TLDR: Core Changes are unnecessary and emphasizes grindy micromanagement over fun adventure.
I understand that this is the tech demo and not the story/finished product. It is a tech demo to showcase changes from Strive for Power to the new sequel. However, those changes from the original Strive for Power is a step in the wrong direction.
Coming from Strive for Power these changes seem unnecessarily convoluted and complicated. The idiom " if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind. Strive for Power's UI and map system lent itself to simplicity and fun. There was no need to change it. In fact the attempts to change these systems actually backfired.
The map system did not need to be changed. Instead of setting off with your party and moving through the world, exploring the land region by region, and encountering random events - you now just simply auto send your party to your destination, click "wait one hour" and arrive. There doesn't seem to be any positive to this change. It just strips out the adventure of setting off and exploring. You feel less like a master leading his slaves to finish a quest and more like some impersonal officer worker signing off on orders.
The UI is overly complicated and not at all satisfying to use. The simplicity of Strive for Power's day to day activities is now convoluted into hour by hour, resulting in unnecessary and unfun micromanagement. You're also limited in the actions you can take. Strive for Power made it possible to interact with your slaves, either training or dating them. This new system strips you of that and limits your interactions with your slaves to two buttons that you can only use 1 to 2 times per day. This makes it unbelievably grindy (as other reviewers have noted.)
Hopefully Maverik can right the ship and get back to what made Strive for Power so fun, and cut out this unnecessary baggage. It feels like complexity for the sake of complexity, and strips out the fun in the process.
I understand that this is the tech demo and not the story/finished product. It is a tech demo to showcase changes from Strive for Power to the new sequel. However, those changes from the original Strive for Power is a step in the wrong direction.
Coming from Strive for Power these changes seem unnecessarily convoluted and complicated. The idiom " if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind. Strive for Power's UI and map system lent itself to simplicity and fun. There was no need to change it. In fact the attempts to change these systems actually backfired.
The map system did not need to be changed. Instead of setting off with your party and moving through the world, exploring the land region by region, and encountering random events - you now just simply auto send your party to your destination, click "wait one hour" and arrive. There doesn't seem to be any positive to this change. It just strips out the adventure of setting off and exploring. You feel less like a master leading his slaves to finish a quest and more like some impersonal officer worker signing off on orders.
The UI is overly complicated and not at all satisfying to use. The simplicity of Strive for Power's day to day activities is now convoluted into hour by hour, resulting in unnecessary and unfun micromanagement. You're also limited in the actions you can take. Strive for Power made it possible to interact with your slaves, either training or dating them. This new system strips you of that and limits your interactions with your slaves to two buttons that you can only use 1 to 2 times per day. This makes it unbelievably grindy (as other reviewers have noted.)
Hopefully Maverik can right the ship and get back to what made Strive for Power so fun, and cut out this unnecessary baggage. It feels like complexity for the sake of complexity, and strips out the fun in the process.