With all the issues around Ubisoft I am happy to boycott them. One game that does tempt me though is Mario & Rabbids. I enjoy the X-Com style game without the X-Com difficulty. M&R gave me that. Thankfully I found Fort Triumph which really scratches that itch.
Fort Triumph is a game heavily inspired by both X-Com and Heroes or Might & Magic, something the developers happily mention on their own descriptions of the game. You get he turn-based battles of X-Com whilst Heroes covers a lot of the rest of the game.
I would say there are some light 4X elements in this, which at first had me concerned, but to my surprise, it is very manageable. It all works within the game’s own rules and is designed to keep you moving forward to get enjoyment from the experience. Something other games in the genre seem to fight against.
The HoMM stuff is pretty decent and I enjoyed the exploration that comes from it. I don’t usually find myself able to connect with fantasy world settings, but Cookiebyte Entertainment have done wonderfully well in building a world that managed to draw me in.
The game is very single player focussed, something I have seen some complaints about online, but as someone who struggles with this genre at the best of times, it is a welcome thing. I dread needing to play these games online, as I know I will lose every single time. So the ability to get enjoyment from the campaign and then enjoy skirmishes against bots is ideal. I do understand though that others may feel different.
The X-Com portion of the game is something that I find is difficult to really change up, whilst it hasn’t been perfected as such, when a game tries to do something wildly different it just feels off. Like if a racing game stops using triggers for accelerate and brake, or an FPS isn’t using the standard control scheme. It is the same with these types of turn-based action strategy games.
You get you usual unit classes, action points, rules, etc and you’ll need to out fox your opponents to win and progress. Honestly nothing outlandish here and Fort Triumph benefits from it. I was able to get a feel for the game within my first few battles and then I could concentrate on strategy and tactics, rather than trying to still fight new systems and controls.
It makes for a very enjoyable experience. One that is challenging, sure, but ultimately rewarding. It may not be anything special, especially among those who adore X-Com and more in-depth 4X games, but for me, someone who loves the idea of them, but finds them too complex… Well this is just perfect.
