Great Houses of Calderia
- May 2, 2024
- Resistance Games
- 15h median play time
Get on Steam"Great Houses of Calderia" is a feudal grand strategy game set in a renaissance-inspired mythical province. As a noble family, your goal is to rule Calderia and overcome the power-hungry Viceroy. You must manage your house leaders and their family members, each with their own stories and desires, by assigning them to key tasks and considering their traits and personalities. Make critical decisions during battles and diplomatic events to rise in the ranks.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a unique focus on family dynamics and political intrigue, making it a refreshing take on the grand strategy genre.
- The detailed visuals and Renaissance-inspired aesthetics enhance the immersive experience of managing a noble house.
- High replayability with modding support and dynamic gameplay elements keeps players engaged.
- The user interface is cluttered and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and manage characters effectively.
- Gameplay can become repetitive quickly, especially after reaching certain milestones, leading to a lack of long-term engagement.
- The game suffers from technical issues, including crashes and performance drops, which hinder the overall experience.
- gameplay78 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Great Houses of Calderia" offers a blend of strategic planning and tactical combat within a visually appealing renaissance-inspired world, but it suffers from a lack of clarity and depth in its mechanics. Players appreciate the immersive narrative and high replayability, yet many express frustration over poorly explained systems, repetitive trade proposals, and a cumbersome user interface. While the game shows potential for engaging gameplay, it currently feels unfinished and requires significant quality-of-life improvements to enhance the overall experience.
“The game combines rich narrative elements with strategic gameplay, offering a deep and immersive experience in a visually captivating renaissance-inspired setting.”
“The gameplay flows through strategic planning and tactical combat, with significant player agency in shaping the house's destiny.”
“The strategic gameplay and rich lore make it a truly unforgettable gaming experience.”
“My gameplay was constantly interrupted by people proposing the same trade deals to me over and over again, and since I cannot promise to trade away my entire food production more than once, I had to reject them, tanking my relations with all of my neighbors.”
“Complete and utter lackluster tutorial which fails to explain any meaningful game mechanics aside from how to assign farmers and send a family member away from your fief.”
“Clarity is the big thing this game is currently lacking; it seems they've got a bunch of maybe-interesting systems here but I don't want to spend hours figuring out how to do the basics, and trial and error testing the core mechanics.”
- story34 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is characterized by intricate personal and political dramas, where player choices significantly influence the narrative. It features rich lore and immersive storytelling, allowing for deep character interactions and strategic gameplay. While the storyline is engaging, some players note issues with mission clarity and bugs that detract from the overall experience.
“The game's rich lore and intricate storytelling are complemented by a dynamic narrative that reacts to player decisions.”
“The depth of the story is reinforced by the game’s detailed setting and character interactions.”
“Great Houses of Calderia is an immersive and captivating game with stunning visuals and engaging storytelling.”
“A major bug is found in the endgame; the 'storyline' is meant to end with a large war involving everyone on the map, but it offers an option to keep playing in a sandbox mode afterwards.”
“Without being spoiler-ish, there are a few map-wide events (a 'story' would be too strong a word) which eventually lead to a large war in which the player must participate.”
“This game lacks a story but is still a damn time killer; I've been playing nonstop for 2 days.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by detailed and stylized visuals inspired by Renaissance art, featuring rich color palettes and intricate designs that enhance the historical atmosphere. While many players appreciate the unique art style and immersive visuals, some have noted that the graphics fall short compared to similar titles, with issues related to the user interface and overall polish. Overall, the game's aesthetic is a mixed bag, with some praising its authenticity and others criticizing its execution and graphical options.
“Detailed and stylized visuals inspired by Renaissance art, with rich color palettes and intricate designs that enhance the historical atmosphere.”
“Enjoy detailed and period-authentic visuals that evoke the opulence and intrigue of the Renaissance era.”
“This game perfectly blends strategy and adventure, featuring stunning graphics and captivating gameplay.”
“I lowered my graphics and tried to lessen the load for my computer and the game, but it didn't help.”
“Graphics are on a level below that of Crusader Kings 2; the sprites they use do not line up quite right visually.”
“Graphics are poor and the UI is not great.”
