Info about Othercide:

Official game description:
Buzz
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About the Game
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Descend into Humanity’s last hope. The Daughters, echoes of the greatest warrior to ever live, are all who stand before Suffering and death.  
Lead your army of Daughters to battle with all the skill you can muster. Your prowess in combat will decide their fate, shape their abilities and personality. Make the toughest decision and sacrifice one to heal another - survivors will get stronger, ready to fight the next battle.  
Combat is an intricate dance of spectacular actions and counters: plan ahead of time and set up impressive chains of abilities to outsmart the enemy. Fight in epic boss battles against the sources of Suffering - dread creatures pulled from the worst of Humanity’s crimes against itself.  
You will fight. You will fail. You will rise again.  
*   Lead, evolve and sacrifice your army of Daughters  
*   Outsmart nightmarish creatures in a spectacular Tactical RPG  
*   Endless combat possibilities with the Dynamic Timeline System  
*   A deep and complex narrative  
*   Failure is not the end. Return with lost powers to face a new nightmare

Release date: Jul 27, 2020

Categories: Tactical RPG, Roguelike, Turn-based Strategy, Character Progression, Permadeath, Dark Fantasy, Sacrifice Mechanics

Feature scans:
- Wiki: score 50; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant issues related to the lack of in-game explanations for complex mechanics and the presence of well-documented bugs that require external resources for resolution. These issues are categorized as 'Complex Mechanics' and 'Bugs,' both with high severity. Additionally, there is a positive note from a user who did not need to use external resources, indicating that the game can be enjoyed without them.
- Steam Deck: score 20; verdict: Good; summary: The game generally runs well on the Steam Deck with good controller support, providing a positive user experience. However, there are some minor UI issues reported when using an Xbox controller.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $20.00 - $25.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence shows a mix of opinions on the game's value at full price. Some users feel the game is worth the full price due to the quality and effort put into it, while others suggest that a lower price point, typically found during sales, would be more appropriate. The general consensus seems to be that while the game is of high quality, it may not have enough content to justify the full price for all users. Therefore, a fair base-game price range that balances these views would be slightly below the current base price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 30.0h
  - Story completion: 20.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: 10.0h
  - Reasoning: The evidence provided includes several mentions of playtime hours. One user spent about 20 hours on the first four chapters and 10 hours on the final chapter boss, indicating a total of around 30 hours for a full playthrough. Another user mentioned getting at least 80+ hours out of the game, which suggests a high replay value or extensive endgame content. However, this could be an outlier or include multiple playthroughs. The typical session length is not explicitly mentioned, but given the complexity and depth of the game, sessions could range from a few hours to several hours. The evidence of 20 hours for the main story and 10 hours for the endgame content helps to derive the typical playtime metrics.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game has a steep learning curve and challenging mechanics that initially hinder enjoyment, but it becomes more fun once players overcome these barriers and understand the gameplay.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Understanding the mechanics and overcoming the learning curve
  - Time to anchor: 2h 0m
  - Friction: Steep learning curve; Challenging mechanics; Slow progression; Tedious healing mechanics
  - Unlock drivers: Understanding the mechanics; Overcoming the learning curve
  - Conditions: Taking breaks; Enjoying turn-based games; Patience with grinding
- Player Archetypes:
  - Grind-Tolerant Strategist (sale)
    - Motivation: Challenge and meta-progression.
    - Playstyle: Grinding through repetitive elements for rewards and progression.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: strategy gamer; hardcore player
    - Reference games: Darkest Dungeon; XCOM; FFX
  - Aesthetic Enthusiast (sale)
    - Motivation: Artistic appreciation and unique visual style.
    - Playstyle: Enjoys the game for its visual and atmospheric qualities.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: art lover; atmosphere enthusiast
    - Reference games: FFXIV; Doom
  - Casual Strategist (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Relaxed and enjoyable gameplay experience.
    - Playstyle: Prefers easier modes and less stressful gameplay.
    - Experience: newcomer
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: casual gamer; newcomer
    - Reference games: XCOM; Darkest Dungeon


