There’s a lot of species survival lessons in Massive Chalice. Most of it requires the player to make some cold and calculated decisions. Morals and modern day customs had to make way for necessity and I can’t think of any other game that rewards this kind of thinking.
The world of Massive Chalice was afflicted by a corruptive force called the Cadence. Fortunately there’s this Massive Chalice that can purge these lands of this Cadence but it takes 300 years charge this giant chalice. As the immortal overseer of this world, it was my responsibility to guide my people towards that fateful day.
It was up to me to breed the best warriors, build the best equipment and protect the Chalice and the surrounding land from the Cadence’s attacks.
With the 300 year hard deadline looming, it’s tough not to drop the sickly or the weak while propping up the strong, the virile and the talented. I arranged marriages between people out of necessity and not love; they had tendencies to live long lives and incredible strength, so who cares if one was 22 and the other was 60? It was about survival of the species dammit!
The people didn’t seem to mind it though. There was only one random event that made issue of the age gap but it was a the single complaint in three centuries.
It was important not to grow attached to specific heroes because they would eventually be killed or die of old age. Instead, I grew attached to specific bloodlines and classes. Hunters (like snipers in XCOM: Enemy Unknown) were god like beings — especially at higher levels. Their offshoots were equally deadly which cemented them as my favored hero classes.
Once all the mechanics fell into place, I really enjoyed my time with Massive Chalice. It rewarded my faith in breeding future super soldiers and selective breeding. There aren’t many games out there where you can say that.
Massive Chalice was the third backed Kickstarter title and I was pleased to see it pan out. I got exactly what the initial pitch video laid out; I managed bloodlines through the ages towards an end goal. What I didn’t expect were the lessons in pragmatism. I found myself questioning decisions but ultimately deciding on what was best for the entire race.
The beauty of it was they didn’t hit me over the head with these dilemmas. I made the observations so I had to make those calls; all they did was layout these opportunities for me to encounter and they did a marvelous job with that.
Verdict:
I like it
