Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure
- March 8, 2018
- Pixel Wizards
- 50h median play time
Expanding on the turn based nature of the Chess Board game and giving it a fantasy setting Chessaria has a chance to bring Chess to the masses.
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Get on itch.io StoreChessaria delivers for the first time ever, classic Chess combat backed with an epic fantasy quest. Challenge your tactical skills as you battle for Chessaria's destiny.
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Reviews
- The game features a unique blend of chess and adventure, offering engaging puzzles and a variety of scenarios that challenge players' strategic thinking.
- The graphics and art style are visually appealing, with a well-executed fantasy theme that enhances the overall experience.
- The single-player adventure mode is enjoyable and provides a good learning curve for players, making it accessible even for those who are not chess enthusiasts.
- The game lacks essential features like an undo move button, which can lead to frustrating experiences when players make mistakes.
- There are significant performance issues, with reports of overheating and high resource consumption even on capable machines.
- The AI can be inconsistent, sometimes making illogical moves, and the game does not effectively teach traditional chess concepts, which may disappoint purists.
- graphics38 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful artwork, colorful environments, and attention to detail, particularly in the character models and animations. However, some users criticize the game's optimization and claim that the graphics do not match the quality shown in previews, leading to disappointment despite having high-end hardware. Overall, while the artistic style is appreciated, there are concerns about performance and graphical fidelity.
“The attention to detail in the graphics is gorgeous and the animations are cute.”
“The gameplay is smooth and the graphics are beautiful.”
“As if that isn't everything, the graphics are colorful, fun, and the world and the chess boards are seamlessly integrated.”
“Graphically, it is nothing special.”
“As to why something as poorly animated and drawn requires an i7 only speaks to poor optimization - this is not some marvel like Assassin's Creed - in fact, this is not graphically near the standard of the first AC.”
“Restarting the game and getting past the opening screen reveals that it is running websites in the background, and the graphics do not reflect what was shown in the previews, despite having a very good graphics card and everything maxed out.”
- story28 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is described as lacking depth, with no meaningful narrative but featuring a colorful cast and engaging voice dialogues that may appeal to younger players. While the campaign offers a variety of challenging missions and puzzle setups, it is noted that the game could benefit from an expanded storyline and additional content. Overall, players appreciate the unique blend of chess puzzles and adventure elements, though some missions can be frustratingly difficult.
“Not truly original, as many chess games have featured puzzle modes and campaigns, but this one is well done, and the campaign has a good amount of variety to its mission structure.”
“Overall, if you want this game so you can play solo chess puzzles through a long and detailed story mode, then it may just be worth it.”
“A variety of setups, number of pieces, and interesting missions, alongside a fun story where characters speak and progress it forward, this is truly a hallmark in chess games.”
“The most egregious example of how stupid this game is (in my single hour of playtime) was when I was playing one of the missions described above.”
“There really is no meaningful story to speak of, but the colorful cast and voice dialogues could appeal to kids.”
“The worst part though is they put in beat the stupid clock missions, so it's not a casual game, it's rush!”
- music16 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its superb quality, enhancing the overall experience with a soothing ambient soundtrack that complements the fantasy setting and challenging puzzles. Reviewers note that the epic themes elevate the gameplay, making it enjoyable even for those who typically prefer to mute in-game music. Overall, the combination of great sound and visuals contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
“The ambient music is soothing and adds to the puzzles as you think your way through each one of the different challenges presented to you in a fantasy world environment.”
“Lots of content, often challenging, wonderful art style, and great music/sound.”
“The music is superb.”
“Normally, I don't like music and I normally switch off in-game music.”
“If you wished you could play chess with 3D graphics and a fantasy setting pieces, as well as a soundtrack, this game might also be for you.”
- gameplay6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The gameplay features a puzzling mechanic centered around "civilian" pieces, which players must maneuver to prevent advancing pawns from capturing them. While some design choices have been criticized, overall, the gameplay is generally regarded as enjoyable.
“The gameplay is great.”
“Most of these puzzles revolve around this moronic 'civilians' mechanic, meaning that your objective will be to shamble one or two pieces all over the board, trying to keep a group of slowly advancing pawns from capturing these useless 'civilian' pieces that just sit at the back of the board.”
“There are a few design choices in terms of gameplay which I found a little questionable.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The optimization of Chessaria is notably poor, with users reporting significant performance issues that require additional software and manual adjustments to system settings for smoother gameplay. This has led to a frustrating experience, suggesting that potential players should be cautious if they prioritize optimization in their gaming experience.
“If you're looking for a fantasy RPG with a decent plot, any character advancement, decent dialogue, or decent optimization... don't get this.”
“My friend had to install specific software to limit the performance consumption of Chessaria (though that caused it to run less smoothly), and I had to edit power settings to force it to only run off one of my computer cores.”
“So just be aware if you want to get Chessaria that there is some sort of performance issue.”
“If you're looking for a fantasy RPG with a decent plot, any character advancement, decent dialogue, or decent optimization... don't get this...”
- grinding4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as early levels focus on repetitive mobility puzzles without teaching essential skills or techniques. While the pace of the computer's moves keeps waiting times short, the overall experience is described as monotonous and lacking in engagement.
“Rather than teaching you any fundamentals or useful techniques, within the first dozen levels, you will have played that many tedious mobility puzzles.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its impressive attention to detail in the surrounding scenery, which enhances the overall experience without being intrusive. This thoughtful design effectively complements the game's theme and setting, creating an immersive environment.
“The detail that has gone into the surrounding scenery is impressive and really helps add to the atmosphere.”
“It is atmospheric, not too intrusive, and really suits the theme and setting well.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Users express that certain frustrating elements significantly hinder the game's replayability, making it less enjoyable to revisit specific sections.
“This is frustrating and seriously detracts from the replayability of some parts of the game.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Initial versions of the game suffered from numerous stability issues, including typos, glitches, and poor AI, which detracted from the overall experience. However, subsequent updates have addressed these problems significantly, leading to a much more stable and polished gameplay experience.
“I have to admit, the early version was a bit embarrassing: typos everywhere, glitches, mediocre AI, poor game customization, and no option to skip cutscenes that you've seen a thousand times because that stupid boss keeps defeating you.”
