A tactical postapocalyptic adventure on the Appalachian Trail - Miasma Chronicles Quick Review
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PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?
Definitely play it if you enjoy tactics adventures such as Mutant Year Zero and Corruption 2029, the previous titles from developer The Bearded Ladies. Miasma Chronicles is a similarly structured adventure in another postapocalyptic earth setting that’s punctuated by tactical battles that can be every bit as difficult as you want them to be. There’s a lot of exploration and downtime between these turn-based firefights, however, so skip it if you’re looking for nonstop action.
TIME PLAYED
I’ve played three hours of Miasma Chronicles so far, which has given me time to settle into the rain-swept world of rural Kentucky, sometime in the indeterminate future when a mysterious substance called miasma has caused a global catastrophe. Our hero Elvis and his “big brother,” a wise-cracking mining robot named Diggs, set out on a quest to tunnel through a wall of miasma that has formed outside their town, permanently separating the two from their mom. I’ve fought several battles with mutant frog monsters and a gang of thieves in the nearby mines, and picked up some new powers for Elvis’s peculiar glove, which allows him to channel nearby miasma and unleash devastating effects on his enemies.
WHAT’S AWESOME
• A unique setting. Set in a rural Kentucky mining town where people are trying to get by on the meager supplies provided by the aristocratic “First Family” who rules postapocalyptic America, Miasma Chronicles looks and sounds strikingly distinct. Rusty mining equipment and muddy, rutted roads wind their way through ramshackle shops and homes, while outside town the ruins of the former civilization are streaked with black, crystalline miasma structures. It’s a cool-looking game, and I enjoyed the larger-than-life characters who range from a town “crazy lady” who finds mushrooms with healing properties, to the mayor, a cigar-smoking head that’s kept alive in a jar of murky fluid.
• Customizable difficulty. Miasma Chronicles let me choose from four difficulty levels and explained exactly what changes with each one. Picking an easier level to start meant that enemies had less health and did less damage, while the most challenging level disables manual saves and prevents heroes from recovering from injuries during combat.
• Flexible progression system. Each time my characters leveled up, I got another point to spend in their character deck, which allowed me to unlock new abilities and bonuses. The great thing about this system is that I could reallocate those points whenever I wanted, so I never worried about getting locked into a particular character build. Similarly, I was able to rearrange modifiers and skills on the fly through weapon mods and Elvis’s miasma abilities, so I was always free to experiment with new stuff I picked up, or to try slotting a new party member into a highly specific role I hadn’t gotten to use yet.
• Rewarding tactical options. As with other Bearded Ladies games, Miasma Chronicles gave me the chance to sneak my characters around battlefields before triggering the ambush that started the turn-based fights. The game encouraged me to set up opportunities for my stealthy characters to take out lone scouts from stealth, or use my miasma abilities to throw enemies around, often triggering devastating combos when they collided with explosive barrels or other traps in the environment.
WHAT SUCKS
• A lot of downtime between battles. Exploration is a big part of Miasma Chronicles, which means I spent a lot of time wandering around the beautiful maps looking for side quests and bonus loot. It’s not that this is a bad thing necessarily, but the pace can feel pretty slow at times.
• Everything looks over-sharpened. Miasma Chronicles has incredibly strong art design, but there’s a strange sharpening effect over everything that can make highlights look busy and harsh, like an Instagram filter that’s been cranked way up. I couldn’t find a graphics or video setting that had any effect on this, and there’s no way to directly adjust the level of sharpening. Again, this isn’t a big deal, but I found it a little grating to look at.
• Some iffy writing. Generally speaking, Miasma Chronicles has a fun if lightweight story full of boisterous characters who helped fill in the details about the destroyed world I was exploring. However, there was the odd line now and again that came across as a bit off, like there’d been a mistranslation or maybe a piece of draft that hadn’t been edited for the final version. Fortunately, the voice acting was strong across the board, and the performers were able to make awkward lines sound reasonably natural.
💬 Will you be heading into the miasma for this postapocalyptic adventure in the Bluegrass State, or have you had your fill of narrative-driven tactics games? Let me know in the comments!
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