Singularity: Tactics Arena Reviews

This is an extremely well made game with a very deep plot keeping you wondering and seriously considering your choices. I've had so much fun playing Singularity and look forward to a sequel to continue the story and lore.

Good story with decent combat go in blind if possible.

Singularity: Tactics Arena is a combat-focused tactical RPG set in a cyberpunk/fantasy/cosmic horror setting, built with RPG Maker. So while RPG Maker veterans will presumably see a lot of stock graphical assets and open-world RPG fans looking for an alternative to, say, [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/560130/Pillars_of_Eternity_II_Deadfire]Pillars of Eternity 2[/url][/i] might dislike the very straightforward mission-based structure (a multi-room hub area and 20 combat scenarios), I feel [b]anyone looking for a well-written story in a compelling sci-fi/supernatural setting will enjoy this game[/b]. I know I definitely did! I played through Singularity: Tactics Arena twice in a row, which is pretty rare for me. But the story, setting and characters had really drawn me in. I also think [b]the writing is remarkably good[/b] – so much so that it will probably manage to engage players with no prior knowledge of [b]singularity-related themes and concepts[/b] just as much as avid science-fiction fans who'll enjoy the way in which these themes and concepts are explored and [b]mixed with supernatural elements[/b]. P.S.: If you're interested in this game, you've probably already read about the early combat encounter where you're forced to kill a group of unarmed people. Just to make sure you get the right picture: Yes, this particular encounter is rather dark in tone, but it fits the plot perfectly and the characters react to it in an appropriate way. Also, I feel that the game never gets quite as dark as that again, so don't worry about constantly being forced to commit atrocities. In fact, [spoiler]the combat encounters you're going through are kinda re-contextualised later on in the plot.[/spoiler]

The game in it's current state is complete and has some minor bugs to be careful about but the dev still seems to be active and working on fixing them little by little. Highly recommend this game to those of you that enjoy DnD/DoS/Baldur Gate etc but this game will lack the percieve checks and factions which are later added into the devs 2nd game. The game has many similar concepts to the games mentioned above such as: -Bond/Relationships with the roster you recruit (a replacement for alignment on good or bad actions) -Fire Emblem battle layout but with Line of Sight / Friendly Fire / and turn order based on character speed -Event and Dialogue prompts with multiple choice for good or evil with certain outcome changes The story is very mysterious and quite a thriller. Very heavy on suspense with a lot of lore backstory and can be a headache to those who aren't going to digest the information given to them (though if you're a true medieval fantasy player Lore's are very important to games such as Dungeons and Dragons). Spoiler alert, story isn't finished because there's another arch so it's gonna be a cliff hanger and I'm digging the story, can't even wait for the next game! For an indies dev and my 2nd game from them it is very impressive, the amount of actions and choices to take and the path of evil or good. Not many rpg games can get to this level and sometimes, it's not about how good the software is or how great the graphics are or how modern the game is because most games are just mindless, minimal story content, 0 npc interaction, sandbox grinds and many devs out there follow this trend. This game was made with complete passion, effort, and tears like how games USED to be in the 90s and it may look retro but it actually delivers a REAL game rather than a business point of view cashgrab game from the 2020s. My gamer soul is in high spirits! HYPED for the next arc!

Better than expected. Mejor de lo que esperaba. Purchased at a sale, left for two years in library then I finished in two days.

Bought this game on a whim. I've played several RPG Maker games, but this one easily blows them out of the water. GAMEPLAY It's a solid TBS game a la FFT but with a surprisingly deep character building aspect. There's a simplicity to the combat that can still lead to some very complex strategy. Characters have abilities that come from items they equip, class skills, and mods on their equipment. All of this combined leads to characters who are specialized or as general as you want. I highly enjoyed developing the characters as I wanted them (and I stuck with the "default" classes, but you can choose whatever you want at the beginning of the game). STORY Easily my favorite part. The characters are very well written, the twists and surprises feel great and interesting. The universe itself is a great remix on SCP (with a bit of a certain Harlan Ellison short story and that manga by Hiroya Oku). I binged this game in about 8 hours based solely on wanting to know what happens next and what would happen to the characters. ART The pixel art portraits give great character to the, well, characters. The battle sprites for the monsters works really well - you get a feel that these are horrifying abominations, but the pixel art makes you fill in some of the blanks to great effect. My only real complaint is that the store page art (the same as the "pause" screen art) has the main characters as superhero-esque anime characters, which isn't reflected in the narrative. I would have much rather had an full body portrait of the characters we're actually playing as. OVERALL 9/10 - If you're a fan of TBS games you'll enjoy the combat in this and if you're a fan of sci-fi horror a la SCP you'll enjoy the story in this. Regardless, you'll enjoy the characters and appreciate the work that goes into an indie gem like this. At about 8 hours long, it also perfectly fits into the gameplay length I want.

Difficult start (even on easy) and a gameplay that pretty much forces you to grind out levels and money on lower levels before being strong enough to face later challenges. That's a major turn off for me, in terms of how the game flows, BUT the story is rather compelling, and involved a character from the dev's other game, The Singularity Wish. I wouldn't recommend it at full price, but a good sale? Sure. Especially if you're a fan of tactics games. While difficult, there are many different options you can use for each turn in battle that feel solid and interesting. Plus several 'free' moves you can learn for combat as well that don't take up your turn.

