Thea 2: The Shattering

I'm forced to revise this review, which was first a SCATHING panning of this title which i've through stubborn struggle and love of the original I have arrived at a grudgingly favorable review rathar than my previous plea to play the original and spare oneself this sequel.
Read any other negative reviews to get a good idea as to what the difficulty of entry to this game is and everything that was done different (in many ways too different) from the original. I will give it a more fair shake in my review, and explain why.
I wanted to see this sequel so badly come to light, and was devastated when I saw the finished product. A veteran of the first game I was nonetheless slaughtered and punished repeatedly and endlessly until I figured out some of the opaque things about the game that were so elegant and simple in the first one.
Most people might not have the nerve or the courage to give the game the number of second chances I did... but ultimately it won me over. Here are my gripes and what I feel mitigated them:
Combat System: NOTHING mitgated this. Compared the the novel and elegant combat of the first game the new combat system is pretty, but is otherwise a overcomplicated convoluted and outwardly inscrutable mess. I Auto-Resolve 100% of my challenges in this game. I'm glad the option exists because without auto-resolution the game would be unplayable to me.
The loot system: The loot system for the old game was simple but elusively deep and enjoyable for me -- and the sequel does not disappoint in this regard ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. My first impressions of the look system were that it was vastly more complicated (and once understood it is in a good way but until you really struggle with it just appears to be a slap in the face of the previous game's simplicity. Now that i understand the loot system I really love it, but the first dozen games and HOURS of playtime I saw no other means to produce anything but complete crap... even with great materials. It's just not obvious until you do some expensive experimenting just how much better other "Tiers" of items can be when the indicators can be downright convoluted and even misleading. I still don't 100% know what's going on, but can at least tell what's better incrementally and how to avoid making everything I craft into a piece of crap.
Materials for the game are worlds more varied and complex, and greater materials are found in the wild or are composites of lesser materials. I enjoy the crafting system now... but at first entry it was needlessly opaque and even stressful.
The "Spine" of the game, the story, god mechanics, and gameplay once you get past the numerous barriers to understanding and enjoyment is truly a "one more turn" kind of game, and I found myself grudgingly loving the game despite hating it before when I finally got past the vicious and sometimes arbitrary difficulty of one starting out to the midgame where you actually have an idea of what you can face without getting smashed and the meaningfulness of some of your choices.
Things light "Lightbringers" being HARD to fight magically and much easier to fight conventionally do not make themselves obvious and were endlessly frustrating. Especially since if lightbringers attacked you, they get to pick Magic combat, just like you figure out later you can pick physical combat if you attack them first. But my first experiences with getting slaughtered by them made the idea of attacking first completely counter-intuitive to me. That's just one example of the way this game kicks you in the balls and laughs as you reload over and over. I seriously save scum the hell out of this game. Rewards are awful early game, and punishment is always more severe and permanent than advancement or success. I've been able to enjoy this game with a network of layered save files that assure something I did 10 turns ago (eg after it's autosaved) doesn't come back and blast your game to pieces.
I've given the game enough of my Ire, I'm just glad I broke through to the part where I can express and enjoy the "love" part of the game. It really stands on the shoulders of the first game and really shows more depth and breadth and each individual revamp of a system is truly an improvement on the original. To veterans of the first game, all these changed in aggregate will make the game a confusing and semi-unrecognizable mess.
But I wouldn't give up, and I'm really enjoying the game now, despite how ridiculously hard and punishing it can be. My best advice is simply not to give up, experiment, and there is gold to be found here.
Buyer beware, Fans of the first game you have been warned, and I hope you overcome like I did, unlike all the bad reviews the game got for the same reasons. It's worth it.
Grudgingly recommended.

Thea: The Awakening - 565 hours. 9.5/10.
Only real downside was the village UI but once you learnt to save groups it was lots better.
Thea 2: The Shattering - 386 hours. 6.5/10.
Have given number 2 a real shot and even bought some pizza for devs a couple of times because MuHa impress me so darn much but the three negatives are pretty weighty. The three enormous positives are great, but two of them aren't about the gameplay itself but MuHa's choices.