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Praised art style and visuals (weight 0.7): The game's art style and visual design are frequently highlighted as unique, stunning, and atmospheric. Players appreciate the distinctive use of colors and the overall aesthetic, which fits the game's setting well.
- Unique and engaging gameplay mechanics (weight 0.58): The game offers a unique blend of gameplay mechanics, including tactical combat and roguelite elements. Players find the mechanics thoughtful, challenging, and rewarding.
- Excellent music and sound (weight 0.25): The game's soundtrack and sound effects are highly praised for their quality and how well they complement the visuals and atmosphere.
- Deep and engaging lore (weight 0.19): The game features a dark and deep lore that players find intriguing and well-developed. The narrative and characters are engaging and add depth to the game world.
- Challenging and rewarding bosses (weight 0.17): Boss battles are noted for being challenging, unique, and rewarding. Players enjoy the variety and the difficulty level of these encounters.

Common complaints:
- Repetitive enemies and maps (weight 0.43): Players report that enemies and maps are too similar, leading to a repetitive experience. Enemies often feel like reskinned versions of previous ones, and maps are reused frequently.
- Monotonous and tedious gameplay (weight 0.26): The gameplay is often described as monotonous, tedious, and lacking variation. Players find the pace slow and the overall experience boring, especially in the late game.
- Final boss is unbalanced (weight 0.18): The final boss is widely criticized for being overly difficult, unbalanced, and frustrating. Players find it unfair due to excessive attacks and mechanics that make the fight tedious and poorly designed.
- Confusing and uninteresting story (weight 0.15): The story is hard to follow and often confusing. Players find the narrative vague and not very interesting, suffering from obfuscation and complication.
- Poor UI design (weight 0.12): The user interface is criticized for being poorly designed, clunky, and buggy. Players find it uncomfortable and difficult to navigate, with severe UX/UI issues.
- Steep learning curve (weight 0.09): The game has a steep learning curve, making it difficult and frustrating for new players. The high difficulty and complexity can be overwhelming.
- Frustrating enemy mechanics (weight 0.08): Enemies have frustrating mechanics, such as healing fully in the same turn, attacking from a distance, and spawning immediately. Some enemies have multiple turns of attack, making the game overly difficult.
- Unbalanced difficulty (weight 0.06): The game has an unbalanced difficulty curve, with the final boss being particularly unbalanced. Players find the difficulty steep and unfair.
- Grindy gameplay (weight 0.06): The game requires a lot of grinding, especially in the late game. Players find the grind tedious and boring, affecting the overall enjoyment.
- Underdeveloped and unreplayable gameplay (weight 0.06): The gameplay is underdeveloped and lacks replayability. Players find it not fun and insufficient in terms of firepower and skills.
- Frustrating healing mechanics (weight 0.06): The mechanic to heal characters is frustrating and often pointless. Players have to sacrifice other characters to heal, which makes the process boring and tedious.
- Vague ability descriptions (weight 0.06): Boss abilities are poorly explained and lack clarity. Players find the ability descriptions vague and inaccurate, making it difficult to understand boss abilities and defenses.
- Bugs affecting experience (weight 0.06): The game has several bugs and technical issues that spoil the experience. Players report numerous bugs that affect the overall enjoyment of the game.

Gameplay feedback:
- Roguelike and tactical gameplay (weight 0.49): The game features a blend of roguelike elements such as permadeath, meta progression, and resetting progress, combined with tactical turn-based combat and strategic planning.
- Character progression and customization (weight 0.27): Players can develop and customize their characters through various progression systems, including leveling, skills, traits, and unique abilities tied to different character classes.
- Sacrifice and resurrection mechanics (weight 0.17): Character sacrifice is a key mechanic for progression and healing, with high difficulty and permadeath adding to the game's challenge.
- Mission variety and difficulty (weight 0.17): The game offers a variety of missions and enemies, with varying difficulty levels including challenging modes like 'Dream' and 'Nightmare'.
- Enemy AI and behavior (weight 0.15): Enemies exhibit unique behaviors and patterns that players must learn and adapt to, adding depth to the strategic combat.
- Dynamic timeline combat (weight 0.12): The game employs a dynamic timeline-based combat system, where turns and actions are managed through a timeline mechanics and action points.

