Athena Crisis
- September 23, 2024
- Nakazawa Tech
It’s not quite at the level of the games that inspired it, but Athena Crisis is a great effort with loads of customisation options.
Get on SteamAthena Crisis is a modern retro turn-based strategy game, reminiscent of classics like Into The Breach and Advance Wars. Engage in single-player campaigns, sync and async online multiplayer, and utilize a full map and campaign editor. Gain resources by capturing structures, build more powerful units, and aim to defeat enemies, capture their bases, or escort them to escape zones. Your actions can impact other players' games, adding an extra layer of strategy.
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Reviews
- Athena Crisis offers a fresh take on the Advance Wars formula with a variety of new units and mechanics, enhancing the strategic depth of gameplay.
- The game features a robust community-driven map editor and campaign creator, allowing for endless replayability and user-generated content.
- The developer is highly responsive to player feedback, frequently releasing updates and improvements, which shows a commitment to enhancing the player experience.
- The single-player campaign lacks engaging characters and animations, which diminishes the overall charm compared to the original Advance Wars.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making navigation and understanding unit mechanics frustrating for players, especially newcomers to the genre.
- The requirement for a constant internet connection and the absence of local multiplayer options limit the game's accessibility and enjoyment for some players.
- gameplay41 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Athena Crisis is praised for its fast-paced, engaging mechanics and diverse unit roster, offering a fresh take on the Advance Wars formula. While the game runs well on low-spec machines and features unique elements like a Dark Souls-style invasion system, some players express frustration over the necessity of multiplayer for unlocking content and the lack of clear explanations for certain mechanics. Overall, the game is seen as a love letter to the genre, with potential for future updates to address current shortcomings.
“The true evolution of the Advance Wars formula, Athena Crisis vastly expands the unit and building roster of the game, while the property construction/destruction mechanic in addition to the existing capture mechanic adds a welcome dynamism to the battlefield and makes each match even more different.”
“Clean gameplay, async matchmaking, lots of variety, and good balance.”
“The gameplay is snappy and the strategy is pretty well tuned.”
“I resent being forced to play multiplayer if I want all the unlockable gameplay content.”
“The game on its own would do a poor job of explaining the gameplay mechanics to those unfamiliar with this genre of game.”
“Cons: some gameplay mechanics aren't explained, like how to resupply aircraft.”
- story15 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it engaging enough to follow, despite a lack of gripping narrative and charming characters. While the main campaign offers a variety of missions and a fair challenge, the overall storyline is criticized for being nonsensical and poorly designed. Additionally, players have noted issues with mission accessibility and balance, which detracts from the overall experience.
“The main campaign was tough but fair, with a nice variety of missions and some goofy enemies to fight.”
“The prequel campaign doesn't have any characters with inconsistent motivations or actions, and while I do understand it's a much more lighthearted story style so far, I vastly prefer Athena's Crisis' story over Wargroove's butchered potential.”
“Characters lack any charm, and the campaign story is nonsensical with poorly designed maps.”
“The overall storyline of the campaign is not particularly gripping, but it certainly is engaging enough to follow along with the characters and see how it unfolds.”
“The campaign balance felt off in the first levels I tried, with too many units to keep track of, making the missions too simple (on normal) and dragging out the turns in managing all of them.”
- music13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many finding it forgettable and lacking variety, particularly noting the absence of dynamic changes during gameplay. While some appreciate the nostalgic retro art style and catchy melodies, others resort to personal playlists to enhance their experience. Overall, the soundtrack is described as decent but limited, with a few standout tracks that resonate more with specific musical tastes.
“Music isn't anything exciting, but it hits the right spots.”
“The soundtrack is decent as well.”
“Retro art style and catchy looping melodies in the background music really contribute to the nostalgia.”
“The music is very forgettable.”
“There are other things like how the music doesn't swap when the opposing side takes their turn, which is surprisingly noticeable as it makes all the gameplay just mush into one repeating soup.”
“The song choices are extremely limited.”
- graphics9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a retro pixel art style that evokes nostalgia, appealing to fans of classic turn-based games like Advance Wars. While some players appreciate the engaging visuals and unique aesthetic, others find certain sound elements, particularly the attack sounds, to be grating and low quality, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the game successfully combines charming graphics with fun gameplay, though opinions on the sound design vary significantly.
“If you are interested in turn-based games and you like pixel graphics, do consider giving this gem a shot.”
“Really enjoyed the game so far, fun gameplay and engaging graphics.”
“Retro art style and catchy looping melodies in the background music really contribute to the nostalgia.”
“Not just in an aesthetically boring or underwhelming way, but in an actually grating manner; the attack sounds are so horribly bit-crushed that I didn't want to attack things with my basic infantry because the sound of their rifles was physically grating to hear.”
“I understand that the point is to present a lo-fi aesthetic, but the developer's ear must be very different from mine, because I think the sounds they chose are way too low quality.”
“The game is hard; don't be misled by the pastel colors and cute graphics.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is commendable, with users reporting solid performance at 60 fps in online mode and smooth gameplay even on large maps in early access. While offline performance may vary by device, the game is notably polished and performs well on platforms like the Steam Deck. The robust map editor further enhances the experience, allowing for extensive customization without performance issues.
“Performance in online mode is a solid 60 fps, but in offline mode it depends on the device.”
“The game is also quite polished for an early access game, with smooth performance even on large maps, and a map editor much more powerful than Advance Wars', with everything you need to create anything from simple PvP maps to entire campaigns with scripted events, custom win conditions, and secret triggers.”
“Happy with the performance on the Steam Deck.”
“Performance in online mode is a solid 60 fps, but in offline mode, it depends on the device.”
“The game is also quite polished for an early access game, with smooth performance even on large maps, and a map editor much more powerful than Advance Wars' with everything you need to create anything from simple PvP maps to entire campaigns with scripted events, custom win conditions, and secret triggers.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by amusing scenarios, such as a T-rex chomping a tank, and fun dialogue that adds charm to the experience. Players appreciate the comedic elements that arise from gameplay mechanics, like the ability to destroy and build on opponents' structures in a single turn, enhancing the overall enjoyment.
“A T-Rex chomping a tank is still so funny.”
“Dialogue has bits of fun humor.”
“It also means you can destroy your opponent's building and then build on top of it in the same turn, which is hilarious when you can pull it off.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its depth and complexity, offering players a variety of experiences through its scenario editor and community maps. While it requires an online connection, this feature enhances the potential for infinite replay value.
“High replay value.”
“There's enough depth and complexity to the game systems here that this will have plenty of replayability.”
“Although it always requires an online connection, there is a benefit in the way of infinite replay value thanks to the scenario editor and community maps.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report that the game's menus are confusing and buggy, making navigation difficult. Additionally, there are limitations such as the inability to choose team colors and adjust UI scale, which detracts from the overall experience. The lack of battle animations is also noted, though this is seen as a matter of personal preference.
“The menus feel a bit confusing or buggy in terms of navigation and design.”
“I can't choose my team colors, the menus are unpleasant to navigate and feel too utilitarian in design. In addition to being buggy, I can't change the UI scale and the game lacks battle animations (I admit this one is a personal taste for me).”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players have noted the presence of ads in the game, indicating that monetization primarily relies on advertising rather than in-app purchases or other methods.
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without constant interruptions.”
“I was disappointed by the number of ads; it really detracted from the overall experience.”
“It seems like every feature is locked behind a paywall, which makes progression frustrating.”
