. The gameplay is an absolute joy though.
I knew there was a reason I've been skipping the entire story, and I think you just summed it up very well here. Awesome gameplay and art makes up for this somewhat.
Discovered your channel a week ago, im so glad you covered this game, when you see bigger teams release a 20 hours unfinished product, and this gem....
Thanks for the review! I played the game lured in by the complex build mechanics, as I love to play around with such things. I was enjoying most of it but got burnt out by the sheer amount of grinding in the game, especially the fact that at some point every mission has you defeating what seems 1% of the population of Valhalla (I also didn't quite like that most 'main' enemy characters you defeat are always alive for the next missions). That, together with the slightly odd UI style... I guess what I'm trying to say is that the game is not for me, even though there are elements in it that I believe are amazing.
I played this game while it was in early access but never finished it. I may have to give it another shot with a new playthrough now that it's fully released.
Well crap. I’ve been holding off on TRPGs cuz Front Mission and Tactics Ogre are comin back. But if this is a must play then I gotta get it. Never have enough time lol
I was on the fence about this game because the art style is not really my thing but the character progression looks deep so I might have to pick this up!
I'm not a huge fan of manga/anime - I like a few things, but I can take it or leave it. Because of that, I only just barely bought the game on a whim, and wasn't expecting much. But it's a really amazing, deep game, a theorycrafting monster and a pretty good tactical game too (the action time queue and its manipulation in builds and in combat is the big tactical thing that distinguishes it from being a straight-up XCOM clone), well worth it. And the story isn't half bad once you start to piece it together from the non-linear way it's told. It's pretty much become my favourite game of recent years - jump in! :)
Between this setting and project moon’s “the city” I believe that south koreans have a innate desire to exist in a lawless urban dystopia and express this desire in everything they write. Like baby sea turtle going to water
My primary complaints with this one are that it's too damn long, and that I just don't like the two-point action system that so many games use these days. I'm also not big on the story and the characters, but those are just a matter of taste, and I know a lot of people actually DO like that aspect. However, I think the devs really do deserve quite a bit of praise, as they've given this game a LOT of love and attention ever since it came out, and that is very commendable. If this was (a lot) less bloated and had a more flexible combat system without the ultra-rigid two-point system, this would have been a downright great or even fantastic game. As it stands, it's pretty good nonetheless.
re: SteamDeck, I'd guess it's a CPU bottleneck, given all the AI and state tracking. For reviews, it'd help to note which SD model you've got, as that may impact the comparison - great addition! :)
It's worth mentioning after playing games like Fire Emblem, and Persona, which this may give you the vibe, there is no romance in this game. They may add it later, but at moment it's just not there. I get some don't like that aspect, and others just don't care, but for those who do enjoy it, and because it is often found in TRPG's, it's worth mentioning.
Thank you for your review! We'll do our best to give players more pleasures!!
Than you for making this game.
I'm enjoying it a lot. There's only one thing, way too much flash back and forth. Want to know the story but the pace is just too slow.
I saw Mortismal's review last night and immediately bought the game
I love the developers of this game, they reply to every single review on steam. I hope the game becomes more popular over time and sort of a cult hit.
I noticed that too, dev seem like wholesome people
That's what pushed me to finally buy it
@@TheTiredTortoise And now your comments about the developers are pushing me too buy it too. :D
@@Knight-Cyberia Feeling pushed as well during the spring sale :D
One of the games I made sure to put on my steam profile, it really does give every mechanic its best effort, and has what may be my favorite dev team. They put so much effort into making this work, this game has updated more than any other game I own. I remember when I first got this game someone reported a bug in the discussion forum, they patched it within 30 minutes.
With how much is in the game and the constant updates it receives, it's really easy to forget that this game is an indie title that is surprisingly cheap for what you get. I really got invested in the setting of the game and once you start looking past the bright, colorful style, things are surprisingly brutal once you realize that the story usually isn't handwaving away the fact these are people fighting each other with guns, swords, and magic.
Oh I've been waiting for this review. This is one of those odd lesser known titles very close to me. I've always been a fan of turn based tactical rpgs with sprawling combat set pieces but the sheer build diversity and content in the game made me return time and time again accruing hundreds of hours of playtime. At this point I've spent more time playing Troubleshooter than I have spent XCOM 1 and 2 combined. The developer is very active in the community as well and its really nice to see an indie passion project reach heights this game has.
