ezramantis Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Every few months I buy a tactical rpg for my PS4 in the hopes that I can get an experience that even remotely compares to Malifaux. Every one has ended up boring me after I get past the discovery stage. Almost all of the skills are "+percent to thing you do". Boring. No pushes or moving other models. Boring. If there are objectives outside of "kill all da udder guys" they end up having far less game impact, value, or efficiency than just wiping the board. Boring. I dislike moving all my guys and then the computer moves all it's guys games. If there are actions that buff a team mate, debuff a foe, create an aura, or set up shennanigans they ultimately aren't as worthwhile or efficient as just hitting the enemy with your sword instead. Malifaux has ruined me. I buy games with 8+ review ratings and they feel like 5's at best compared to the experience of Malifaux. Now I HAVE gotten hours of play out of XCOM 2 and Mordheim but after a while they get stale because of reasons I've mentioned. Anyone have any recommendations for video games to check out that might live up to malifaux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannydb Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 play malifaux on vassal? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikodemus Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 I haven't gotten round to it yet, grain of salt and all that, but Into the Breach seems interesting. Specifically the bit about "pushing or moving models". From what I've seen it has a fair bit of offensive model displacement and terrain/objectives influencing your positioning a fair bit. Not what you're asking but since we're talking games... When it comes to 1v1 board games I quite enjoy Tash Kalar. Far simple game compared to Malifaux but it too relies heavily on correct positioning on the board and achieving objectives that are (usually) not directly tied to how much of the opponent you kill. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted August 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 8 hours ago, dannydb said: play malifaux on vassal? I have done this with my brother. It's great cause he lives elswhere. Unfortunately he's recently married with a kid so no time to play with his brother. Which isn't fair! I've known him longer daggit! Haha My goal is to have something I can play whenever I get the hankering without scheduling conflicts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted August 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Nikodemus said: I haven't gotten round to it yet, grain of salt and all that, but Into the Breach seems interesting. Specifically the bit about "pushing or moving models". From what I've seen it has a fair bit of offensive model displacement and terrain/objectives influencing your positioning a fair bit. Not what you're asking but since we're talking games... When it comes to 1v1 board games I quite enjoy Tash Kalar. Far simple game compared to Malifaux but it too relies heavily on correct positioning on the board and achieving objectives that are (usually) not directly tied to how much of the opponent you kill. Thanks, I'll check those out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyrdGM Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Tactical Breach Wizards? Only saw a little bit of it, but it looked interesting.https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043810/Tactical_Breach_Wizards/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoredroids Posted August 23, 2019 Report Share Posted August 23, 2019 Into the Breach is indeed very good, but still not Malifaux. ...but that's as good as it gets. Malifaux is in a league of its own. Most developers haven't discovered that objectives are far more compelling and offer a wider design space than simply clearing a board. They're also a lot harder to design around. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannydb Posted August 24, 2019 Report Share Posted August 24, 2019 On 8/23/2019 at 7:32 PM, ezramantis said: I have done this with my brother. It's great cause he lives elswhere. Unfortunately he's recently married with a kid so no time to play with his brother. Which isn't fair! I've known him longer daggit! Haha My goal is to have something I can play whenever I get the hankering without scheduling conflicts. well there is plenty of other people to play- recently just TOed a 18ish man torderment on there check us out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MalifauxVassalPlayers/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted September 16, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2019 Well, I've tried out Banner Saga and while it does have some push/pull mechanisms the battlefield is a featureless grid so they seem largely trivial in the long run. Also it's essentially a maths puzzle where I subtract from my enemy's armor until it makes sense to subtract from it's life/strength. Maybe I'm missing some positioning nuances that would come from repeated play but it's not engaging enough for me to get there. So I'm back to XCOM with a new dlc purchase: War of the Chosen. So far it's adding enough to satisfy me. Would love if it had a "one off" mission mode so I didn't have to play through the strategy layer to get to the skills and equipment that adds spice to the game. Plus I get attached to my troops gosh dangit! Losing a good soldier in a mission means they're gone. I think my best bet at this point is to play through the game on easy to build up a "model pool" making save games at points in the story that allow me a variety of missions/soldiers and then just loading up those saves when I feel like a quick battle. I could see how long I can put off spending upgrades/level ups so that I can custom build a "crew" every time an pick which mission I feel like playing. At any rate, would love to keep this thread active as a library of suggestions, cause I'm always looking and I'm sure others are as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted December 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2019 Thinking about getting "mutant year zero: road to eden" for ps4. Supposedly has a "stalker mode" that lets you just play missions with characters and skills unlocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clockwork_Fish Posted December 27, 2019 Report Share Posted December 27, 2019 Try Divinity: Original Sin 2. The game is all about conditions, board control, and movement. It doesn’t have a lot of “objective” based fights, but almost every fight has a unique gimmick or mechanic. