Review
Annie here!
I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm on a city builder kick lately. So when a friend of the studio mentioned they just released a huge update to their early-access space colony simulation game, I got excited.
Generation Exile is a story-rich sci-fi city builder with RPG elements and ecological themes. It's still in early access, so it hasn't reached its final form yet, but the demo shows some real promise.
Unique Features
My favourite part of this game is the sustainability angle. It reminded me a lot of one of my favourite games, Terra Nil. A major mechanic of the game is waste management, consistenly reminding you that the byproducts of innovation are a problem of their own to be addressed. There's also an exciting throughline of fear in the narrative, since the reason your civilization is here in the first place is due to Earth being uninhabitable.
Generation Exile also employs some RPG elements that strategy players may find exciting. As you progress, you manage a team of Stewards that can be delegated to tasks. The number of Stewards you have determines how many actions can be performed per turn. But there's plenty more complexity, because some tasks run the risk of triggering a crisis event, which you can try to avoid by assigning Stewards who specialize in that particular task.
That being said, there's always a risk when you complete your turn, so you'll have to be prepared to make consequential decisions...
It's impressive how this game manages to make the procedurally generated characters interesting and empathetic. Random events can add personality traits and effects to your Stewards, like when one of mine drowned and received a permanent debuff on water tiles due to her new phobia.
Hopes for the Future
The main issue I had with this game was the interface. It can be difficult to design intuitive interfaces for complex strategy games like this, so I don't envy Sonderlust Studios. I often struggled to understand what was going on, and frequently pressed the wrong buttons or couldn't find the right one because it was too small on the screen or not clear.
That being said, I still enjoyed my nearly 1.5 hour playthrough, and that was just the free demo!
Final Thoughts
I think Generation Exile is a game to keep an eye on if you like games
with strategy and RPG elements, or if you're always on the lookout for
city builders like I am. They just released a huge biome update for the
early access version, but if you just want to try it out the demo is
totally free and has loads of content.
|