Performance notes:
- Frequent bugs and technical issues (weight 0.14): The game is plagued by numerous bugs and technical issues that can hinder progression and sometimes require restarting the game. These issues are widespread and significantly impact the gameplay experience.
- Graphical and UI issues (weight 0.12): Players have reported various graphical issues and UI problems, including visual glitches and overlapping menu displays. These issues can be distracting and affect the overall user experience.
- Positive performance on Steam Deck (weight 0.11): The game runs great on Steam Deck, with smooth performance and short loading times. This is a positive aspect highlighted by players using this platform.
- Game saving and freezing issues (weight 0.07): There are significant issues with game saving, including crashes that can result in lost progress. The game also tends to freeze, which can be very frustrating for players.
- Clunky controls and poor interface (weight 0.05): The game's controls are described as clunky, and the interface design is poor, leading to a frustrating user experience. This includes issues with the UI being buggy and slow.
- Minor bugs with enemy attacks (weight 0.05): There are minor bugs related to enemy attacks and boss transitions. These bugs, while not game-breaking, can still be annoying and affect the gameplay experience.
- Random crashes (weight 0.02): Players have experienced random crashes, which can occur at any time and disrupt the gaming experience. These crashes are unpredictable and can be very frustrating.
- Glitch in tutorial progression (weight 0.02): Some players are unable to progress past the tutorial due to a glitch. This issue prevents players from fully experiencing the game and can be very frustrating.
- Slow scroll speed (weight 0.02): The scroll speed in the game is reported to be slow, which can make navigation and gameplay feel sluggish and less responsive.

Recommendations:
- Mixed recommendations on purchase timing (weight 0.19): Reviewers have varying opinions on when to buy the game. Some recommend buying it even at full price, while others suggest waiting for a sale or deep discount.
- Recommended for strategy and tragedy fans (weight 0.1): The game is highly recommended for those who enjoy strategic gameplay and tragic themes. It is also suggested for fans of turn-based strategy games.
- Similar to XCOM and Darkest Dungeon (weight 0.07): Fans of XCOM and Darkest Dungeon are likely to enjoy this game due to its similar tactical and strategic elements.
- Recommended for challenge seekers (weight 0.07): The game is recommended for those who enjoy challenging and rewarding gameplay, as well as those who prefer playing on higher difficulties like nightmare mode.
- Gameplay tips and settings (weight 0.06): Reviewers suggest using mouse and keyboard for a better experience and enabling animation speed settings. Additionally, some gameplay tips include skipping turns to let enemies come closer and avoiding spending points on movement.
- Unique tactical experience (weight 0.04): The game offers a unique tactical experience that is highly recommended for fans of the genre.
- Recommended despite some flaws (weight 0.02): Some reviewers recommend the game despite its bugs and flaws, indicating that the overall experience is still enjoyable.
- Good value for money (weight 0.02): The game is considered a good value for money, especially when purchased during sales.
- Positive outlook on future installments (weight 0.02): Reviewers express interest in future installments, indicating that they enjoyed the game enough to want more.
- Enjoyment of roguelite elements (weight 0.02): The game is recommended for those who enjoy roguelite elements, adding to its appeal for fans of this specific gameplay style.
- DLC recommendation (weight 0.02): Reviewers recommend the game's DLC for an enhanced experience, suggesting that it adds significant value.
- Play without guides (weight 0.02): Some reviewers recommend playing the game without guides to fully immerse oneself in the experience.

