Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense

Unfortunately, this game is very boring.

A lot of factors contribute to this feeling:
1) A lot of characters are thrown at you from the very start. Unless you read their bio's from the developer, it is very overwhelming and confusing. It doesn't help that not always characters that speak to you show up on screen, which makes it very easy to mistake them for different characters - e.g. Graciela and Mira or Xavier and Christophe.
2) Character's "banter" is distracting and gets annoying real fast. Imagine, some serious issue is brought up - people killed, loved ones kidnapped - but out here it's all banter and jokes. Time and place, people. Like, it's not a Marvel movie, be serious for a goddamn second, please.
3) There is no goal, no character progression and no consequences for your choices. There is no villain, no mission and no stakes here, things just happen. Characters do not have plot arc or side mission (besides the battle ones) or any character evolution at all, so - team talks are really boring. And often your choices only change 1 line in epilogue, if even that.
4) Romances are very underwhelming. You talk to everyone, one day every eligible character confesses to you their attraction. You either start dating right away, or you reject them. Four more events where everyone is way too horny and cannot hold a conversation without sexual innuendos to save their life. Few lines in epilogue about their undying love. The end. No tension, no progression, no nothing. I never believed these characters had any feelings towards each other.
5) It is not surprising how in the game where nothing happens, ending feels rushed.

More generally, some characters were getting on my nerves. Lola with her entitlement (just going around, thinking she owns the place, expecting everyone to tell her everything because she's the press) and Kaden with his hypocrisy (So anti-government, we are spineless sheep here to rule colony with tyranny, he is the saint, here to lead new society with his precious ideas. Yet unable to take responsibility for his "people". Abandoning the colony when we are at our weakest and having THE NERVE to ask for our resources? Trying to make us punish his traitorous people, because he doesn't want to be hated, he'd rather us being hated more? Pathetic. I do not like this man).
Music is ok, I liked the theme that plays in the bar.
Graphics are pretty. Manga style anyway. The "realistic" style is ugly, creepy, uncanny valley type of deal with washed out colours and f.ed up proportions.

Overall, this bland mediocrity is not worth your time, especially for this price.

Before anything, I only did the VN mode and with Cristopher's route as Alex. The review may be incomplete, but I #already liked the game, playing it without a game mode? sounds promising.

Playing as Diana or Alex Nelson #only important when you want to choose your romance options, we are ordered to lead and protect the colony of Stronghold, which is surrounded by alien races of different kinds and goals. More of the most important decisions, dilemma, and of course, who to give your heart, will be

PROS:

1. Play as a female or male character #sorry, no binary for now... or maybe is it? with 12 dateable characters #but beware, some of them are single-minded and only like meat or fish. And yea, I wanted that daddy to be my... #inminent guard, but the game decided that guy is not dateable by anyone.... .
   
   
2. It takes around 5-6 hours of gameplay, in Visual Novel Mode, which the card game is skipped. Along with the decisions and the multiple endings & romances, can be a good game for replayability. #and trying to figure out all the characters' sexual orientation... may take a while
   
   
3. There is a card game, along with a free-play mode. Also, some of the decisions made along with the story influence directly on the card game, altering the cards, objectives, or even your resources. Difficulty can also be changed at any moment, and only affects the card-game part.
   
   
4. Characters' design would be switched between a manga style #seems so similar and reminds me of English Exchange art too, or a realistic style #was funny how they highlight their features. CGs for both art themes are included as well.
   
   
5. An exclusive OST of 10 tracks, and can be downloaded with a paid DLC. #was worth looping the track nº8, not a subtle recommendation.
   
   

CONS:

1. Even with a DLC that guarantees the +18 patch, #no genital parts are shown in the whole-gameplay... Better call it +16.
   
   
[*]The vast amount of sprites on screen and the lack of some of the characters' code-coloring on the dialogs #too many characters talking at once, like a bukk*ke and some of them never appear, can be confusing and overwhelming at the start of the game, while associating the personality with their appearance.

[quote] An interesting large story, compared to other Visual Novels at this price, but a high level of English is required to enjoy. Added a card genre with variable difficulty. The romance is not at its best. Great CGs and art style. Highly recommended #8/10. [/quote]

This is a visual novel with a Hearthstone card game added on top. You can disable battles so that the game becomes only a visual novel.

