Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Dec 4, 2021

  Waste of time. I mean, literally. Don't get me wrong, this is pretty good light empire building game with good turn based ship combat and I got it on sale. So why negative? Unless there is a combat, player turn can take 15-30 seconds, then you have to spend roughly at least 2 minutes looking at computer players moving ships on the other side of the galaxy. When Empire golden ships appear, it gets even worse, because they have multiple moves per turn. And - obviously - everytime AI uses some warhead to destroy a specific system or fleet, you have to wait for that nimation to finish. Why the creators think player is interested in events happening far away from his borders is beyond me. I'm not. And that really should not be an issue to fix, just add option to only show events happening up close and/or make them happen in parallel. Combat is good but also suffers from the same issue. Every enemy ship moves separately and slowly, and you have to wait for every missile to land. Sigh, at least animation speed option should be added. Ability to move only one fleet on global map per turn is original, but controversial. After some time I got used to it, but it seems way too restricting, especially later in the game. And Empire cheats here. And lastly, UI is interesting but fonts are horrible. Tiny and unreadable. Changing resolution doesn't change their size, only makes them blurry. So, yet another Unity game when developers have no idea how to properly create and scale fonts. Coincidence?
• gamedeal user

  Dec 10, 2021

  Wow I love this game! way too many space strategy games have too many things to keep track of. Planet populations, economies, diplomacy, building stuff, that all just drags them down and makes them tedious to play to me. Final theory says "Screw all that nonsense!" and just throws you into effectively a simple board game of a strategy map. No building bases here, you just discover them as you expand your borders, no diplomacy either, everyone is hostile and you just get on with the fights once you clash. Speaking of fights lets talk about the tactical combat, arguably the heart and soul of this game: It is near perfect! No stupid RNG mechanics like evading, armour deflection or dice rolling to see how much damage you do. if a gun says it will do 300 damage it will ALWAYS do 300 damage. Consistency is king in a tactics game like this and its so good to see it done properly. The ships themselves are reasonably well balanced too, but whats brilliant about them is that every ship stays relevant throughout the game. Yeah your Battleships and Dreadnoughts will get most of the kills late game, but those frigates and destroyers you were using at the start will still be necessary to keep them alive and clean up the weaker enemy ships. research is relatively straight forward: only two upgrade trees which use separate resources: 1) Engineering: where you'll give your ships new abilities in a set order as well as boost their base stats: Weaponry, hull health and shield health. 2) Development is where you'll find some nice boosts and is the closest thing to a perk system in this game, unlike engineering you can unlock them in any order, you can get the cheaper ones straight away or save up for the more expensive ones. You CAN get them all eventually so don't worry too much about which ones to get. Final Theory does ALOT of things right, with just over 600 hours under my belt I can say that with confidence! However to be fair to the people being negative about this game, there are a few issues: 1) The AI can act a little odd at times, often making questionable decisions in both combat and on the strategy map, apparently that can happen regardless of what difficulty you're playing on (I haven't played above proficient because i'm not a masochist lol) 2) You can only move once per turn on the map layer, this isn't really a problem for me since I grew up playing turn-based video and board games; But it seems alot of players find this tedious. Maybe if we had more movement options as the game progressed, such as wormhole devices for example this wouldn't be a problem. 3) the game can feel repetitive after a while, again this isn't a problem for me as I like the consistency. 4) This is the one thing I agree with the naysayers on and its related to point 3: The lack of features in the strategy layer is boring. Giving us the propaganda device in the latest patch was a good step to alleviate that somewhat, but its still boring and slow as hell when you've got nothing but building and moving ships around to do. Making them move around a little faster with another cool-down ability would do well to help with that. in conclusion: Final theory is a great game that fills a, sadly, near-empty niche in turn-based tactic space games. it drops the clutter of other 4x games, a great focus on tactical combat and a simple and easy strategy map. in the games current state i'd give it an 8/10, if those map movement issues were addressed and a slightly more competent AI were implemented it would be a solid 9/10. With even more navies on the way, along with what I just said this could very well be what the game needs to push it to 9.5/10 or even a perfect 10/10! Come on Monticube! I know you can do this!!!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 22, 2018

