Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander

This review is more for people who are on the fence for purchasing this game, and are looking to get more insight from the reviews. There are a load of reviews comparing this to FTL, but the only similarities that these two games have is that they're both in the space genre. Don't get me wrong - this game mixes the base-building of X-Com with the encounter RNG of Darkest Dungeon. You get to expand your starbase out, while dealing with random encounters of other alien races, pirates, space monsters, etc. It's exciting because even as you're going through the tutorial, you can see the potential for a great game to unfold. Unfortunately, this excitement dries up after an hour of grinding the same planets and battles. The FIRST problem is that the combat in this game is a turn-based JRPG style - not the real-time, systems-based battles of FTL or the tactical RPG of X-Com. Unlike most JRPGs that sport an expansive selection of actions, you have a very limited number of attacks/buff...

Before I purchased Halcyon, I noticed a common thread in several of the reviews, both positive and negative, that stated that the game had a lot of ‘grinding.’ Many games have grinding as a prominent feature, but the difference between the good and bad ones is always down to the mechanics and the gameplay loop. RPGs in particular have lived and died by the nature of ‘the grind,’ but it takes an investment of time and effort to figure that out for yourself. Even then, the perception can be different between each player. With Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander, I felt that the comparisons used in many descriptions (XCOM, FTL, Final Fantasy) were appealing enough when combined with the premise that I should at least give it a shot, but I ultimately found out that that the grind quickly overcame those positives. First, let me say that the beginning of the game wasn’t wholly unpleasant. I found the combat acceptable and assumed that a variety of enemies and scenarios would follow...

A great sci-fi turned based stratergy game. Reminds me a little of FTL... Pros: +Lovely pixel art +Satisfying combat, each attack feels great +Lots of ship and captain customisation +Base building, clear parts of the space station and then build the rooms of your choice +Plenty of difficulty choices, so play as chilled or intense as you want +A decent amount of interesting story and each captain has their own background +Both ship to ship and ground combat +Easy to play a few minutes or loose yourself for a few hours Neutral: =No major bugs or gliches for me so far, but it does crash everytime I exit the game =Grinding. It's a love or hate situation. Personally I felt that it has just the right amount of grinding for levels/resources, but others may find it a little boring =There are quite a few things that aren't really explained properly. I felt that this added a little sense of mystery to gameplay, but others may find it annoying Negatve -Combat does get somewhat 'samey' after a ...

XCOM! Master of Orion! Civilization! FTL! I love all of those games, and having them as inspirations gave me great hopes for the game. And, in the beginning, it was good. For a while. There's a science system with a tech tree! There is a base that you get to build up (fun!) that looks (and feels) suspiciously similar to the one from XCOM2! There are battle tactics that you can use to "exploit" your enemies' weaknesses! There is a wide(-ish) universe just waiting to be explored! There's some sort of story going on that you get to slowly learn about! But then... it became tedious. The tech tree is 100% linear and gives very few (no?) options, since you'll probably just research everything. Research itself seems tacked on - you simply "buy" the techs (instantly) with the exact same resources you use for everything else. The buildings you can build in the starbase are extremely limited, and they sometimes produce unexpected results. (For example, you can build two Dark Matter Multiplie...

I originally wrote a negative review for this game, then I played it again on a harder difficulty. I discovered that almost all of my complaints went away on a higher level, and I'm having tons of fun with it now. I recommend going a level harder than you think you should, because if the game is too easy it eventually becomes a grindey snoozefest halfway through. On higher levels the enemy is constantly breathing down your neck and you're forced to prioritize your actions and plan ahead. Don't be afraid, the game doesn't become frustrating, it just gets more interesting. By far the best aspects of the game are the graphics and the writing. The overall presentation is extremely charming and witty. The game has problems, but when you beat the game you get a message from the devs saying they have plans to fix the issues and spice up the gameplay. I've decided to trust them. If the devs deliver what they promise, this could be a classic on par with FTL, but it's not quite there ...

Fantastic gem of a game.... I'm lovin it so far. It's like Xcom meets Star Trek you can even rename your ships and officers. Just shows you that you don't need AAA game graphics with a high price tag to be a good game. Thumbs up For The Devs.

This game is a great platform for all kinds of amazing content and feature expansions down the road. However, it is just too simple and deterministic right now. There needs to be more risk, emergent elements, and tactical depth before it can reach a level of engagement on par with comperable games like FTL or Darkest Dungeon. In short, after only a few hours, I felt like this game had nothing more to offer me. In terms of tactics, I cant put my finger on exactly what is missing because I am not a game designer, but all of the combat seems very simple and static compared to games like Darkest Dungeon -- which is a game that has basically the same turn based mechanics, but is still somehow more challenging and dynamic. I will definitely revisit this game after a few patches, content updates, or DLC purchases -- but until then I can't recommend it.

[h1] NOT AT ALL LIKE FTL OR XCOM [/h1] Now that we got that out of the way, Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander is a difficult turn based space RPG. You are the reminants of an alliance that was all but destroyed by an unkown foe. Tasked with survivng and eliminating this unkown foe, you upgrade your starbase (Halcyon 6), train crew, gather resources and build ships to pilot in your strugle. Gameplay revolves around a time system. Activities outside of combat take X amount of days to complete, meaning time management is a core part of gameplay. The 3 resources that the game has you gather are mainly gained by visiting locations around the map by sending a fleet to retrieve them (there is travel time in days), winning battles, and finishing quests. These resources are used to upgrade your tech and build new ships. Combat is done in an old school turn based system akin to early Final Fantasy games, be it ground or space combat. Turn order is displayed for you to use for planning out your ...

[h1]FTL meets XCOM. [/h1] Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander is a space strategy game from Massive Damage. Artefacts of an ancient, highly advanced civilization have been left scattered throughout occupied space. Halcyon 6, a derelict starbase, is one such artefact. Now in the hands of the Human Federation, Halcyon 6 is yours to command and restore, but with several factions around you, including a mysterious alien force, it’s going to be difficult to restore the base and protect nearby human settlements. Visually, Halcyon 6 is fantastic. The pixel graphics are awesome, the menus and UI are great too. The design, though, is what really makes the visual side of things shine. The different factions are all well thought out and they look awesome, plus the different factions all have their own ships which are also very well designed. Halcyon 6’s gameplay consists of several different elements which come together to create one game. Firstly, we have base building a la XCOM. You clear out...

Buy the game if you enjoy fighting the same thing over and over and over again with the same abilities and strategies every fight. The enemies simply get larger and gain more HP so you just have to keep doing the same thing over and over for longer as time progresses! EDIT: You will spend the great majority of your time fighting the enemy by inflicting status effects and then using a different ability that exposes that status effect for extra damage. You then repeat this process many times until you win. There are other aspects to the game beyond the combat, but due to the nature of the alien enemy, they will spawn endlessly from their spires (spawn points) until you reach a certain research level (tier 3 I presume, I haven't actually got there yet). During that time in which you cannot attack their spires from which they spawn, you will have to deal with endless waves of enemies that progressively get larger and stronger as I said above. You have to progress in tech and build lar...