Positives:
- Artwork. HUGE upgrade on the original and amazing in its own right, love it.
- Transparent mod making tool with steam workshop. The definitive saving grace for Thea 2 as it lets you speed up the game to an extent and the building overhaul mods are to die for.
- Free downloadable content forever. The game has one price tag. If any of you have tried keeping up with DLC on Crusader Kings 2, Civ 6 or Warhammer: Total War series you'll know what I mean. The downside of this is of course they can only have so many people working. In the age of micro transactions keeping a gaming company buoyant on initial purchase fee alone seems amazing to me.
Negatives:
- Party and resource UI. Both are woefully inadequate and the least polished part of the game. In fact, unpolished doesn't even come close... clunky, annoying, near non-existent?
- New combat system. This one is purely personal opinion but I loved the combat system of The Awakening and hate the combat system of The Shattering. After my first couple of playthroughs I've almost exclusively auto-resolved ever since. This adds to the next problem due to having to outgear all encounters so dramatically.
- Slow falls short of the mark on this one. I'm a long haul gamer. I play Civ on marathon setting and talk to every NPC and read every option in RPG's. Thea 2 just doesn't flow for me. It's not even that Thea 2 takes a long time to finish. You can complete both your chosen storyline and lightbringer storyline in rather short order if you're focused. They have also released the pirates storyline for late game. However, between turn 200 and 500 there's... nothing. It feels like the entire middle of this novel is missing to me and its not enjoyable.
Thea 2: The Shattering is still a positive for me for the main reason of I feel the game release was a financial decision over a completed work. Muha are committed to this game and I believe it will get better with time even if the combat system stinks for me personally. They made some great steps forward with the steam workshop and artwork but now the rest of the game needs to catch up. Crucial elements needing work are town/party UI and engaging mid-gear objectives.

Let's start with the fact that this isn't going to be unbiased because I spent at least 5 times more time on modding than actually playing the game.
That alone should tell you that this is by no means a perfect game. I spent hours changing parts of the game to better suit my liking. But that's because I enjoyed the core concepts enough to invest that time.
If I had to describe the game in one sentence it would be: it's very basic if you want it to be.
The reason for that is that there's usually always a way to make the game simple for yourself. You could sit in your village for 1000 turns grinding resources. You could autoresolve every fight. You could just rush the main quest and complete the game in less than 100 turns or just start with overpowered characters and destroy everything.
But the important thing about this is that you don't have to. Once you understand how the game works you can make basically anything work. You don't need to stop once you got one of the win conditions. Winning only gives you more points to try out different starts.
The whole point of the game is to tell your own story. There's no need to follow quest markers around. Losing characters doesn't mean you lost the game. You're not expected to be perfect. The game isn't. Why should you?
And if you don't like a certain aspect of the game, just change it. I didn't grind out all the trait cards I just unlocked them all. Don't like a certain weapon class? There's probably a mod out there to change it. Game is too easy? Crank it up and get some mod to make it harder.
Try the free demo and see if you like the core systems. You might not grasp everything immediately but that's fine. The devs have been really nice, offering free DLC responding to problems, helping with modding.
Normally moddability shouldn't factor into the review of a game, but simply due to the nature of this game there are simply things not everyone is going to like. But we got the tools to solve that issue. As I said early it's about how YOU want to play. So do exactly that.

Great! 8 out of 10.
First part: Review for new players.
Second part: Review for Thea 1 players.
1:
A turn based Slavic mythology themed gathering/crafting/survival game, with heavy aspects of oldskool RPG and lots of artwork. The player controls a group of humans surviving a global cataclysm. The goal is to survive, rebuild some form of society and help your patron deity gain control and order over the mortal realm again.
The nice thing about it, is that there are multiple ways to victory: One can win by completing god quests, by building a prosperous society, and even by "backstabbing" your god and pursuing personal motives.
While the game can sometimes get a little bit grindy, the massive amount of lore, artwork and random events prevent it from getting boring. The game consists of turns on a world map, followed by encounters in card-based mini games.
