Phoenix Hope

About

Phoenix Hope is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Honorable Pixel and was released on December 14, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In Phoenix Hope, players navigate a post-apocalyptic world as a young survivor named Phoenix. The game features a mix of exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat, as Phoenix searches for her missing family. With a striking pixel art style and an emphasis on story, Phoenix Hope explores themes of hope, resilience, and the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 188 reviews

gameplay18 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game has a beautiful pixel art style and engaging atmosphere, reminiscent of the Kingdom series.
It offers a good amount of content for an early access title, with unique mechanics like resource management and a world map for scouting missions.
Players appreciate the depth of gameplay and the potential for future updates, with some expressing excitement for the developers' roadmap.

The game appears to be abandoned, with no updates for an extended period, leading many to consider it abandonware.
Players have reported a steep learning curve and confusing mechanics, with a lack of clear tutorials and tooltips making it difficult to understand gameplay elements.
There are significant balance issues, with some players finding the gameplay repetitive and the difficulty spikes frustrating, especially in the early stages.

gameplay
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
63%
13%
Gameplay in this title is a mixed bag, with players noting its initial challenge and depth reminiscent of the Kingdom series, but also highlighting issues such as unclear mechanics, a confusing tutorial, and a repetitive gameplay loop. While some find the resource gathering and strategic elements engaging, others criticize the pacing and balance, suggesting that the game requires further refinement to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the gameplay shows potential but is currently hindered by various design flaws and a lack of clarity.
- “Engaging gameplay: the game's depth keeps players entertained with diverse tasks and unfolding challenges.”
- “Resource gathering: the mining element brings in another layer to the gameplay, enhancing the strategic components.”
- “The gameplay is very interesting, exciting, and entertaining.”
- “The so-called easy mode does not disable the campaign and its bosses, and even if the enemies are objectively weaker, you still find yourself running out of resources one way or another. This got annoying for someone trying to see the full breadth of the different mechanics at play.”
- “They try to iterate on the Kingdom's gameplay mechanics to add depth and complexity, but their results are tedious, snail-paced, and grindingly boring.”
- “The issues I have with it so far are three-fold: pacing, tutorial, and mechanics. The tutorial is, frankly, useless, introducing basic mechanics that anyone who has played similar games could pick up without it.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
31%
14%
The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience alongside the beautiful pixel art. Many players highlight the night music as a standout feature, while also expressing a desire for more varied tracks, particularly tense music for combat scenarios. Overall, the sound design significantly contributes to the game's immersive world.
- “Very soothing and calming music!”
- “I find the music wonderfully atmospheric and very well done.”
- “The world looks, feels, and sounds incredible - Phoenix Hope has gorgeous pixel art with a nice dynamic weather system (plus day-night cycle) and great sound design with some awesome background music.”
- “The ambient music is also very calming; I hope they add more music as well as tense music when enemies appear.”
- “The ambient music is also very calming; I hope they add more music as well as tense music when enemies appear.”
- “The ambient music is also very calming; I hope they add more music as well as tense music when enemies appear.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
72%
17%
The story aspect of the game is perceived as having potential but currently lacks depth, with many missions feeling like traps that waste resources. Players express a desire for better mission balance, particularly regarding scouting missions, which often do not provide worthwhile rewards for the effort and resources invested. Overall, while the game shows promise, many are waiting for further development and enhancements to the narrative and mission structure.
- “Great game with a lot of potential. I think the difficulty is balanced really well. I'm at around day 50 and it's been getting a bit stale. I have about 13.8 hours into the game.”
- “Scouting missions - another unique and great concept.”
- “I would play it more, but I'm content to wait until release or until more of the game story is in place.”
- “Rebalance the scouting missions - the 'trapped' and 'village under siege' scouting missions are not worth the unit/resource commitment.”
- “Great game with a lot of potential, but I think the rewards for some of the missions to send your people on are not worth the effort.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's graphics, characterized by attractive pixel art, are widely praised for their appealing design and execution, significantly enhancing the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the beautiful art style, noting improvements in gameplay despite aesthetic similarities, and many rate the art style highly, with scores around 9/10.
- “Attractive aesthetics: while the game employs pixel art rather than high-end graphics, its design and execution are appealing, contributing significantly to the overall experience.”
- “Beautiful pixel graphics.”
- “Love the art style.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and monotonous, particularly during boss fights and the healing process. The attempts to enhance gameplay mechanics have resulted in a slow and boring experience, leading many to hope for improvements to reduce the grind.
- “They try to iterate on the kingdoms gameplay mechanics to add depth and complexity, but their results are tedious, snail-paced, grindingly boring.”
- “Healing - the banner system is a bit tedious, specifically when you are trying to split wounded units from the group to try and heal them.”
- “I hope the developers change the current grind system to be less grindy.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
The game has been criticized for its limited replayability, as players find that once they complete all tasks, the incentive to replay diminishes significantly. Many users noted that the gameplay can be easily mastered with simple strategies, leading to a quick completion and little motivation to return. Overall, while the game is enjoyable, its replay value is notably low.
- “Game play-wise, this is a very good game. I had fun, but for replay value, there's not much to offer yet because if you just place spearmen behind walls (in groups of 2) and some archer towers, you can beat the current state of the game in not very long.”
- “Limited replayability: once you've exhausted all tasks, the replay value diminishes significantly.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the exceptional quality of the music as a key element that enhances the overall experience. The combination of engaging gameplay and a captivating atmosphere contributes to a memorable gaming environment.
- “I find the music wonderfully atmospheric and very well done.”
- “Engaging atmosphere and gameplay.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits notable stability issues, particularly with the swordsmen, who are prone to bugs such as failing to attack from behind walls and having significantly low health, making them vulnerable in combat. While these problems detract from the experience, players still recommend the game with the caveat of its instability.
- “Mainly the swordsmen are very buggy; they don't attack behind walls, and if confronted, they die within seconds. Their HP is so low it should be balanced at least twice or thrice that of spearmen.”
- “I'd definitely recommend the game, just keep in mind that it can be buggy.”