Thea 2: The Shattering

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.

Overall a great game--I recommend it.
Pros:
*Unique gameplay -- feels like nothing else (other than Thea 1).
*Has that "just one more turn" feeling the best games give me.
*Developer has a great DLC policy -- it's free, but if you like it, you can give a tip via "pizza for coders" item.
*Deep gameplay--feels like I could play dozens of times and still not learn all the tricks and secrets.
*The Slavic lore is fascinating.
*Fabulous artwork.
Cons:
*Still a lot of bugs, none game breaking, many annoying. Should be in early access.
*Steep early learning curve and not much in the way of useful tutorials. I'm not sure how you would learn this game without a ton of save-scumming and experimentation. There are some lets play videos and walkthroughs out there, but many of them aren't great either.
*The UI is not good. Often takes 3 clicks to accomplish what should take one. (Saving a game is a great example. And you will probably need to save a lot as you're learning.) Lots of annoying, counter-intuitive elements throughout the UI.

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.

Edit: the Pangea update changes the layout of the map, but there is still no fog of war and resource locations are still very predictable. I will not update the rest of the review, but keep that in mind.
First off, this is NOT A 4X GAME. I don't know why it keeps getting labelled as such, but players expecting real 4X gameplay are going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a unique RPG / survival / strategy experience (that's also pretty damn difficult with a steep learning curve), though, you'll probably like this.
I've enjoyed this far more than the first Thea (which felt too easy and got repetitive too quickly), and there are many changes and additions I really like. It still feels slightly unfinished but is very playable and the Workshop support is a fantastic improvement over Thea 1. If there's something you want, or don't like, there's a decent chance someone made a mod for that very thing.
Some players consider Thea 2 too grindy, and I disagree. Because while you CAN click end turn 50 times and just sit there crafting or researching for the full 50 turns, world progression will punish you and I don't think you're supposed to play that way. The game is much more enjoyable if you embrace the challenge and only craft the handful of things you really NEED, right now, and that will give your best characters far more power to keep the group alive. Don't even try to research or build everything or give everyone the best equipment. You don't have time for that. World progression will kick you in the butt if you don't stay ahead of it.
Changes / additions from the first game that I really like:
-Children are now playable (though somewhat weak) characters and will gain bonus stats and skills as they level, until they turn into adults, which also gives you more influence over the class they'll grow into.
-You don't need to build a town right away, and in fact I recommend you don't do it until mid or late game. You'll need characters to keep your town safe, and depending on RNG more characters can be hard to come by, even though baby events are more frequent.
-Speaking of babies, cross-breeding between species is a thing and might lead to interesting results
-Stats / skills have been streamlined but are still very diverse, and card combat is now more interesting (but also more complicated, which you might enjoy, or not). Crafting is also more complex, which I enjoy but not everyone does.
-The different races now have their own towns and factions, and you can trade with them, which I really appreciate. Trading removes a lot of the early game grind and reduces the need to craft or gather basic equipment. Some races like the Shadowkin are better for trading than others.
-God bonuses are now (mostly) integrated into a trait card system of selectable starting bonuses. Some of these need to be unlocked, some are free. Instead of unlocking things for a specific god you do so for one of 6 (I think?) domains, and can use the same bonuses for another god who shares that domain. So if you're like me and try new starting conditions often you'll still benefit from unlocks later on.
-The game is now definitely more challenging, which makes even the early game far more exciting. It's still very possible to complete the main quest, but unless you've been playing for a good long while, you'll probably have to make use of manual saves to reach that point.
-Many quests and events are now tied to a particular faction / island, which means that if you visit one you haven't been to before, you're guaranteed to see brand new events.
Things I don't like / still feel unfinished:
-The complete world map is revealed from turn one, which makes exploration somewhat meh. In the early game exploration is still fun because you'll need all the ruins, faction towns and resource nodes you can discover, but later on travelling is tedious and more of a simple timesink than fun.
-To add to the above, without mods the towns and resource nodes that spawn on a given island are VERY predictable with only a tiny bit of mostly insignificant variation. Each island has exactly one type of tier 3 resource node and it's always the same one. More randomization would have improved replayability.
-The size and number of islands always stays the same and their shape only varies slightly. Also, you always start on the same island, which is always the easiest and always at the center, and starts to feel repetitive after a few games. The difficulty of other islands is always the same too, and only influenced by overall world progression (turns passed). I don't know why there is a need for a generic starting island at all, would have been far more fun to let the player start anywhere, and just make their starting island the easiest and the others random.
-NPCs don't fight each other, which can lead to silly situations like two enemy factions occupying the same hex without anything happening. They walk around their island but don't do anything until you interact with them.
-While there is a decent amount of enemy variety, the higher level enemies that you'll fight ALL the time in the late game are always the same lightbringer and demon types of difficulty 6-9. Over and over and over.
-Tier 4 and 5 resources can't be harvested from the world period. They have zero chance of appearing. You can get decent amounts of them by killing the same difficulty 6-9 enemy stacks over and over, which gets old fast, or by converting lower tier resources into higher ones, which is time-consuming and tedious and also gets old fast.
-Without mods there isn't a lot of variation in god trait cards, especially not free ones that you don't need to unlock. Also gods (mostly) don't change the overall gameplay experience in any significant way, to get a truly unique starting experience you'll need to grind points first. Would have been nice if there were god-specific buildings and researchable crafting recipes, such as unique spells for magic domain followers.

This is a good game despite some negative reviews I've seen. The story builds on the first Thea game so you get a nice feeling of continuity if you play them in order. The combat system in the first was more fun (in my opinion) but it was also much easier to "game" so you rarely lost. So...
Pros:
- Great story that builds on the first game
- Graphics and interface are much better than the first game
- Crafting...omg, lots of crafting
- Extensive "science" tree to unlock through research...it's big... 1000 turns was insufficient to unlock everything
- Huge maps, the world feels expansive
- A more challenging combat system than the first game. You will be forced to compose your party carefully or suffer for it. There are three different damage types with three separate Life bars. You party has to be able to deal with all of them.
- Very reasonable price, especially if you buy it in a bundle like i did. This is a big one. Alot of value at the price point
- Character art is amazing. The details are hilarious,
*Bonus* At least one Monty Python reference
Cons:
- The game slowed down a bit on my midrange gaming computer after i got past turn 1000. Never crashed though
- The original combat system was unique and a bit more fun. Most of the negative reviews i've seen are complaining about this. Not a deal breaker
- Could use more content or a longer main quest line. I was able to beat the game before getting top level gear.
- The "You were robbed" event needs to be a one off event... easy to resolve...but boring after it pops up the 20th time
- Needs a wider range of random events
- A tutorial on crafting materials needs to be added the the existing tutorial
- Game progression should not be based on the turn count. I found that if you spent too much time crafting and harvesting, the monster progression got out of control fast.
This is a good game. Buy The bundle and play em both.

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

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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