RTS Roguelike?

I've failed miserably at my own self-imposed rule about only buying one new game per paycheck. Those sales just pop up and sometimes it's just too good to pass up! After thoroughly building up my fantastic little cult in Cult of the Lamb, I found myself looking for something to play and decided that falling back on ye olde catalog didn't sound too enticing. Luckily, a game on my wishlist popped up a sale notification and I decided "why not?" I'm not big into RTS games, but Against the Storm sounded different and interesting enough that I decided to take the leap. I've gotta say, I'm extremely satisfied with my choice.

What is it?

Steam offers up the following tags: strategy, simulation, base building and city builder. Sure, those work, but it's definitely missing the roguelike or roguelite elements. The basic premise of the gameplay and story is that you are a "viceroy" who has been tasked with building a series of settlements for a kingdom that is plagued by cyclical, devastating storms that periodically wipe out all towns (except for the protected Smoldering City). Your ultimate goal is to reach and fix special magical seals that will eventually end the cycle of storms. That's no easy task though.

The roguelike/roguelite elements come into play due to the fact that no two new settlements are alike. Each new settlement allows you to pick your starting settlers and the gear they will take with them. Once you've picked a location for your new settlement, you are offered up several random blueprints to choose from. These blueprints are totally luck of the draw and you get what you get (although later on you can unlock the ability to pay resources to re-roll them). "Winning" on each map is contingent on a combination of satisfying the queen's orders and keeping your villagers resolve high (basically meeting their complex needs to keep them happy) before the queen loses patience. Like the blueprints, the queens orders are completely random and unlock at different intervals as you play. You have to choose between two and can't re-roll them. Luckily, you can win without satisfying all of her demands if you're able to keep your villagers resolve high.

How long can I expect to play?

I've been playing for 29.5 hours so far and I've barely scratched the surface. You can count on some serious playtime with this one. The roguelike elements make each settlement a new challenge and I haven't been bored for one second. It's great.

Pros:

+Low requirements.  You could definitely play this on a potato PC (give the recommended specs a gander).  I've had zero performance issues--it has run like a charm.

+ Helpful tutorials that are offered up at points that make sense.  You start off with the basic tutorials that introduce the gameplay essentials and then can go off and play a normal settlement.  Once you encounter a new aspect of gameplay, a new tutorial is offered to help you learn how to use it.  I found this refreshing rather than having all aspects of gameplay thrown in at the beginning, not encountered for awhile, and then promptly forgotten to the point where you have to Google it or find a video that explains it.

+ Tons of strategy.  There are constantly different factors that you have to consider.  One of the first is where to make your settlement.  There are several different biomes to choose from and each has its own unique look, special resource bonuses tied it (for example, trees in the marshland biome can sometimes yield leather due to having leathery bark), and specific resources.  For example, the royal woodland biome often has many fields of fertile soil which are good for farming (while finding fertile farmland in the marshland biome is rare).  Once you're more familiar with the biomes and resources that can impact other choices you have to make.

One of my marsh settlements.

The second decision you have to make is which settlers to take for your new settlement.  There are several different races in the game (and two that you can unlock, but I've only unlocked one of them so far)--each race has its own unique needs and abilities.  You start off with three--humans, lizards, and beavers.  As an example of needs and abilities--beavers are good at tasks involving lumber and engineering, so get a bonus if they're assigned to those types of tasks.  They have needs related to the type of complex food they prefer (pickled goods), they need clothing, education, and they enjoy luxury.  Humans and lizards each have their own skills and needs that sometimes overlap and often don't.  The main goal is to meet the needs of your settlers to keep their "resolve" level high.  If their resolve drops too low, they'll leave your settlement.  You also get a certain number of points to pick a set of starting resources for your settlement.

So now you're ready to get rolling in your settlement, but you're not done making decisions.  You're presented with several options for blueprints which will unlock specific production buildings for your settlement.  These are totally random and require some careful consideration.  You have to consider whether you have buildings to produce needed ingredients or to help meet the specific needs of your settlers.  It's always difficult to choose and thanks to the roguelike nature of the gameplay, it's completely possible to get options that don't sync well (like certain production buildings but never the ones that produce the pre-requisite ingredients/goods).  Blueprints will continue to unlock as you make progress in your settlement...but you only get a certain number, so it's important to choose wisely.

...And, you're not even remotely done with choosing.  The queen will present you with a number of "orders" to be fulfilled.  These are also completely random and can be based upon building and satisfying production demands, keeping a certain race happy, exploring the map, satisfying specific needs, or trading/selling goods.  Fulfilling these needs will reduce the queen's impatience and improve your own resolve which unlocks blueprints and helps you get closer to eventually winning.