Other player notes:
- Character model bug reported (weight 0.03): Players have reported a bug where a character's model changes unexpectedly during gameplay. This issue affects the visual consistency and immersion.
- Gender ratio in development team (weight 0.02): Some reviews mention the gender ratio within the development team. This feedback is more related to the development context rather than the gameplay experience itself.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.28): Players are frustrated by a variety of gameplay issues, including an overly difficult final boss, repetitive gameplay mechanics, and numerous bugs. The game's high difficulty, lack of clear communication on mechanics, and unbalanced gameplay elements, such as unfair enemy actions and poorly designed boss fights, contribute significantly to this frustration.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.17): Players enjoy the game's unique art style, engaging soundtrack, and challenging gameplay mechanics. The strategic depth, atmospheric visuals, and rewarding combat system contribute to a positive experience, making the game enjoyable despite its difficulties.
- Disappointment (weight 0.1): Players feel disappointed due to the game's repetitive gameplay, lack of depth, and poor balance. The limited variety in missions, enemies, and character abilities, along with a lack of meaningful progression and narrative depth, contribute to this disappointment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.09): Players find satisfaction in the game's challenging yet rewarding gameplay loop, strategic depth, and unique mechanics. The sense of accomplishment from overcoming difficult bosses and completing missions, along with the game's atmospheric style and engaging combat, contribute to this satisfaction.
- Joy (weight 0.07): Players experience joy from the game's beautiful aesthetic, engaging music, and unique story elements. The stylish visuals, well-developed plot, and enjoyable gameplay mechanics create a positive and immersive experience.
- Positive (weight 0.04): Players have a positive experience due to the game's great mechanics, story, and art style. The unique visuals, interesting narrative, and enjoyable gameplay contribute to an overall positive impression.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the game's unique art style, strategic depth, and innovative combat mechanics. The detailed AI behavior, challenging gameplay, and atmospheric elements contribute to a sense of appreciation.
- Admiration (weight 0.03): Players admire the game's unique visual style, excellent soundtrack, and innovative mechanics. The immersive atmosphere, good concept, and turn-based strategy mechanics contribute to this admiration.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Players are excited by the game's epic soundtrack, unique visual style, and engaging combat mechanics. The challenging and rewarding boss battles, along with the unique art style, contribute to this excitement.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.02): Players are enthusiastic about the game's unique features, replayability, and detailed mechanics. The positive gameplay experience and the depth of the game's systems contribute to this enthusiasm.
- Disappointed (weight 0.01): Players feel disappointed due to the lack of variety and repetitive gameplay. The game's strange difficulty, imbalanced classes, and slow, repetitive combat contribute to this disappointment.
- Negative (weight 0.01): Players have a negative experience due to camera issues, unreasonable monster spawning, and various bugs. The uncomfortable interface, poor translation, and weak ending contribute to this negative sentiment.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Players feel anger due to the unbalanced difficulty and boss fights. The frustration with game mechanics, random and unfair boss abilities, and an overly difficult final boss contribute to this anger.
- Happy (weight 0.01): Players are happy with the game's beautiful art and great art direction. The stylish visuals and unique aesthetic elements contribute to this happiness.
- Challenged (weight 0.01): Players feel challenged by the game's very hard and punishing gameplay. The difficult puzzle elements, hard final boss, and the need to understand complex mechanics contribute to this sense of challenge.
- Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players feel frustrated due to infuriating bugs and unclear gameplay mechanics. The repetitive and tedious gameplay, along with repetitive maps and lack of variety, contribute to this frustration.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Players experience boredom due to repetitive gameplay and lack of variation. The monotonous late-game experience, repetitive missions, and lack of character development contribute to this boredom.
- Mixed feelings (weight 0.01): Players have mixed feelings due to the game's good visuals and music but repetitive gameplay. The positive experience with initial gameplay and visuals is contrasted by the negative experience with repetitiveness and story.
- Hope (weight 0): Players feel hopeful about future improvements and sequels with more content. The resurrection tokens and meta progression perks contribute to this sense of hope.
- Curiosity (weight 0): Players are curious about the game's intriguing concept of sacrificing daughters and unique gameplay tricks. The innovative mechanics and interesting story elements contribute to this curiosity.}