I loved the story of this game. I think they tried to make it into a mystery and that is why instead of a linear exposition we get to experience it from little flashbacks between missions. As to character progression - it is a first time I saw such an amazing freedom of building my skill set. Items and crafting felt kinda meh. But you can take up to 8 characters on a mission and it creates a lot of fun with skills sinergy.
The story really surprised me because like everything else in the game, you can tell there was a lot of passion and love behind it. When even the goofy Spoonism religion and wild animals are getting poignant cutscenes, you know the devs care about their world. It really is something special imo.
Troubleshooter is hands down one of the best TRPG I have ever played and as of this comment I have pit over 450 hours into the game. Most of it engaging, experimenting, and perfecting crazy, and unique builds. The devs are also awesome and engage with the community daily to fix bugs and add new features. My only regret is that I felt I paid too little for such a great game.
I am the same. I bought all the extra soundtrack and such stuff, which I don't usually do for a game, just because I felt like I had shortchanged the devs for the game I had gotten.
OMG 450 hours dude!!
Thanks for reviewing. Definitely my favorite game that I played this year. It's amazing. Can't wait for the next DLC.
I loved this game to pieces, and i honeslty thing its probably one of the if not the best TRPG on the market, even taking into account its flaws. Yes, they could probably expand a little on the combat system as a whole, and also clean up the story telling, but honestly, i still feel like the worldbuilding and the dynamics of the world is very well done. Must have been hard for a little indie company themself to localize this behemoth of a game.
I would love to see what type of game they can make if they had more resources, because the potential to do something absolutely fantastic is there. Also, the developers are VERY active with people reviewing their game, and almost answer ALL of them, and a very polite and respectfully, and if they contain some criticism, they will take it into account. So, fantastic game and fantastic developers
Bro, this game looks absolutely massive in content.
wow this game takes forever and you did your 100% already :o
edit: btw i am playing this one too atm because of your videos. I am a fan of x com and so far i am having fun. Ofc i am just at the beginning having 3 troubleshooter atm.
Ye, it's one of the best game overall for me (considering the price etc.). There is so much to do and learn. You can do literally any wild build and have a lot of fun. I love games with deep mechanics because it lets you tests a lot of things. Story is pretty nice, I liked it. Devs are rly lovely people, I like when we see passion in devs (kinda like in Lariand Studio), they care about game so much that even answers every comment (even tho, english is not their language).
Tho Im maybe a bit too big maniac because I would want to pay for new DLCs, not getting them for free... ( 600h+ and still I open the game to try few things or make some own challenges xD)
most of the really long missions are optional. one of the best games in the Genre, it's absolutely amazing.
Very cool video Morti, this is a super underrated title that far too few people are aware of.
I can’t believe you actually played this underrated hidden gem of a game. Worth every 300 hours of it that I played.
Please share a few other titles you recommend. Xcom 2 is my most played game. I own only a handful of others, since I was on a retro/randomizer kick for the last twenty years.
Even after 500 hours into this game, I've still only mastered my own builds for about half the characters, never touched Kylie's robots, and only have half a dozen pets for Giselle. I do feel like some areas of the game are a bit to grindy, like trying to get specific affixes for your equipment, but with how adjustable the difficulty is you can forgo doing that if you like. My favorite part is probably Giselle's pokemon system, they add a lot to the battlefield, and imo make Giselle the most interesting character to build and play. Btw claiming that Draki are the strongest pets is arguable, there are a lot of OP pet options outside of Draki.
I actually like the pace of the piecemeal story. The way I consume media, I've already experienced hundreds if not even thousands of story's told in a more direct manner; so I really didn't mind this as a change of pace, though I can certainly understand how people would have issues with it.
Yeah, the item system is probably the worst part of the game, but I agree that you only really have to care about finding or crafting the exact items you need if you play with the highest difficulty options turned on.
Five Hundred Hours!!!
Sir, I just saw your steam prof. You're literally a gaming god!
Howcome I didn't notice this channel before?
This is a gold mine!
Subbed.
One of the better games in this genre for sure!
I was really on the fence on this one as I love Xcom and it looked like a really good adaptation. Thank you for a really in-depth review on it. I'm installing it right now.
What do you think about it now?