- optimization14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including stuttering and crashes, particularly at higher time speeds. While some users with powerful PCs find it manageable, others suggest that the game is not well-optimized for lower-end systems or widescreen monitors. Regular updates from developers are expected to address these stability and performance concerns, but players are advised to wait for further improvements before purchasing.
“The game runs smoothly with occasional technical issues; regular updates from the developers aim to address stability and performance concerns.”
“There are a few things overall to be tidied up in optimization (mostly thinking occasional game crashes, and typos lol) but not much that I can say I'd want the game to change.”
“They do seem more computationally demanding on my PC for their quality, so there's lots of room for improvement in optimizing display performance.”
“It just seems like it isn't optimized yet for players.”
“As it stands right now the game is fun enough to play even without a lot of the more in-depth mechanics not implemented, that being said after playing for a little while the game takes a massive hit to performance and is almost unplayable when you choose the higher time speeds.”
“My game kept stuttering and dropping frames to the point it was giving me a headache.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game exhibits high replayability due to its intricate systems and robust modding support, allowing players to create and share custom content for varied experiences. However, some users note a lack of depth and challenge, leading to lower replay value for those seeking more complexity.
“The length of each game can vary significantly, but it allows for endless replayability.”
“High replay value; the game's intricate systems and modding support offer significant replayability and variety in each playthrough.”
“With high replayability and a dynamic gameplay environment, it offers a fresh experience with each playthrough.”
“Low replayability.”
“There is no depth to the game (build up population, have way more resources than you need, trade if you feel like but you really don't have to, and dominate without any real threats ever appearing), and there also seems to be no replayability.”
“If you're a Civilization or Crusader Kings fan, this is a bit simple with low replay value and some awkward design.”
- grinding7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often citing artificial roadblocks that hinder progress and require excessive waiting times. The gameplay is described as shallow, leading to repetitive tasks that can become boring, especially for those new to grand strategy games. Overall, the grinding mechanics detract from the enjoyment and balance of the game.
“The game introduces several artificial roadblocks that just get annoying and grindy.”
“Having to wait hours in real life for a new citizen to pop is incredibly tedious.”
“Once again, if you are completely new to the grand strategy type of games, this may be a nice little beginner entry point, but know that it is shallow to the point of being extremely boring, and it's generally tedious after you realize how simple literally all of the gameplay ends up being.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, with users reporting numerous bugs and a poor user experience.
“Unfortunately, as of now, the game is quite buggy and the user experience is rather appalling.”
“Buggy.”
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is noted for its quality, with some users expressing a desire for the soundtrack to be published. However, the overall audio experience is criticized for being eerily quiet, lacking voice acting, and having minimal ambient sound, contributing to a sense of unpolished gameplay.
“Please publish your soundtrack; it is very good.”
“It's basically what you would find waiting for you if your mom said, 'we have Crusader Kings at home.' Anyway, slow gameplay, awkward UI, unpolished art, and eerily quiet with no voice acting and little ambient sound and music.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight that while the game's economic mechanics are amusing, they often lack balance and convenience, detracting from the overall humor. Players appreciate realistic elements but feel that they should not compromise the game's comedic aspects.
“The economy is very funny to grow, even if it makes no sense in terms of balance and convenience.”
“It's great to have realistic mechanics in the game, but not at the expense of the humor.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by detailed and stylized visuals inspired by Renaissance art, featuring rich color palettes and intricate designs that effectively enhance the historical ambiance.
“The detailed and stylized visuals are inspired by Renaissance art, featuring rich color palettes and intricate designs that enhance the historical atmosphere.”
“The immersive sound design and ambient music create a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that draws you into the game's world.”
“The combination of lighting effects and environmental storytelling crafts a captivating atmosphere that keeps you engaged and curious.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is highlighted for its depth, particularly through evolving family dynamics that contribute to a unique experience in each playthrough.
“Character development and the evolving family dynamics provide depth, making each playthrough unique.”
“The characters grow in meaningful ways, and their relationships evolve, adding layers to the story.”
“I love how the choices I make influence the characters' growth and their interactions with each other.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a complex emotional response to the game's narrative, particularly regarding the decision to marry an unappealing and unkind character for strategic reasons, highlighting feelings of conflict and discomfort.
“Making plans to marry an ugly and cruel princess just to have an ally made me feel a lot of different emotions.”