  About 5/6 hours in so this is an early review will update later. First impression is very favorable. Small indie project Dev is very active on forum and listens to suggestions - He even added a helpguide/tutorial that was requested even before the game was released. No bugs at all so far which is amazing. Still needs lots of tweaks but that will come. This is a space exploration combat game LITE. Only 1 resource to collect no colonies to babysit but lots of different ships and upgrades - but a fairly casual game easy to play in small doses. Good Graphics music and sound effects
• gamedeal user

  Sep 22, 2018

  Well worth the purchase. Graphics are very nice. Ships look cool, nice user interface, nice effects etc. Music and audio effects is mostly good. A nice blend of mechanics in the fleet management mode. Similar to stellaris but with much more emphasis on the battles. The way you control your overall navy is quite interesting, you increase your maximum amount of fleets by controlling certain systems, and the maximum size of each fleet by controlling more of another kind of system. You can queue up ship building from various star systems, once built they will enter your "reserve", then you can deploy them at any system with a starport(which there are many of). This means you can react quickly to any unguarded areas in your domain that may come under threat. Towards endgame it gets pretty intense when theres a lot of large fleets. There are many options for ship upgrades using two resources that allow for tactical variety, also i'm looking forward to testing various ship compositions. The battles are fun, with various mechanics to think about such as positioning, weapon types and modules. The developers have been on the ball, quickly fixing a bug I reported. Only thing I would like to see added to the game is more variety in the maps, custom game modes, and maybe a campaign mode with persistant technology.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 27, 2018

  I'm a person that rarely give bad reviews. Out of the 150+ games I own, this is the 2nd game I would have refunded ever. Unfortunately, I'm already outside of the 2h refund limit. Well, this game is nothing special but also not a game that has many other games that have similar gameplay. If you look for similar games we can compare it with: [list] [*]Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [*]Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies [*]Sid Meier's Starships [*]Battlestar Galactica [/list] [h1]Graphic[/h1] Even though the graphics are not terrible, they also can keep up with Battlestar Galactica by far. The graphic is about on par with Sid Meier's Starships and not far ahead of Ace patrol. All those titles are already a few years old. Outside of the combat on the low texture campaign map with basically nothing more than a simple star chart with path lines and points of the solar system it has nothing to offer. Nothing little to make it worth it like actually seeing the fleets there instead of some generic icons. No comets flying around or similar. Well, there are some 2d icons moving from 1 solar system to another. Also animations of an all-destroying Bomb. In Combat, graphics are ok'ish at best. The Ships are nicely detailed, combat animations are average at best. The only one above average is the missile attacks when a missile misses. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Gameplay has some interesting parts and some super stupid mechanics. Here just a few examples: [list] [*]The frigate is the most basic unit and even at the start kinda useless. It is cheap and can bypass shields but not strong enough compared to all the other ships. It performs same as a Corvette you can spawn from Carriers without the hull repairability. Waste of a Unit. [*]You need special solar systems to increase the numbers of ships per fleet and your amount of fleets. You start with a maximum of 2 fleets and 2 ships per fleet. You opponent even on medium difficulty sometimes start with 6 ships per fleet and sometimes they can have 9 ships per fleet before you even can have your 5th. Also, the opponents have access to level 6 ships before you find a Starbase with level 4 ships. [*]There is no way to build starbases or to actually research stuff like that. You have to find those bases on the campaign map by conquering a system. Before you visit a system, there is no way to tell what that system offers. [*]There are bombs that destroy a whole solars system incl the unbuildable and destroy your entire fleet without having a chance to protect yourself against it. [*]There is no diplomacy or trade with other factions, it is just a free for all map. [*]Many mechanics you have out of the Sid Meier's titles I miss. Like the ability to rotate your ship with your movement points. Abilities to fast forward animations. The ability to level some ships with experience through combat and making them better. The mechanics that range as well as your attack vector to the enemy position make a difference in accuracy and damage. [*]You can only move 1 fleet per turn, not multiple fleets and as there is no research, you can't develop this ability either. [*]There is a tutorial in form of a handbook. You have to read everything instead of having it show you your first step by animations or actually guiding through. Handbook tutorials where you have to read a plain text without pictures or animations are so outdated. [*]Another thing I really hate about this game is a combat thing. You have to press the "Standby" button of every ship until you can finish your turn. Why do I always have to press that button? I mean even if no enemy is in sight and therefore can't be targeted by my weapons or no ship requiring heal and therefore my heal abilities are unused? If I click on the next turn button, I want the button to work without selecting every ship I have and pressing a stupid and useless button. [/list] [h1]Story[/h1] There is no Stroy at all. They tell you a text description at the beginning that a civil war for a special resource (well a basic resources to build ships). But in the end it free for all not all vs the strong empire. No mission targets or anything else that you could count toward a story. There is nothing then a free for all deathmatch. Inf act this is the only game in this category I know without a story at all. [h1]Price[/h1] Even though that 15 USD is not expensive, the content you get is somewhere between terrible to average. There older titles that offer more for the same or lower price despite Battlestar Galactica which is far superior to this game. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] This is definitely a vote for thumbs down from me. A missing story, missing content, avg graphics, below avg game mechanics, poor gameplay. There are far better games in that category out there. For a similar or cheaper price.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 29, 2018