@@Charles.Wright The game is pretty good if you like xcom like tactics, soo underated imo..
dude I found your channel recently, 100% makes your channel absolutely outstanding! gonna check out this game and probably many others you reviewed
Nothing but respect for you fully beating this game.
Game is simply amazing. Bough it for less than half what I paid on XCOM: Chimera Squad and put in three times as many hours on Troubleshooter instead. You honestly get the feeling you underpaid for a game, which in the era of microtransactions and battlepasses everywhere feels like a dream come true. I kept this game installed through the entire last year and it feels like the devs never take a vacation - my steam library "what's new" section ALWAYS has something from Troubleshooter devs there - their update frequency leaves MOBA games feel stale.
If you like the genre and want a game to really dedicate yourself too, a game that you can feel safe putting in over a hundred hours and get rewarded for it then just buy Troubleshooter.
I love your 100% finish tag line.
After about a decade of watching UA-cam I'm trying to make my channel choices matter more.
This channel deserves way more views. Keep up the great videos.🙏🙏
One of the greatest game i ever played, especially for such a low price!
Seems to be right up my alley. If i'd have known about this earlier i would have bought it earlier. I just stumbled upon it in one of those "top 10 TRPGs you can play right now" videos that randomly pop up on my youtube. Of the 10 or so in the video, this one was the only one that seemed interesting that i didn't already own. And now i see that it is a TRPG fan's dream from so many people. I'll certainly give it a shot. It looks really good!
Hope you got at least 200 spare hours for this one!
As someone who also recently purchased a Steam Deck, I really, really appreciate the section talking about how well it performs on the Deck. Thank you!
You 100% this???? Jesus. That is a long time.
This game has always intrigued me since seeing it on Steam in early access. Great to know that I'll eventually be having a lot of fun with it :)
Thanks for the very thourough and helpful reviews.
Seems like a lot if you intend to do everything, definitely will pick this up after seeing this review. I love these systems and want to experience them, but seeing all of it is a big ask.
Fantastic game (both in game and story terms), deserves _much_ more attention - good on you for giving it some.
(Later note: if I had one minor criticism, it would be that you don't bring enough of the superhero-ey element of the game out. The scenario is basically that some people have mutant powers - that's what the ESP powers are - so it's basically a game that blends kinda-sorta "licensed X-Men" with an interesting post-big-war s-f scenario. There's definitely a superhero-ish flavour to the game, but seen through another lens from the usual comic-book tropes. A lot of East Asian stuff that deals with superhero-like themes tends to imagine them in a realistic scenario - how would the presence of people with amazing powers change society? Well, there might be academies to train them to use their "quirks" safely, etc. Or they might be brought under an official aegis in some way - the Troubleshooter teams are like that.)
Glad to see this comment. I was wondering if the game had a superhero vibe bc I wanted to play a super hero rpg (besides Midnight Sons) I think you just sold me. So would you say there are some My Hero Academia vibes in it?
@@cmadeam I wouldn't go that far, but there's a hint of that flavor there, in that society is organized to cope with these powers and abilities, so there's a system in which they're trained (in Troubleshooter they're trained "on the job", by apprenticing to more experienced Troubleshooters).
I didn't mean to say that it's actually solidly a superhero game, I was just adding a bit of balance to the review in that I felt the review didn't mention the superhero angle at all but the game DOES have a slight perfume of it.
I will say though that if you enjoy nuXCOM tactical type of gameplay (with some twists like a manipulable action queue and a REALLY deep build system) and a pretty good story told in a non-linear way, the game is tremendous value for money, as it's got hundreds of hours of playtime if you want to play it to that depth (though you can run through it in about 40 say).
It's a real indie gem of a game IMHO. Starts a wee bit slow, maybe, but builds up a head of steam once you've got 5 (and more!) members in your team and all your (and your team's) abilities and sub-classes get filled out. There are good guides for it on Steam if you get stuck with the build system (takes a while to get your head around it). There's a good channel dedicated to the game, LifeofAshuram, who has lots of build vids and gameplay tips and tricks (albeit for more advanced players).