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted July 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 D:OSII is great. I bought it largely because of the arena mode. I like the conditions and positioning tricks. Some of the fights in the story are freaking awesome! At one point I had a running retreat, through a gate to catch my breath, further retreating to a bottle neck and just barely coming out on top. The game fights are PACKED with drama and tension. The areana mode is hit or miss depending on my mood. Great mechanics though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted July 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 Been playing Age of Wonders: Planetfall and enjoying it. Have to play though the strategy portion to get to the good stuff. Lots of faction and special tech combos to keep things interesting. We'll see how long it takes to get bored. The only objective is wipe the board so it generally means focus fire on one or two dudes til they're dead and move on to get numbers advantage. Status effects out the wazoo, almost too many to keep straight, especially when you have similar names/themes like burning, immolate, charred, etc. It's quite easy and too tempting to stack the battle in your favor by bringing multiple armies, but that's up to me to control myself: if i want a fair fight I shouldn't weight it in my favor :P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoredroids Posted July 5, 2020 Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 I forgot about this thread! You might try Druidstone: Secret of Menhir Forest. The game is just a series of re-playable levels, each a different combat. Feels almost puzzle-y. Is mostly objectives that go beyond board clearance. The more objectives you complete, the more upgrades you unlock. You need to kit out your characters in specific ways to better tackle particular levels, so you might find yourself wracking your brain trying to figure out how to complete that tricky objective to get that upgrade so you can more easily beat the next fight. It's very satisfying. Wildermyth might be your style too, but I'm too early into it to be sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted July 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 Sounds like something I'd dig. I'll have to check em out if'n i get a decent pc. Right now I'm just on ps4 which i realize limits my options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueskies_overhead Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Not sure if you have played Divinity 2 Original Sin but it compares quite favorably on classic mode or harder. It is hard though, just like Malifaux. Plenty of interactions between burning, water, surfaces, teleporting, moving, ranged bonuses, weaknesses, etc. Quite honestly it is a bit overwhelming but sounds like what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touchdown Posted July 16, 2020 Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 On 12/22/2019 at 8:03 AM, ezramantis said: Thinking about getting "mutant year zero: road to eden" for ps4. Supposedly has a "stalker mode" that lets you just play missions with characters and skills unlocked. I played through the base game on PC and found it disappointing overall. There's no start of battle positioning so the before battle walking around is annoying in an unfun way. Also the way the enemy difficulty scales up, you end up doing the same percentage of damage with attacks through the whole game (ie like 2 damage on 6 wound enemies then 4 damage on 12 wound enemies later). There are some fun abilities but the game is mostly about stun locking your enemies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touchdown Posted July 16, 2020 Report Share Posted July 16, 2020 Some tactical games I have liked, and haven't been mentioned yet Shadowrun: Daggerfall. There's a reasonable amount of push, pull, create blocking terrain abilities Expeditions: Conquistador. I've actually haven't finished this one, but it's fun. There's a survival element that you may or may not like too (you have to feed your troops and find safe places to camp). They also made a Vikings game that looks good but I haven't put time into yet. Blackguards. Went under the radar a bit, but very fun. Very few kill all enemies battles and a lot of crafted scenarios that are tricky to figure out. Note: apparently the sequel is no good. They tried to do a auto-generated battle system and everyone I talked to said it wasn't fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted July 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 Was reminded today of one of the things i didn't like about D2:OS. The fact that you have to deplete a foes armor before status effects are even considered to take effect. Not sure why they went that way instead of giving a different percentage chance with/without armor, but there ya go. I'll have to look into those touchdown. Maybe it's time i buy a gaming pc as many of the suggestions in the thread aren't on console Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
touchdown Posted July 20, 2020 Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 The 3 games I mentioned are all pretty low requirements. You may just want to try giving some a try. Steam has a fairly good refund policy, no questions asked if you play under 2 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueskies_overhead Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 On 7/20/2020 at 6:40 AM, ezramantis said: Was reminded today of one of the things i didn't like about D2:OS. The fact that you have to deplete a foes armor before status effects are even considered to take effect. Not sure why they went that way instead of giving a different percentage chance with/without armor, but there ya go. I'll have to look into those touchdown. Maybe it's time i buy a gaming pc as many of the suggestions in the thread aren't on console If you have to whiddle their armor down it reduces the amount of random chance in the game and makes it more strategic. Otherwise some of the powerful status effects could make it possible for low level characters to defeat high level ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Week Posted July 21, 2023 Report Share Posted July 21, 2023 I feel you on the struggle of finding a PC/console game that compares to Malifaux. But here are a few recommendations that might scratch that itch: 1. Divinity: Original Sin 2 - It's a tactical RPG with deep gameplay, player choice, and strategic combat. 2. The Banner Saga series - This story-driven tactical RPG offers stunning visuals, decision-making, and intense battles. 3. Battle Brothers - If you enjoyed Mordheim, give this turn-based strategy game a shot. Lead mercenaries through a gritty medieval world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Danev Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Another vote for Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Played it few years ago and my instant feel was "Wow, omg, that is sooo Malifaux!". And of course, the game is just awesome, not just the battles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undead Content Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Is that... is that post by Brad Week a ChatGPT generated spam message with the spam link tacked last? If so, Terrifying (18) edit: To contribute something to actual topic for other people who might seek these things, Urtuk: The Desolation has a nice, gimmicky combat system. But still, only combat. Seems like the way Malifaux represents win conditions is almost unheard of in digital gaming. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezramantis Posted February 11 Author Report Share Posted February 11 This just came out... https://store.steampowered.com/app/845890/Moonbreaker/ "Moonbreaker" Has some interesting synergies to be discovered. I move all my dudes, you move all your dudes. Quick games. Push/pull effects and ability auras so positioning has some real importance. Games are won by either accumulating 5 points more than your opponent (by killing models and controlling specific zones) or by assassinating your opponents leader. It has a pretty well done custom paint job feature. It's scratching the itch for the moment. Hoping it develops and they add more game styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.