Those mini games are beautifully drawn representations of your characters, their skills, equipment, etc.
Some card games represent common combat, while others represent the chance of sneaking by opponents unnoticed, resisting evil spirits, tracking wild animals, or engaging in dialogue with thugs. All those games are governed by the stats and abilities of your party members. The RPG-element doesn't end there:
While the attributes and classes of your characters influence their stats in mini games, they also open up completely new dialogue options and courses of action preceding encounters, resulting in huge replay value.
That's the point where the real beauty of Thea 2 (and 1!) lies:
Almost all encounters are actually short, atmospheric text based stories, accompanied by nice drawn artwork, and offering multiple dialogue options. Some of those options are basic, and are just pulling a number on your own judgement of the situation: Whether or not to trust a stranger, whether or not to scout some ruins, etc. Generally, they feel pretty intuitive to me. When the text subtly states some eerie details about a situation: follow your instincts! The refreshing thing is that some specialised characters offer additional options during those stories: Your party members possess "hidden knowledge". Often choices made will have an impact on following events a few turns later.
While this game is solid on it's own, I slightly recommend playing Thea 1 first, for the sake of introduction to the mechanics and immersion in the story.
2:
Beautiful game. If you like Thea 1, you can't go wrong with this one.
Personally, I like Thea 1 just a bit better, but not by much.
Mainly because Thea 1 feels a bit more gloomy and has got some really dark music. That's just personal preference.
There's still enough to discover, enchant, befriend and kill in Thea 2, though!
I guess one of the biggest differences is the card game: They've made it less linear, and put a 2nd dimension to the battlefield. The battlefield not only represents time during combat now, but also space during combat. Confusing at first, but once you'll get the hang of it, it feels like a slightly more complicated version of Thea 1's combat system. More confusion at first, but more possibilities later. That's just a learning curve.
Furthermore there's the option to live a nomadic lifestyle in Thea 2.
Not settling gives freedom to roam wherever you like, without having to divide your people between scouting parties and a town garrison.
Settling, however provides gathering/crafting/defensive bonuses, but limits the player to a certain spot.
There is still the option to send out parties from your city, though!
Other new features include the ability of characters to perform rituals during camping
(Those are spells they perform, providing benefits for your party for a limited amount of turns),
and the ability to build boats and cross oceans to new continents with other resources.
While Thea 2 feels pretty much like Thea 1, it's refreshing enough to feel like new.
Thea 2 offers a nice sequel to Thea 1. I can heavily recommend it.
Final verdict:
Thea 1: 9/10
Thea 2 8/10

Thea is such a wonderful game to play. It has a calming and soothing effect on me. Just being sucked in to the world of Thea is a joy in itself, but the gathering, crafting and building are great too.
Also the card based fights are cool, although I still have a lot to learn there.
The lore is presented via beautiful drawings and well written stories.
I did play the first Thea and this is much the same in many aspects, just worked out better in my opinion.
Once I get further in I might add to this review but the game already is worth every cent I paid for it.

Overview
Thea 2: The Shattering pulls no punches and explains little. It takes a bit of an investment to get to a point where things make sense and you can freely pursue your goals without worrying that there is some other task that needs doing. Once you overcome that hurdle, there’s a challenging, deep, sandbox, party-based survival game that stands out as a unique and rewarding experience.
The Odds Are Stacked Against You
Your introduction to the world of Thea begins with a selection of which god you serve. Only two of these are unlocked at first with several others eventually becoming available. Each of these offers their own unique boons and impacts your starting conditions. For example, Zorya, a goddess of turmoil and magic, grants you a free warrior and scavenger while also increasing the initiative of your party in combat. You’ll then have a number of points to customize the other aspects of your starting party ranging from resources to equipment to additional characters. Many of these options are locked as well, though each game will grant you some points that can be used to unlock them in further adventures.
