If Circus Electrique was made by any else other than Zen, it would be an insta buy. But, fuck Zen and the Epic horse they rode in on.
And it's published by Saber Interactive, a company that really loves taking the Epic bribe.
Oh and for good measure, they hiked up the regional pricing of the game one day after release.
Used to be that my default demeanor towards all developers was one of goodwill. The fuckery of the last 3 or so years has gotten me to do a full 180 on that stance. Not everyone deserves goodwill or the benefit of the doubt. This game does not seem to be doing all that well... 280 peak CCU and 47 reviews as of right now. Still early days of course. A few years ago I would have thought "That's a shame". Today I'm thinking "LOL fuck them".
Yeah, it's a shame that the production comes with such baggage attached behind the scenes.
Because from a design perspective the game itself is truly something special.
The visuals are arresting with a unique style and sense of place. It can look busy on the surface but the language is parsing a lot of info to the player in an intelligent manner, all with convenient mouse-over info pop-ups.
You can just tell there was a lot of thought & TLC put into it. Like how the tutorial is spread over the initial hours of gameplay, not throwing everything at you all at once, but rather getting the player comfortable with the myriad of systems a bit at a time. Unlocking & introducing new concepts only after the previous have been test-driven for a bit. Plus there's a fully fleshed out Codex explaining all the nuances that you can access anytime in-game complete with cool "Fallout Valut-Boy"-like animations on each page. Even that little magnifying glass on top-left opens a full infographic explaining unique concepts of whatever screen your currently on.
There's just so much going on between circus management...upgrading facilities, recruiting & upgrading performers (15 unique classes!). Setting up daily circus acts and synergizing performers for better payouts. The board game-like map progression where you cruise nodes in divergent paths to main quest goal markers. The way time of day & weather affects the battle system kinda like Divinity: OS. The VN cutscenes between battles with legit great voice acting and character art. All that and I haven't even unlocked the crafting systems yet, lol.
I've read some criticisms like that story is flat or circus event planning can feel grindy. So it's not like GOAT(!!!) or anything. But man, as a $20 package it feels fresh af and dense with content. I think the setting goes a long way as well. I punched up Darkest Dungeon for a quick moment just to compare/contrast my thoughts. And while there's not doubt DD is masterclass in this tactics subgenre, it was just so freakin' bleak & dour, the whole vibe felt nihilistic & depressing. In contrast Electrique is like a color explosion while oddly still having a bit of bite with that Victorian London steampunk thing that feels kinda Burtonesque, kinda We Happy Few. A more welcome balance of grim & fantastical was my quick takeaway.
So we'll see where it goes. I've only got 4 hours in, so it could just be the honeymoon-period talking. But either way I already feel like I've gotten my money's worth and can't wait to discover more.