I spent over a 1000 hours in this game. The second DLC is completely unhinged bazooka tag where both sides do 5-digit damage on critical hit and if you can't get block chance to 150%, your character just gets deleted. And with all the reaction fire, survival tools like Impulse Fields and even Final Resistance become pretty useless. On top of that, armor shredding becomes a pretty regular thing. The missions can't be completed even on Story Mode without literal game-breaking builds. And the absence of mission variety is starting to make itself felt. I actually criticized that and the developers responded that they are "daunted" by that kind of criticism (I was being VERY polite and chose my words very carefully and even suggested multiple mission types). Their response boiled down to: "we want the kind of audience who wants to make overpowered builds." The second DLC is paid too.
If their next game: Troubleshooter - Banished children, is going to be just "kill everything that moves" bazooka tag, I'll pass on it.
Damn that is disappointing
Thanks for doing something relatively obscure like this, really helpful.
Good show sir! The grind prevaild!🎉
prevaldi*
@@Elgar337 vivaldi*
Definitely one of those tactical games where, if you just love tactical games and need a fix until the heatdeath of the universe, you can just play this. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or anything, but I never had a bad time playing it, though replaying the game makes you realize how slow the start (hours 1-4 I'd say) really are. And as many on here have stated, some of the most genuinely awesome devs I've ever seen.
One of those games I wish existed when I was younger and could just drop six or so hours at a time to just play.
best review of a game that i watch in my life -not for the positive of the game but because of your capacity to explain it part by part and in little time
I saw you had mentioned this game as your top pick of trpgs of the year. So i picked it up on sale. I am now 60 hours in and I still only have 4 team members 😅. I did select the hard game difficulty, and agree, that you can set your own pace via missions and their individual difficulties. I am loving this game! It’s been a while since I felt on the verge of addiction to a game but I am now. Thank you for your recommendation!
I bought this gem after watching this video. Thanks for the fun 130h playtime. I always bunkered up and pulled all 100 enemies to me. For a big fight. But the strongest pet is the moss crabmit not the draki!
Love the review. Thank you for adding the steam deck section. That was particularly important for me
Thanks for the game highlight, I bought the game based entirely on your review.
ye i just bought it as well. Seems like it's my thing
In terms of characters I got weirdly attached to that one police officer Joel that was in the story rather episodically. I don't know why, he felt like a little brother or a new co-worker that I was in charge of teaching. Everybody else was more in a "oh, so that's why" line of thought and mild general interest, but I remember him specifically.
Got this game a few days ago. If your subscribed to this channel you need to get it in the steam sale. Absoloutely fantastic game.
This is my guilty pleasure of a game, like you i play a lot of TRPG's, and quite frankly there is nothing on the market quite like this one. I feel guilty because people looking over my shoulder wonder why i playing a game with cute 13 year old big eyed girl with a chainsaws in it. But the depth of character building, all the sub systems, the world building, they all just hit the right note to set it apart from other games in this genre making it a unique experience in a genre that can feel quite stale at times.
Troubleshooter is a genuinely great game. Perhaps my favourite of all time. All the fun Xcom strategy with none of the "No way am I losing my best soldier to a random cross map crit" save scumming (or the alternative just bad feels). Instead you only lose your unit for that mission and they come back right as rain for the next mission. It's high enough stakes that it's interesting but low enough stakes that you don't feel bad when the enemy pulls out some BS. Plus, by the mid-late game you have quite a few people on your team and losing one or two due to bad luck rarely costs the mission. It feels like there's a lot more back and forth than in an Xcom game where you kinda only want to be going forth and never taking losses.
The story is a bit convoluted but I actually think it's told in a really interesting way. It's not told as a cohesive story. It's told as lots of smaller character stories. This can make it seem disjointed as you're trying to piece the story together but it also gives you an excellent idea of where exactly every character factors in and how the grander story has affected them. Even the gangsters, who could have just been left as generic gangsters, have been given compelling characters and interpersonal dynamics/drama. So it's not that the story is told badly, it's that the focus is on the stories of the individual characters, and it honestly does amazingly well at fleshing out such a huge cast of characters. It's only once you build a big picture by putting all the character stories together that you get the political scheming and understand the "abandoned children" part of the game's title.
The late game gets hard as balls. You can beat the main story pretty comfortably with some relatively decent builds but going into the first DLC you really have to start perfecting your characters, otherwise you're just not going to stand a chance against some of it's hardest enemies. To be fair though, I think I'm thinking of optional arrest missions, which basically put 12 bosses in a mission and about 100 minions, then tell you to arrest as many as possible. So they are supposed to be really challenging.
