ColdRidge Reviews

Love it!

[h1][b] TLDR: Too much RNG and not enough fun. Optimizing routes was okay, but the punishing RNG, spending quota gold, and lack of character balance wasn’t an enjoyable experience. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Easy-to-learn concepts ➕Unlockables [h1]NEUTRALS: [/h1] 🔹Balance issues - Gambler is OP [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖”Cozy” (easy) too easy, “Challenging” (normal) too hard ➖RNG upon RNG and as easy as RNG giveth, RNG taketh away (random number generator, FYI) ➖Lack of engrossing gameplay - just click to move ➖Boring story ➖Gold is tied to quota AND items/contract rerolls [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Game world is just hexagon tiles with different resources, a la Civilization. Story is uneventful and I don’t really care. [h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [5/10] [/b] [/h1] Somewhat interesting mechanics if optimal pathing is fun to you. I did find the game overly punishing on the middle setting and generally too easy on the low setting. Furthermore, RNG tiles and contracts can very often lead to "Feast or famine" games which can easily make your runs go from brutally difficult to literally tripling the quota. [h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Performance) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD [h1] [b] Audio – [5/10] [/b] [/h1] Mostly calming western music. No voice acting. [h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Could really use some online elements. I think the replay value is absolutely not there once you unlock everything. However, there is some decent replay in unlocking new abilities. [h1] [b] Final Verdict – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Coldridge is all about being the most efficient as you possibly can. It’s very much a puzzle game with a lot of RNG elements. After loading into the RNG map with fog, you get RNG contracts after stopping at the store to buy RNG items. You then move tile by tile to uncover the map in order to see resources and plan your next routes better. Negatives first. For me, the biggest negative is dealing with layers of RNG. The game just loves inventing problems and selling you solutions, shrouded behind layers of RNG. You might get contracts for bison or elk, have no idea where they are on the map, but the store can sell you some locations for a price…..if that even pops up in the store. I think that some randomness can be good, but there are clearly times when it gets excessive, and Coldridge has RNG in literally every aspect of its gameplay. One other big negative I want to mention is that your main currency, gold, feels like a double-edged sword. You must have a certain amount of gold at the end of the round to meet your quota. However, the same gold you must amass, you also use to buy the shop items and to reroll contracts. The latter is painful when you get bad RNG, your run is screwed. Ending on a positive note, I’d say my favorite thing about Coldridge is the Gambler gameplay, which is sad, because the other characters are not as good as the Gambler. Gambler has the ability to gamble on taken contracts, which can greatly increase the output of gold mid run. Also, he gets a free random item each new run, which is free gold. Going from Gambler to Frenchy is just painfully obvious how bad the balance is in Coldridge, which is sad because other characters could use some cool active effects like Gambler has. Overall, for my score here, I rolled a dice and gave Coldridge the same treatment you’ll be given: RNG. Unfortunately, the dice was 6-sided and a 4 was good enough for how I felt. I would not recommend Coldridge due to RNG mechanics detracting from fun, and lack of engrossing gameplay or decisions to make other than counting hexagons. [h1] [b] Recommend? [Y/N] [/b] [/h1] [h1]No[/h1] You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR

Fun strategy game. It is quite hard, until you get the gang of it. You have to learn not to try to be suer effieicnt with Contracts.