Once your party has made it into the world, you’ll receive a variety of quests but the most important task that you have is to survive. The denizens of Thea are particularly hostile, but the cold and hunger can be just as threatening under the right circumstances. In order to keep your characters healthy and happy, you’ll need fuel (wood, coal) and food (the more variety the better). The passage of time with its seasons, weather, and day and night cycle will also challenge you with modifiers such as reduced food harvesting speed, hindered movement, and shortened vision.
When the basics of survival are in place, it’s time to turn your ambitions outward. A wide variety of resources are out there to be harvested, offering varying levels of efficiency for crafted items and structures built in your settlement. You may be able to make a suit of armor with iron but making it out of the far more challenging to acquire moonstone will offer a vastly superior piece of equipment. Resources fall into one of the primary categories (wood, stone, metal, hide, bone, gems, and food) and most crafting requires only a resource type, not a specific resource itself.
Research is invaluable as it unlocks the capability to harvest more advanced resources, craft new equipment, cook new recipes, and improve your efficiency overall. On the other hand, cooking allows you to combine food resources to create new types of food, not only boosting morale by expanding your party’s selection but allowing you to stretch how far your food resources can go.
Building a settlement is also useful in many ways, though interestingly enough, entirely optional; the nomad lifestyle is one that also has its own strengths and weaknesses. Settlements boost the harvesting talents of characters within them and allow the construction of structures that provide very useful buffs and abilities. You may still be trekking to distant lands but a cared for and protected homestead offers many advantages.
Pen the Tale of the Chosen
The lore of Thea is quite unique and always as some interesting new event around the corner that isn’t an expected norm in contemporary fantasy. Slavic myths take center stage and you’ll be navigating through them as a chosen of the gods in a fantasy rendition of a post-apocalyptic world. You’re able to choose which of your starting characters is the chosen but be warned that if they die, your story has ended. I’ll avoid spoiling too much on the main storyline but you’ll be experiencing most narrative events via a visual novel-like style of narration that offers several choices for almost every one of them.
The Bold and the Brave
If all goes well, your roster will increase in size throughout your story. New children are born and new allies are discovered, including several races and plenty of classes to keep you entertained. Some may be talented warriors, others may have a skill for crafting or gathering, others still may be blessed with a knack for oratory; regardless, all are important and incredibly useful parts of your group. The individual talents and many uses for these characters will surprise you if your expectations are based on others in the genre.
In my most recent adventure, I began with a warrior (fantastic at physical combat and challenges), a scavenger (half-mad woman in-tune with the mystical side of the world), and a gatherer (vastly superior to others at resource collection), who chaperoned a pair of children through the world until they grew into valuable characters in their own right. One of these became a zerca (cleric with incredible wisdom) and the other a witch (powerful spiritual combat class), though we were also joined by a craftsman who vastly improved our capability for putting together new equipment.
These characters improve by gaining experience and levelling up; levels alternate between boosting one of an option of three stats and choosing between two abilities (these may upgrade old abilities or teach a new one altogether). I enjoyed this style of progression quite a bit, my only complaint being that at times the stats offered for improvement were too random and nearly useless to the individual in question. I wasn’t particularly pleased when my hunter ended up surpassing my warrior’s strength by a noticeable amount.
Your Three Lives: Health, Sanity, and Faith
Hostile encounters play out differently in Thea 2 than in anything else that I’ve played. Characters are represented by cards that are placed on a grid that includes a front and back row, one for you, one for your enemy. Positioning matters as each character’s abilities are chosen at the time that their card is placed and equipment and abilities have varied ranges and areas of effect. To paint the picture more clearly, a greatsword will deal damage to a foe in melee range as well as to those adjacent to them on the front row. Alternatively, axes deal the most impressive damage but only to a single target, while bows can strike any foe without restrictions. There is quite a variety of weapons that you’ll be able to get your hands on and they are plenty of fun to customize your party with.