The mastery system is maybe a bit hit of miss. For me it was a huge hit. I loved it. Super complex but introduced as very simple. The early game it's just putting on one or two new skills every now and then, but the late game it's scrapping the whole board and building from scratch with specific masteries in mind, specific sets in mind, a specific playstyle in mind, using modifiers to give yourself extra skill slots in a certain area (like more attack modifiers), etc.
I would HIGHLY ADVICE people DON'T look up metas. Why ruin the game for yourself like that? Just enjoy playing missions, seeing enemies using certain masteries and thinking "wow, that worked way better than I expected it would" then trying it on your own guys.
There is a guide on mastery sets on steam. I think it's entirely reasonable to use that, as it's basically just telling you what pieces you have available to build with, while you're still the person making the builds. The mastery system can seem daunting but it's honestly such a good system. You'd also be surprised just how few masteries are useless too. The most 'useless' ones tend to be very specific builds, like "during evening, dusk and night you get (big bonuses)" which are obviously useless during morning or afternoon missions, but could be a good option if you wanted to make a specific build for night missions. With the mastery boards acting like loadouts you can swap back and forth easily too.
You are right about mission variety tending to be a bit "just kill everything", however I disagree that the enemies are samey. They have samey models, for sure, haha, but the builds they have tend to get more powerful as you progress and they'll often have new abilities and effects for you to deal with. Plus, the combination of enemies matters quite a lot. Fighting a single sniper and a bunch of grunts is different to fighting a single grunt surrounded by sniper support. There are also a LOT of maps, and for many of them you can choose between multiple entry points. So that means a lot of missions play differently purely on where the cover is, what routes you can travel and even how wide those routes are since characters can't move through each other. The bosses are numerous and varied too. Like, there are probably more boss variants than grunt variants.
Either way, I don't really see the limited mission type as an issue. It wasn't an issue in Xcom and it's not an issue here. Variety is often nice but I also just don't think this kind of game suits too many other objectives. The only real way to go is things like timed missions. Where you have to get to an objective within a certain amount of time. I think Xcom did some rescue missions too, but they didn't really change anything, you just hide the person you're rescuing out of sight and kill all the enemies before advancing toward the extraction. Or with the save civilians terrorist attack missions it was just "kill everything, but quickly this time". Defense objectives would have been interesting. They have a few missions where you have to prevent enemies getting out the map, but having enemies try to reach an objective in the middle of a map and having to keep them away would have been interesting. Although, again, that could just be "kill everything" again, but this time everything is coming to you instead of you going to it. So yeah, all in all, I just don't think there's a way to create missions that aren't "kill everything" in this kind of game. They did do one stealth mission at the start of the second DLC (cause that's out now) and while it was fun, it's also a play style that's way too slow for normal maps, and also kinda hit or miss in that getting discovered just turns it into a combat mission anyway.
Closing notes: yeah, some of the English is a little off but the vast majority of it is good. I'd say 99% of it is grammatically correct. Some of the word choices or wording of some things can be unusual but it's still technically correct english, so it almost reads more as dialect and world-building flavour than anything else. Besides that there's maybe one or two instances where they use a present tense word instead of the past or future tense. For example, I think there's a skill called "Advance Tactics" instead of "Advanced Tactics" very very small and honestly barely noticeable. Honestly, I'd say it's pretty much on par with any English dev's natural typos, haha.
All in all, a good review of a great game. I hope lots of people see it and pick the game up for themselves. It's truly a diamond in the rough.
It takes an amazing amount of dedication to 100% Troubleshooter. Bravo!
Love the tactical aspect and the art direction, just wish gameplay wasn't so intricate.
I get what you mean with the storytelling issues, but I think that most of that can easily be fixed by just swapping the places of the different story segments to make more chronological and contextual sense.
I actually dropped this game because I was so overwhelmed when I reached the part where I could start farming masteries. I didn't know they were STILL working on it! After seeing this review, I'll definitely go and finish it with a new save file.
I wouldn’t have known about this game without you mentioning it! It’s a buy from me!
One of my favourite games, gifted it multiple times and everyone loved it.
