Thea 2: The Shattering

Disappointing unfinished sequel. The mechanics are less interesting than the first game, the writing is just as bad -- most of the writing is literally cut-and-paste from the first game, in fact -- resource gathering is an insane slog, and they didn't finish the crafting system, because they 'wanted to leave room for expanding on it in a DLC.' So, as compared to Thea 1: less fun fights, hundreds of turns spent just waiting on your material gatherers, then you discover that even after harvesting all those materials and then compressing them down at a miserable ratio to 'advanced' materials you still can't actually craft a fully-powered legendary weapon because they originally intended to add even MORE material grinding, and all for what? The graphics aren't better, the engine is laggy, most of the events are recycled from the first game, and all in all, there's absolutely no reason to buy this game. Just play the original.

I like the lore and the quest system really taught me a lot of slavic folklore.

The point of a strategy game is to be able to make somewhat informed decisions with the resources you have. This game fails in that regard, because the outcome of the card battling system is so random. You end up just throwing something at the wall and hoping that it sticks. The out of combat mechanics also has less depth than the first game for some reason.

Great exploration game with cardgame challenges. Regarding the game mechanics an upgrade to the first Thea. It is less grindy, the crafting is much more transparent due to the essence system, the individual xp system is a clear upgrade to the first Thea. The card combat is more varried, since the two dimensionality of the board allows for more effects. If you haven't played Thea: The Awakening i would still recommend to start there, since the writing and the story is better in the first part of the series.

7/10

An absolutely unique take on the roguelike genre. It's showing its age, perhaps, but it remains a diamond in the rough for people who want a less classically European setting for their fantasy, who want an interesting hybrid of strategy and roguelikes, and enjoys an understandable but detailed crafting system.