Planet Stronghold

About

Planet Stronghold is a single player role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Winter Wolves and was released on May 5, 2014. It received neutral reviews from players.

"Planet Stronghold" is a sci-fi role-playing game with tactical combat and base-building elements. The story follows Lieutenant John Russo, who is tasked with protecting a colonial fort from alien attacks and managing relationships with fellow soldiers. The game features multiple endings based on player choices and the option to engage in romantic relationships with various characters.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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57%

Audience ScoreBased on 88 reviews

story24 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

The game offers a mix of RPG and visual novel elements, providing a unique experience with character development and relationship management.
The combat system, while simplistic, can be engaging and requires tactical thinking, especially on higher difficulties.
The art and character designs are charming, and the game has a decent amount of replayability with multiple endings and romance options.

The writing and dialogue are often criticized for being shallow, cliché, and poorly executed, detracting from the overall experience.
Combat can feel repetitive and unbalanced, with some players finding it frustrating due to RNG elements and lack of meaningful strategy.
The user interface is clunky and outdated, making navigation and inventory management cumbersome.

story
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
66%
7%
The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it generic and lacking depth, often describing it as simplistic and poorly written. While some appreciate the narrative's potential and the presence of character backstories, others criticize it for being clichéd and unengaging, with a focus on romance that feels forced. Overall, the story serves as a basic framework for gameplay but fails to deliver a compelling or immersive experience.
- “The story is good enough to drive the game and give a sense of progress.”
- “The story is the best thing about this game.”
- “The story is pretty good and quite understandable and has some interesting twists and turns.”
- “The story is pretty generic and the writing is simplistic; music is unremarkable, combat system is rudimentary, and characters don't have much depth.”
- “Story-wise, a certain someone in a position of power has been exterminating alien races since before your character arrived, and that's absolutely something that's been used a thousand times over. What really hurts is having it all done in a very lazy way - it's all talked about, but in ways that gloss over any detail.”
- “The writing felt incredibly cliché from the very beginning; characters had little nuance, backstory and lore were introduced in the most heavy-handed way possible, and I had little idea what was motivating either myself or other characters.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
64%
12%
The gameplay of "Planet Stronghold" is a blend of visual novel and RPG elements, offering a fun but ultimately shallow experience with basic mechanics and a lackluster story. While the combat features some interesting tactical decisions, it suffers from bland execution and an uninviting interface. Overall, players can enjoy a light, entertaining 10-hour experience, though the RPG mechanics and narrative depth leave much to be desired.
- “As narrative games go, Planet Stronghold is difficult without being crushing, and has a lot of interesting choices and gameplay.”
- “I heavily enjoyed the gameplay and plot, even if the characters can be a bit forced at times into the roles they were designed to fill; it's a great game regardless.”
- “The gameplay is pretty much your average turn-based Final Fantasy, but with a few added features that offer a unique feel, allowing you to choose how you want characters to attack, which affects the number of attacks and the chance of a critical hit.”
- “The story is bland, the combat gameplay is bland, and the interface is very uninviting and unappealing.”
- “While the combat gameplay is passable, the writing is beyond bad, heaping contrivance upon awkward shoe-ins on top of nigh-endless obsequious player-praising that would make an Elder Scrolls writer blush.”
- “The RPG mechanics are fairly basic.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The graphics in the game are described as charming and well-done, particularly the character designs, which have a manga-style appeal. However, many reviewers note that the overall visual presentation feels outdated and lacks polish, with minimal animations and facial expressions. While some aspects of the graphics are appreciated, they are ultimately considered serviceable but not impressive, contributing to a sense of repetitiveness in gameplay.
- “Romances don't have much development, but the character graphics are pretty - overall, the graphics are charming.”
- “Characters' graphics are terrific even if a little manga-style.”
- “As far as graphics go, it is in beta and the additions later on look great, so expect the patches to turn it into something reminiscent of Phantasy Star 4 but with a friendship system.”
- “The animations are barely there and not interesting at all, and the artwork is well done, but with very few character facial expressions. The style is older and far less polished than Winter Wolves's later game. That's the right assessment for the whole game: serviceable, but not polished at all and very barebones everywhere it counts.”
- “It's a simple, turn-based RPG with graphics that are just okay, writing that is just okay, and combat that gets very repetitive very quickly.”
- “[spoiler] with 90's graphics [/spoiler]”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it fitting yet unremarkable, while others appreciate it as a minor positive amidst a lackluster overall experience. Many note that the soundtrack is not consistently present, only playing in specific scripted areas, which detracts from its impact. Overall, while the music is described as serviceable, it fails to elevate the game significantly.
- “I like the worldbuilding, art, and music.”
- “The music is quite good.”
- “The music is fitting but not extraordinary.”
- “Story is pretty generic and writing is simplistic; music is unremarkable, combat system is rudimentary and characters don't have much depth.”
- “The music mostly won't play unless you're in a few scripted areas.”
- “The characters are kind of cringy and the art is average, as well as the soundtrack.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with battles often feeling long and monotonous, even on medium difficulty. While initial enjoyment may be present, the grind quickly becomes mind-numbing and can feel unbalanced, as grinding does not significantly improve performance against overpowered enemies.
- “Replaying is tedious.”
- “Even on medium difficulty, the fighting is long and grindy.”
- “It seemed good at first, but the more I played, the more mind-numbing, tedious, and boring it became.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
Character development in the game is generally well-received, featuring diverse romance options and a dynamic skill system; however, some players feel it lacks depth and becomes less engaging due to the ability to save at any moment during interactions. While the character designs are praised for their expressiveness, there is a desire for more fleshed-out development throughout the gameplay.
- “It's basically an RPG (character development, inventory, choices, skill checks!), it has all the cool romances (3 for male, 3 for female, each having a gay-only option); the fights are turn-based.”
- “I always play the female character in RPGs and take the yuri/lesbian relationship option(s) if available; character development isn't lacking, but I'd prefer it to be better fleshed out.”
- “The character designs are quite nice and expressive.”
- “It seems like there is a dynamic skill and character development at first glance, but it quickly wears off as you can save at literally any time during both conversations and battles.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful progression, making it hard to feel invested in the characters' growth.”
- “While the game offers various choices, the impact on character development is minimal, leaving players feeling disconnected from their characters.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers high replayability primarily through its multiple endings, though some players find the combat to be repetitive. Despite this, it is still considered fun and entertaining, making it worth playing multiple times, especially when on sale.
- “Still a great game, highly replayable for a few reasons.”
- “It's fun, cute, romantic, entertaining, and possesses replay value.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized as perverse, with characters exhibiting unconventional dialogue and behavior that adds a unique, albeit unsettling, comedic element to the experience.
- “The humor in the game is delightfully absurd, making every interaction a memorable experience.”
- “The witty dialogue and quirky character antics had me laughing out loud throughout my playthrough.”
- “The game's humor is cleverly woven into the storyline, providing a refreshing and entertaining twist.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the autosave feature is unreliable, indicating issues with stability in the game.
- “The autosave feature is buggy.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it hard to progress.”
- “I experienced several glitches that disrupted my gameplay.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is severely lacking, with users reporting poor performance that detracts from the overall experience, alongside issues with combat and writing.
- “On top of the poor combat and the bad writing, the game's performance is appalling.”