+Roguelike elements make each settlement feel unique and challenging.

+ Not your typical RTS.  You don't produce military units and march them out to conquer other enemies, but instead have to focus on keeping your settlers happy and playing in a way that meets the demands of the queen.  I found this change of pace refreshing.

+ Multiple difficulty levels and gameplay that gets progressively harder.  I started off on the easiest ("settler") setting to learn the basics of the game.  You can open the first seal on the easiest difficulty, but in order to open the next seal you have to up the difficulty.  I like how this works because it encourages you to improve and try to challenge yourself.  So far, I haven't had much luck in making it to the second seal and I'm sure that you have to do the subsequent seals on even higher difficulty.

Each "cycle" is made up of a certain number of years--for example, after I unlocked the first seal, I'm on a 40 year cycle.  At the end of each "cycle," the storm comes and destroys your settlements and you have to start back at the Smoldering City.  The years are calculated according to how long it takes you to "win" per settlement (for example, if I'm on a 40 year cycle and it takes me 10 years to win per settlement, I'm going to have 4 settlements before I have to re-start--unlocking seals takes a certain number of special resources that are rewarded for each successful settlement.  I'm on the second seal and it takes 12 seals to unlock--each successful settlement rewards 2 seals...so I definitely need to win more quickly if I expect to be able to complete the seal).

+ Unlockable talents.  Each successful settlement you create awards special resources that can be redeemed to improve future settlements.  There are multiple branches to unlock and they might provide small bonuses like a slight increase to global production.  If you fail to unlock a seal within a set cycle, you are awarded other special resources that can unlock even more talents.  Like many roguelikes, these small bonuses give you a slight boosts to help you make progress.

+ Exploration based elements.  Each new settlement starts off with a small uncovered area that is surrounded by trees (of various sort depending on the biome).  You usually have a few nodes of 1-2 resources to start.  In order to find more resources you must build a woodcutters camp and chop your way into the surrounding areas--the map is filled with small glades (that are covered with the fog of war) and larger, "dangerous" glades.  Small glades can contain a small amount of resources (usually a few nodes of 1-2 resources) or a cache of goods or a special event.  Opening caches or completing events gives you two options--often you can send the items to the capital which will help reduce the queen's impatience or you can use resources to open the cache or complete the event which will provide resources for your settlement.  Dangerous glades are larger areas and contain a "dangerous" event that also provides two options for dealing with it and generally must be dealt with quickly or else they will have negative consequences for your settlement.  They also usually have some sort of debuff while they're being completed.  Opening up dangerous glades are worthwhile as they can contain large nodes of resources and usually contain large caches of goods.  There are also the even larger "forbidden glades," which are even more of a gamble.

+ Seasonal conditions that impact villager happiness.  The constant storms that are part of the world become worse during the "storm" season and your villagers happiness will greatly drop during this time.  If it drops too low, villagers will leave your settlement.  This can leave you short of workers and in a bind if you're needing them to meet an order.  Crops on farms are also harvested on a cyclical pattern, so it's important to pay attention to your food level.  Planning around the cycles adds another layer of difficulty.

+ Tons of achievements and your own "home" in the capital with cosmetic elements.  Some achievements will reward items that will appear in your house--it's fun to see your empty home fill up with little items.

+ Nice, soothing music.

Cons:

- The roguelike "luck of the draw" elements can sometimes feel frustrating.  You might wind up with options that don't work well together or orders that require buildings that you never have an option to unlock.  Basically, you have to adapt to whatever the game throws at you.  I will say that it's still possible to be successful even if you have a crappy draw.

- Some players may not like the increasing requirements for difficulty.  You cannot unlock seals on any difficulty and have to use the required level.  This might feel a bit like gating, but with the unlockable "talents," it should be possible for most to be successful.  The gameplay also introduces more complex elements at certain levels (that I have not reached yet).

- Like most RTS games, there are many elements to consider and it can be difficult to remember it all.  I haven't found it totally overwhelming, but it does take a bit to get used to.

- This is a very minor gripe, but I'd like to see a little bit more polish on the animations for the villagers.  One part of villager behavior is that they periodically take breaks where they will travel back to your hearth to eat.  There's no animation for this, so they all just sort of stand clumped around it.  It would also be nice to see them use some of the more cosmetic type of decorations you can put in your settlement--sitting on a bench, for example.  Again, this would be icing on an already great cake.

Recommendation:

Against the Storm is a great RTS and as someone who doesn't play many, I'm very impressed by what I've experienced so far.  The roguelike elements keep everything feeling fresh and you have to stay on your toes to adapt to what the game throws at you.  Even though it lacks a bit of polish, it's a refreshing take on this genre.  It's one that worth full price, for sure.