A passion project by a game dev getting his footing in the industry, this title builds upon themes of survival in the face of adversity by a motley group of people who barely know one another. From the initial shock of seeing the main characters thrust into an uncomfortable setting, a story unfolds of shared human experiences that will resonate with many Players. Gameplay wise, Singularity: Tactics Arena is a bit grindy initially given that the whole premise is that the characters are forced to fight in an "arena" (really different stops on an elevator) at the behest of an initially unknown force who keeps your group captive. You can go back to easier floors to redo fights until you're strong enough to proceed comfortably with the rest of the experience (hence the grind). The story progresses as you go up each floor past each fight. The story itself is great, full of twists turns and some pleasant surprises. Tone wise, think Final Fantasy 7 but with more adult oriented content (not sexual content though, this isn't Memoirs of a Battle Brothels). Speaking of, this installment is part of a shared world and the experience is amplified by playing the dev's first work "The Singularity Wish" and later (a sort of "prequal" to both titles you should play last) "Memoirs of a Battle Brothel" (an nsfw game that keeps the tone and adds a lot of sexual content on top). This game is a true gem, and I just wish Triple A games these days would consider what makes this game good (a story with actual emotional attachment) so that we the Players benefit from a richer experience. Looking at you Cyberpunk 2077.....

I bought this game mostly because I had money in my wallet and I saw it in my recommended queue and thought it looked interested. I'm very glad I did. It's core gameplay is very similar to other RPG tactic type games, and if you've ever played one I wouldn't expect anything game changing, but it is very competently done. You level up, apply three point per level to a selected stat and choose a skill to learn. These skills are usually either, buffs, ranged attacks or melee attacks with some movement type skills sprinkled in. At Level 6 you get to choose a class focus. As much as I enjoyed the gameplay and fights, especially some of the more optional fights that I won't ruin, the real charm is in the characters, story and world-building. The game is apparently a sequel to another game that I'll definitely be buying now that I've finished this one, though it stands completely alone with a self contained story. The World-building is phenomenal, it's very reminiscent of SCP or other types of media, with 'anomalies' and the like to meet and find throughout your time with the game. I was very invested in where the story was going. I wont ruin anything about the story, safe to say it's a fun ride, with a good sequel hook. Speaking of a sequel, I really hope one happens. I really want to meet Luna again, the character I chose to romance, she was by far my favourite after my pet dog. Good luck to the developer in any future projects, this was seriously an unexpected delight.

Much better than I expected. A farily interesting back story and character drama play out across 20 major battes and about 8 minor/optional ones. The story arc was the thing that kept me going strong throughout, and the game's ~8 hour playtime is a good match for the pace of resource distributon and the amount of variety in the game. There is the appearance of choice and consequence but I think it's largely a facade. I thought I could make a major choice in the end, but it lead directly to a game over. However, I'm not totally sure that I didn't miss something that would have helped me proceed in a different direction - it seemed like there were still secrets waiting to be unlocked when I wrapped the game. Despite the interesting themes and excellent world building there are a number of flaws with this game. The first of which is the build/engine. Despite the game being only about 8 hours of active playtime, I encountered 3 hard crashes, and I suspect there's a memory leak that causes performance issues to build up quickly. I restarted an additional three times due to performance issues. This is pretty bad for a game that looks like you could run it could run on a calculator. There's some addional minor errors in presentation that are not game breaking but still annoying,..for example one series of books opens the wrong book when picked from the shelf and you can only read the original by going into your log, and a couple of abilities are impossible to read full discriptions of because there's no endline and the text leaves the bounds of the reading area. The other major issue is that the end story feels like it's setting up for a sequel hard. Not intresically bad, but it doesn't feel like it wrapped up the story very much at all...it felt more like the ending to a chapter than to a complete work. I feel like it would be hard to replay the game, because the content, while extreamly well paced and parsed out for a single playthrough, doesn't offer alot of variety for a replay. You'll have seen most everything novel and cool in terms of abilities and equipment by the time you finish your run. I would go through it anyway if I thought the choices were significant but from the way the story handles the aftermath, I think the ones that are made to feel important only impact dialog in minor ways. Hard to elaborate without spoiling, but watch for it in your playthough. The tactical combat is okay. On the plus side, I think there's alot of cool and novel approaches, for example, most classes have a variety of free actions that they can use once per battle. As you start to accumulate these your characters become capable of doing alot in a single turn, but because of the exteme limit on usage you really only get the one turn with it. Momentum is another interesting concept, but one that I made less use of because the fight usually progress too quickly to fully exploit this mechanic. On the minus side, there are a number of reasons that you willl probably end up clustering your guys together for most fights, these range from buff numerious buff auras centered on the caster to the fact that your meat sheilds are the only truly effective cover in the game. A better cover system and more buffs that can be cast at range (or even in place) would do alot to eliminate the turtle and shoot approach that feels necissary in the current design. Problems aside, this game was ALOT better than I thought it would be when I decided to pick it up on a whim. There's alot of originality here. It's probably in the top 10% of tactics games in terms of story/pacing/worldbuilding top 20% in terms of novelty and top half in terms of execution. The game is short but dense, which is a plus for some and a minus for others, and strong enough to support the story it telling with fast, interesting battles. I hope the author cleans up the delivery mechanism a bit and offers us a continuation of where this game leaves off.