Solar Wave

The very first fight or two were interesting but afterwards the game quickly falls into 'more of the same' which becomes a slog due to how every visit invites you to be thorough if you want to gain research materials. I poked in quickly to see what sort of difference there were between zones but there were very little difference between the alternatives and thus looking at that huge map with lots and lots of fights ahead felt more like a burden than something to look forward to. This sort of game would benefit greatly from more designed starts and more factions - Like having an AI variant ally which you have to assist staying alive or some oppertunistic pirate faction poking at you when you are fighting the 'vermin', etc. A full religious fleet of nutjobs in this massive invasion move is decently original to play as, it just falls pretty short since it's a rather superficial flavor.

This is like a Majesty, but in space-opera style. Just not filled with humor, rather with epic WH40K vibes. You don't directly control anything, except building stuff, research and setting "flags". Interesting lore, feels the scale, pretty unique design. It's and EA though, still, so many QoL are still missing and tooltips are not helpful, many things are not that clear. Gameplay-wise it's a solid game, looking for updates.

Game is good, glaring issues were fixed fast, so at the time of writing it plays well. As stated in Early Access description - core gameplay is fully here, the rest will follow. As of right now the game has 18 missions +1 tutorial (better follow what it teaches you), most of those are with a timer but at least one isn't so it lets you expand through entire map. It is sort of bite-sized 4X with technological progress carried over, and I love that about it. The price is right, but if you want full game then better wait. I'm guessing the game will expand horizontally (more variety) and vertically (more research for further progress).

Sometimes when you come into a game you need to leave your expectations at the door. Solar Wave is that game. Solar Wave initially comes across as a grand strategy game in the vein of Paradox games such as Stellaris. If you're coming for the type of gameplay, you're not going to find it here. There aren't agonizing choices over which units to build, or moving individual fleets. There are no "leader" characters, or tactical battles. There is a tech tree, and that carries on throughout your campaign which is nice but it's not the primary way to play the game. Solar Wave is a game where you build the infrastructure for your fleets and task forces and watch them do their thing. It reminds me of those retro fluid expander games. You choose the buildings and upgrades to make, the planets to colonzie, and prioritize targets but that's the extent of your interactions. The end result is an atmospheric, chill space expansion game that happens in (mostly) bite size chunks. You expand across a campaign map playing a mission at a time. Each mission has a "puzzle" of sorts, something to make it a little different or challenging that's hinted at in a small briefing. You can choose from a li…

Its good, its casual, it might be repeative but cant tell yet, tech tree could be expanded. What to do with the ammo and armor is unclear right now, but I do like it and its really not that hard.

Great game