What stands out with this title is its distribution of hostile encounters into physical, mental, and spiritual combat and challenges. Your warrior is likely to excel in physical combat and challenges, though they are just as likely to be absolutely terrible when it comes to those of the mental and spiritual varieties. Your physical tanks and damage dealers may pale in comparison to the overwhelming mental power of your zerca that had only offered some minor talent for supporting the party when physical challenges arose. It was interesting to see each character’s ‘life’ take the form of health (physical), sanity (mental), and faith (spiritual) and see a rather unimposing physical character become a tank as soon as an encounter broke out that couldn’t be resolved with a savage beating. These differing types of encounters also allow you to make many choices throughout your story, such as slaying the bandits who are attacking you or simply talking them down and I appreciated it.
Final verdict in the comments.
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I think I can sum this game up quite well by saying "this game does not hold your hand." Some people might like that sense of freedom and exploration, but make sure you start by going into the custom difficulty sliders and enable manual saves. Otherwise, you will unknowingly have your entire team wiped. A lot. And there's no coming back from that. Sure, the game might leave you with a level 3 Scoundrel and a level 6 Crafter, but the game will already be advanced to where all the enemies out level you and you have no hope of coming back. Time to restart. And while this has the potential to be fun, the early stages of the game can be a bit tedious. You start on the main island and have access to the unfolding main quest and a handful of random quests, and this stage is all about getting to a point where you can establish a small band of warriors and get them fed and geared up. You will do this mostly through gathering resources (either by farming them or winning them through combat) and crafting equipment. You can also trade at towns or with traveling merchants. The part that really makes different playthroughs feel unique is where you seek out different factions to support and doing a sidequest to awaken your chosen deity, and that requires you to build a ship and take sail for a different island.
The quests and events in this game can fall into two categories: one category are quests that have correct and incorrect choices that you can learn as you go and remember for subsequent playthroughs, and the other are random outcomes, albeit influenced by certain stats. The later can be frustrating. For example, your main character who started life as a child has grown up and gets to become a useful character for a change. You send Luna to learn to become a wise and powerful witch so you can finally have a magic user to blast away wolf packs that keep pestering your starting settlement. Luna fails and transforms herself into a diseased rat. Let that sink in for a second. Your main character is now the most useless creature in the entire game and can bite your opponents for 2 damage for the rest of the game. You cannot undo this. If you keep leveling your Chosen hero, yes, they can get stronger and eventually do 4 damage per turn to Krakens that have 600 HP. You MIGHT be tempted to "save scum," and reload your game to before this happened, and I would say you should do this until you learn the ropes and are ready for a true rougelike run. Now... experienced players will say, of course, what did you expect would happen? Witches are an advanced class, and you should have recruited a second magic user before your child grew up so they could help guide their spiritual path. And you also should have been raising the correct stats for them. Then you would have only had a 50% chance of becoming a rat!
I say this to try to capture the essence of the game. I'm giving it an overall positive recommendation, and I reached 75 hours at the time of writing this. I didn't really understand some of the basics of combat until well after 20 hours. For example, you'll learn early on that some weapons are completely useless in physical combat and are only useful in mental or spiritual combat challenges. Some weapons can be crafted that are useful in all three types of challenges (e.g., wands, but you can also create enchanted swords that can be used in both physical and mental combat although they use different stats for each attack type), but even these weapons are not useful in "conceptual challenges" because you can't use weapons in these challenges. But you can use skills that your character learned by leveling up! Whew!
Combat also takes some getting used to. You take turns deploying your characters, and there's an incentive to playing characters as soon as you can (they have faster attack speed and can sometimes attack before the enemy). But this comes at the expense of not knowing what your opponent is still going to do. You might play a squishy archer on the backline behind your tank, but you should really know if the enemy team has a character they can deploy that can do a piercing attack that will hit both of your characters or if they have someone who can target any space on the map. You will learn early on that having high armor ratings is really important, because without it, you're going to lose a lot of characters to permadeath.
Once you get the hang of it, though, you can start to enjoy the setting and lore of the Theaverse with all its demons and imps and curses and basically everything being out to mess with you in some way. Then there's the gods- new gods, old gods, ancient beings that aren't quite gods, gods without their memories, gods that split into shards and gods that are shards. It's a lot of interesting stuff to try to piece together as you enter a world designed to be held in a shaky balance of light and dark and making plays that either return the balance or push things off the scale in either direction.