Also glad to hear you will include a Steam Deck version for each review moving forward
Awesome, thanks for bringing this game to light, I have never heard of it and I love XCOM and Persona games.
Games been on my wishlist for awhile and keep passing it up thanks for the review!
Yup 100% buying
By the First Spoon! You made it that fast! WP :)
My favorite tactical game since xcom : EU, an absolute gem with a very dedicated dev team.
I have no idea why I only saw this video now just when I started to play the game by steam rec. If I did, I would've already been playing this months ago!! It really is a remarkable game and achievement for a TRPG. I am loving playing this (when I am not being mobbed by the entire map)
I feel like this is how players expected Midnight Suns to play as when they heard the XCOM makers try superhero tactics. Not that I am dissing on that as it was fun enough building decks..but I gotta admit that that wasn't my initial expectation.
Thanks for the morning vids morty
Thanks for the review, quality stuff as always!
My friends used joke about how every Korean has to "Build a home, raise a kid and make a MMO" on account of how many MMO's originated from there. To me this game is exactly it. With how much hours campaign requires, how many in-depth character progression systems there are and with continuing content support, Troubleshooter:AC can sometimes feel like a single-player MMO.
I think it was supposed to be an mmo at one point (citation needed)
Didn't know anything about the game but straight up bought it and I am hooked. This makes me miss playing Hyperdevotion Noire, the only Neptunia game I finished.
To be honest, I didn't finish this game, but I've been waiting for the right time to jump back in, because really good Squad-based Tactical RPGs are rare, and this is one of them. The rhythm of fighting, then developing, then fighting, works very well, though at least when I played it, there were some issues where maps were either too big, or the objectives were too hard, even under circumstances where you could clearly win the battle. Some fights turned into bug hunts that went on for hours, and doing this once or twice is OK, but this could happen again, and again, and again on the same maps, since the game rewards hunting rare resources. Hunting resources in a TRPG is actually a good idea, I just hope the devs can eventually integrate that into a system where the gameplay remains tense and compelling from the beginning of a mission to the end.
The game really shines in character customization and development. Spending hours trying out different builds for a character was both deep and rewarding. You know, I think perhaps the time has come for me to give the game another try.
Didn't know about this game. I like this type of combat. $10? Buying it now.
Just purchased this on sale, can't wait to play it!
Wow, thanks for this - that's wild for a $30 game. Will give that some hard consideration once I've cleared the immediate backlog!
Just picked it up today and it’s a lot of fun! Better than many trpg that I have played for sure! Except the 3d model looking a bit dated everything else is interesting and well done. Why is this game not more talked about I wonder ? This game is truly a hidden gem.
put reshade on it it will help alot as it does with all games
I just got this game, looking forward to it!
Be careful with Cruel/Challenge settings. This actually makes the game easier since you overlevel unless you activate the setting that caps your level to the current campaign mission level. Challenge does give more masteries, but they're random, so they don't give the opposition as much of an advantage as you'd think.
Really happy to see you are now discussing how well a game plays on the Steam Deck. Maybe if you have time at some point in the future, you could make a short video about which of the top CRPGs and TRPGs (RtWP and TB) play well on the Steam Deck. That would be amazing!
I plan on doing so within the next week
@@MortismalGaming 😀
I’ve always wanted to play this
Awesome I have been looking for a new crpg to play i'll give this one a shot looks like it might be fun. Great review as always Morty lol
I disagree with the storytelling part; I thought it was absolutely great but hear me out on this. I like how mundane it is; it's not 100% action all the time AND it's always told from the perspective of a singular character. This means that in effect you get an "unreliable" narrator sort of vibe. Not everyone knows everything...each character (regardless of good guy or bad guy) has their own perspective and though this DOES result in a havily convoluted story that moves REALLY slow it did give me a sense of realism about Valhalla... people work and eat, and spend free time with friends...slow, yes, but builds incredible amounts of characters for ALL people involved and behind the scenes it also causes a believable flow of 1 situation into the next... Valhalla is alive, Valhalla has a story to tell and it's complex; like real life... you just happen to play a part in it
MADLAD FINALLY BEAT IT
Cool. I have been enjoying Dark Deity this week. Not my usual type of rpg… but lot of fun.
Playing X-Com since the old MS-DOS games (enemy unknown/terror from the deep) as well a jagged alliance, fallout tactics, othercide and several others i was pretty surprised when this game suddenly popped up in my steam recommendations last sale when i never heard of it before.