  Final Theory is basically turn based space combat with different classes of ships pew pewing each other. It's a great little game that keeps being updated and improved (so updating this review - again). If you're looking for an in depth space strategy, this is not for you, as it's more tactical space combat at the core, however with the latest version there is now some strategy involved in how you configure your Fleets, based on the numbers you can have and the upgrades you have against certain hulls (Destroyer, Cruiser, Battleship etc.). People complain about 1 move only per turn on the strategic map. It's what makes this game great. It's not hard - unless you're really hopeless at strategy and it doesn't mean you can't move into a sector 20 moves away from your current Fleet as you can deploy a new Fleet in any part of your sector where ships can be built and move it instead. As the game progresses you will have multiple Fleets at keys points in your sector of space. Having enough ships built and of the right sort is part of the strategy although again it ain't that hard to work out. The game runs basically along these lines: * Move starting Fleet ships into a new sector to explore * Based on systems you discover, you get access to more ships per Fleet and new classes of ship. * Set a 'Harvester' on a resource system every few turns to speed up 'money' gathering. * Start a ship building; bigger ships take longer, smaller ones can be completed in a turn. Different systems allow one type of ship to be built - a battle against the Empire forces can often result in a getting access to a bigger/better class of ship . * Find enemy Fleets and have a fight. This is the main part of the game, just getting into combat and having some space pew pew. Combat is 2D on a hex grid in space. There is no up and down in space - you're all on the same axis. All ships except carrier based corvettes leave a hulk when destroyed, that blocks the hex. Ships have firing arcs so you work out pretty quickly if you should move or stay put or completely bolt the other way, so you can orient your ship the right way for the next turn. Again it's all pretty simple and your average person will work out how to go about smashing the bad guys pretty quickly, although you can sometimes find yourself in a bad spot because your Fleet should have hammered the smaller ships first in this particular scenario because....well you can find out. You get engineering and development points from systems, but mainly from combat. The more combat you win, the quicker you can upgrade ships and you will want to do that. A level 3 or 4 ship has more guns and/or other funky abilities than a level 1 ship. Basically save up your points and upgrade selectively. The Cruiser has gone from an initial 'meh' ship when this game came out to a must have in early game and good in later game too. I won't go into the ships too much as it's part of the fun to work them out and see what happens. Updates have made the smaller ships more relevant in the later game since they now have some nice support , attack and/or defence abilities at level 4 and above. It means you can now customise Fleets based on how many ships you can have in a single Fleet and how you want to use them in combat. As long as you remember this is basically tactical space combat with some nice extras, and are happy with that then you'll like this game.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 30, 2018

  50/50 on this. Decent TBS that offers a quick fix for a wargame experience, rather than diving into an ES2 or Stellaris game, but it lacks depth and plays more like a mobile game. No real customization, fleet management is horrific, super simple tactics in battle and not much variety game to game. I'd recommend it on good sale, but not at full price.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 28, 2018

