Massive Chalice (Hands-On) (PC) Preview

The eponymous chalice in this fairytale isn't just massive, but also sentient, consists of two beings - one male, one female - narrates the story, and, finally, adds a bit of low-key comedic spice to the whole thing. Moreover, this mysterious artefact is the only hope against a demonic horde known as the Cadence, since it can power-up and blast these abominations to oblivion. There is a catch, though, in that it takes many a decade for it to do so, and the life expectancy of the citizens that inhabit this generic fantasy world isn't exactly encouraging.

Massive Chalice can be described as a mix between XCOM's battle mechanics and a simple, yet interesting lineage management system. Furthermore, it turns out to be one of the most complete and solid Early Access titles, with tons of innovations, a small but very good assortment of music tracks, a fantastic visual style where everything is made out of low-poly models, and, thankfully, only a tiny amount of bugs, which will surely get fixed before the release date. What about the actual gameplay, though? There's currently only one mode available: a 300-year survival quest, where a very small region of uncorrupted land must be protected at all costs, in order to give the Chalice enough time to do its magic.

Amongst the various structures that can be placed in one of the few available regions of the macro map, the most crucial is the keep, because it serves as a hero breeding ground, something that requires the appointment of a regent and his, or her, partner. Besides not being immortal, no character is without a couple of weaknesses, therefore, it's the player's duty to carefully think who to marry with whom, unless the war needs the offspring of a vigorous, but dim-witted and prone to drinking lass, and her geriatric, and not exactly fertile hubby.

After their fifteenth birthday, new heroes can become active citizens by remaining in their keep to train, become one of the five members of the Vanguard - the team that does all the fighting - helps research for new items, structures, and technologies by becoming a Sagewright in a guild, become a trainer in a crucible, or help in increasing the populace. Bear in mind that this is the only truly interactive part of the overworld map, because after arranging marriages, construction, and other tasks, it all becomes an automatic galloping towards the future, with days going by in milliseconds, and a flow of time that pauses only for certain events, like a character's death, or an attack from the wretched Cadence.

While this is certainly a game of skill, those willing to try it out must be ready for Lady Luck's caprices, because randomness is a major part of the equation. It's impossible to know the stats of a new hero beforehand, at what age will someone die, or the outcome of the various multiple-choice, rick/reward events that might pop-up, however, it's possible to have some reasonable expectations, for example, characters with the longevity trait will live longer than those with the heart disease one, those with a tranquil personality are more accurate than those that are nervous, and so on.

Unfortunately, the macro map can get quite boring after a while, especially for those who manage to create an adequate set up in the first five or so decades, making the rest of the campaign less challenging, and a bit repetitive, although it will still have that "Just one more turn!" magic. Even worse, after the completion of the only available mode, the second time won't be any different. Why? Well, maybe because there isn't enough variety in the things that can be done. Three kinds of buildings, about 50 researchable technologies/items, nine classes for the heroes - with six of them just hybrids of the basic three - and so on. Then again, maybe the fighting part is more interesting - but is it?

The battlefield is where all the breeding, researching, et cetera, show their value, because unlike the building mode where mistakes don't really seem to matter, they do here, because wrong choices may lead to a character's death, which also means the loss of a strenuously, and slowly acquired gene pool. Despite being challenging, though, battles are pretty simple gameplay-wise, especially for those experienced with the genre - in fact, the only thing that is somewhat irritating is the fact that it's a bit hard to tell heroes apart, or keep track of their traits due to the extremely simplistic UI.

Apart from the diverse character classes, the enemies turn out to be quite innovative, since, apart from Seeds, which are the typical cannon fodder, there are Lapses that drain Exp, Wrinklers that age heroes with every hit, Twitchers that swap positions with a character, Cradles that give birth to Seeds, Bulwarks that can grow an extremely tough, but temporary shield, and finally, Ruptures that explode and leave a corrosive pool of acid behind. The only problem is that the action part feels a bit watered-down, especially when compared to the very similar XCOM: Enemy Unknown, mainly because all levels are the same, and require only one strategy: scout for enemies, and then kill them as swiftly as possible, something that, like in the overworld map, can make things feel a bit repetitive after a while, despite both of them being quite entertaining.