So far I like it very much.
I love the art, style and story.
Thank for review:) probably woundnt play bcs im too lazy, but i like to listen those stories, man:)
Just got this game the other day, gotta agree with your opinion on the story. At best it's okay, at worst it's a nuisance especially after navigating the convoluted menu and you just want start the scenario fight but you have to read this story about the gangs and cult that all look like generic NPCs with different clothes. I know you can skip it, but man they sure focus on the enemy NPCs a lot. I wish it didn't and just keep focusing on the main characters instead.
The gameplay is an absolute joy though.
I knew there was a reason I've been skipping the entire story, and I think you just summed it up very well here. Awesome gameplay and art makes up for this somewhat.
Nice job on review. Thanks! 👍👍
quite an acomplishment! thank you.
It's also on sale for the next couple of days if you were still on the fence after this review.
Discovered your channel a week ago, im so glad you covered this game, when you see bigger teams release a 20 hours unfinished product, and this gem....
Ok. You convinced me. I just bought it.
one in my top 5 best trpg out there
Thank you for reviewing newest tactical games on the market.
Thanks for the review! I played the game lured in by the complex build mechanics, as I love to play around with such things. I was enjoying most of it but got burnt out by the sheer amount of grinding in the game, especially the fact that at some point every mission has you defeating what seems 1% of the population of Valhalla (I also didn't quite like that most 'main' enemy characters you defeat are always alive for the next missions). That, together with the slightly odd UI style... I guess what I'm trying to say is that the game is not for me, even though there are elements in it that I believe are amazing.
I played this game while it was in early access but never finished it. I may have to give it another shot with a new playthrough now that it's fully released.
Well crap. I’ve been holding off on TRPGs cuz Front Mission and Tactics Ogre are comin back. But if this is a must play then I gotta get it. Never have enough time lol
In some mission the enemy were strangely over-powered. This can really surprise you!
I was on the fence about this game because the art style is not really my thing but the character progression looks deep so I might have to pick this up!
I'm not a huge fan of manga/anime - I like a few things, but I can take it or leave it. Because of that, I only just barely bought the game on a whim, and wasn't expecting much. But it's a really amazing, deep game, a theorycrafting monster and a pretty good tactical game too (the action time queue and its manipulation in builds and in combat is the big tactical thing that distinguishes it from being a straight-up XCOM clone), well worth it. And the story isn't half bad once you start to piece it together from the non-linear way it's told. It's pretty much become my favourite game of recent years - jump in! :)
Between this setting and project moon’s “the city” I believe that south koreans have a innate desire to exist in a lawless urban dystopia and express this desire in everything they write. Like baby sea turtle going to water
Good day Mortym! Never heard of this game but it seems very interesting. The story seems quite intriguing. May give this game a go.
My primary complaints with this one are that it's too damn long, and that I just don't like the two-point action system that so many games use these days. I'm also not big on the story and the characters, but those are just a matter of taste, and I know a lot of people actually DO like that aspect. However, I think the devs really do deserve quite a bit of praise, as they've given this game a LOT of love and attention ever since it came out, and that is very commendable. If this was (a lot) less bloated and had a more flexible combat system without the ultra-rigid two-point system, this would have been a downright great or even fantastic game. As it stands, it's pretty good nonetheless.
Good game, good review.
Since you reviewed this and the Shadowrun games, you might enjoy another of Harebrained Schemes games, Battletech.
re: SteamDeck, I'd guess it's a CPU bottleneck, given all the AI and state tracking. For reviews, it'd help to note which SD model you've got, as that may impact the comparison - great addition! :)
It's worth mentioning after playing games like Fire Emblem, and Persona, which this may give you the vibe, there is no romance in this game. They may add it later, but at moment it's just not there. I get some don't like that aspect, and others just don't care, but for those who do enjoy it, and because it is often found in TRPG's, it's worth mentioning.
The new dlc is out btw. And it's amazing.
Looks interesting. Thank you
Looks good, sounds daunting to start playing :s
It eases you in very gently.
OMG. Mortismal Gaming saying a game is incredibly long and took him over 100 hours... means it would take me most probably 300-400 hours. Not joking.
Different masteries will show up depending on the gameplay difficulty level.