  Final Theory for the price is a nice clean fun game as a starting base from new little-known developer named Monticube. As a parent, I like to review these for those who are not experts on Steam and give a parental viewpoint on games for family gaming can be a positive, so let’s get to it. The description of the game is a little miss leading, but it is a space fighting turn based game with some great plusses and some minuses. You choose from four colors, ships are classed in 7 different types that unlock on parts of the map. Leveling tiers and 50 plus upgrades that you pay for. This game challenges you with careful one step maneuvering. Here we go PROS • Ok so let me get this straight, no micro managing, no taking care of planets and building buildings for the sake of building buildings. Just add to warfare. Simple enough, a plus. • Clean presentation, some nice visuals, easy functions, plays like an app and suddenly realized it plays like a board game than some extravagant pressure game were the stakes are nerve racking. Good • Easy for even children to play with, with no real traumatizing storylines or graphic violence or bloodshed. Fun for all ages to try. If exploding models is all a parent stress over. Then your good here. • You get the hang of it quickly. Easy controls. It took a start or two, but not that annoying if you discover mistakes and plenty of fun abilities ships can do that make the game fun to play. • Like Stratego, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Checkers, and other classic board games. There is a clean purpose from start to finish that can involve you for hours. See con. • Can easily see it released on other formats and a nice template to build on. Additions to the game will only improve the base play with options down the road for this new developer to explore. • Sounds, Effects, Visuals, and theme are all positives in the game. CONS • The simplicity of the game is also its weakness because it has no storyline that matters to the gamer. It does teach good fun strategy, but no real purpose that makes you want to play it over and over for now. • The Eye Impaired, color blind, will have difficulty distinguishing from friend and foe. This game should add UI and color contrasting to help assist in such a representation. Developers are merely cutting off potential customers with handicapped and those who struggle with such impairments. Slight negative for me. • Game I do believe needs diversity in the ship differential and allow for customers to have choice for the ship customization. • The game is a race, so you don’t really get to enjoy the fruits of your building an empire. Hopefully they add a mode for those who enjoy these type games with timed board game races eliminated. For example, my son had the ability to make 20 armies, but found only 4 or five in the end mattered. • The nuking can be fun, and it is resource based, but allows the AI and player too many outs. Fine for the race, lousy for strategic building. This ability does not reward good strategy. Final thoughts of Final Theory. A board game, App, console, and other formats, but they must work on a storyline, expand on the simplicity of the types, and not cap itself with old turn base chess themes. This game can appear as franchise versions of itself. A Star Wars version, Star Trek, or whatever. It’s a fun board game to me. It is not innovative or creating anything new but dresses it up in a fun manner. It also caps itself with the number of areas unnecessarily. Monticube’s first induction is comparable to any board game in a store and gives you a lot for the price as a start. The game can be addicting, but in the end, will not hold up in replay-ability in redundant themes in the long run. I can see it as a wonderful multi player game. A borderline positive review for me for its one-time release, but great additions could make this game a classic. See the video section above discussion to see if it’s for you. Wait for a sale. A nice introduction my score 2.9 out of 5
• gamedeal user

  Mar 19, 2019

  90% of this is brilliant if you think about it. In a 4X if you conquer a system you build all the buildings to make it production, research, or whatever. It's a lot of busy work. This game jumps to the end. In a 4X if you invent a new weapon or hull you go through and update everything. It's a lot of busy work. This game jumps to the end there too. All of the boring stuff has been boiled away, leaving quick turns and fun fights. Now yeah, the AI is dumb as dirt, and there some UI things that would be nice, but the reason this gets a big fat NO instead of a yes is one thing. You can only move one fleet a turn. It takes all the empire building and fun and puts them straight in a black hole. All they had to do was add a fuel mechanic. Maybe get rid of the fleet count (who can ever build 26 fleets?) and make it a count of how much fuel you get a turn. No stockpiling. Then you are conquering systems to help your big fleets move. You can have small fleets run around raiding planets. It is just tragic how that one "design" decision wrecks the whole game.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 6, 2019

  Checkers/Chess in space, that is basically what Final Theory is. Beautiful graphics and the space battles are fun, but the reason its a thumbs down, you can only move one fleet, one sector per turn. This makes for a very long drawn out game and with how realistic they got for space combat, its not realistic to have a one fleet movement per turn policy, especially when you eventually can have 20+ fleets.