The card game is actually kind of fun to play.

Edit: Holy wtfbbq, the community page for this game is full of smut. THE ACTUAL GAME BARES LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THIS. It's just a card game folks!

Neither the card game or the VN hooked me to make me want to continue playing. The dialogue is flat, I didn't get a sense of any of the characters and the card game was just a bit frustrating tbh. I'd hoped I'd found a diverse VN with some actual game mechanics instead I have uninstalled. Save your money.

I really enjoyed the game, it's a nice combination of VN and Card Collection Game. The story is neither great nor bad, lets say it serves it's purpose well enough. The game lives of the good combat system as well as the interaction between the characters. I'm possibly one of the few peopple who liked the 'semi realistic style' better than the anime style, but hey, to each their own. I'd say the game is a solid 7,5/10. If you like card games and or visuel novels give it a try. There should be a demo available, if not on steam then certainly at winterwolves own store.

This was a very enjoyable game! As with all Winter Wolves titles, the music is stellar and really a highlight.

The gameplay for me was a quick learning curve, where you could easily get by just doing the NPC side missions to build your deck. It was fun and strategy with changing decks isn't necessary but really lends itself to a more immersive story.

A huge cast, where almost everyone is unique and memorable. Sometimes a bit too large, it takes awhile to get a handle on all the characters. There was a good amount of interaction between the MC and the NPCs as well as a lot of romance options. I really felt a lot of agency as the MC, more than I expected, with a lot of choices changing the plot of the story and also the actions of other characters.

Really recommend though maybe on sale if you don't intend to play through more than once. The game only takes 10 hours or so.

Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense is a science fiction turn-based collectible card game interlaced with a visual novel both developed and published by Winter Wolves. Set in the distant future you take on the role of either the male or female Nelson sibling both of whom have been put in joint command of the Planet Stronghold colony. Follow the story as they attempt to put an end to the ever increasing conflicts that arise between the indigenous races and bring much needed order back to the settlement. Menacing man-eating aliens, sentient rock people and hostile synthetics running amok on a foreign world...can you restore the peace AND make time to find love?

PRESENTATION

Visually this title is quite impressive and the novel has an aspect that I've not yet encountered before in any V.N. which I've read to date on Steam. It offers two distinct styles of artwork to choose from. You can opt for the more realistic illustrations or the anime/manga inspired style of art. The fact that the developers give you the reader a choice as to what type of art style you would prefer to enjoy the visual novel with gives quite a boon to the overall presentation of this V.N. in my opinion. But no matter which type of illustrations that you decide to pick they both look fantastic with wonderful colors and terrific shading on not only the characters themselves but the backgrounds and locations that you visit as well. The characters also change facial expressions depending on the dialogue so that really helps with immersion. Also, the games U.I. is quite eye catching and has a very futuristic flair which makes complete sense given the science fiction theme of the story.

Moving on, the card game could be...fun...once you learn how to play it that is as the included tutorial just doesn't explain things very well at all. I myself found the card game very forgettable and decided to focus more of my attention on the narrative which is where this title truly shines. Luckily there is an option to experience the storyline without playing the included card game so after an hour or so into my first read of the V.N. I chose to start over in visual novel mode which is minus the card game. Other people may enjoy it but sadly I did not. The audio quality is fair but would have been much better with some ambient or background sound effects to increase immersion. Also, the title is not voiced but I typically prefer my visual novels without voiced dialog anyhow so that's a plus for me. With that said, no matter how you choose to approach this V.N. you definitely won't be disappointed with the visual presentation which is very well done.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense...the turn-based card game not so much but the interesting science fiction laced narrative was quite entertaining. There are also plenty of pop-culture references peppered throughout the narrative which I also found appealing. Replayability is very high because of the number of choices to make throughout the storyline which will have long lasting effects on current events as well as the stories ending depending on the decisions that you make. Also, don't forget about the two different sets of illustrations available so that alone increases the replay value immensely. Length-wise, this is a fairly long visual novel as it took me about 14 hours to complete but that was without the card battles so for someone playing them it would definitely take a little longer.

Technically, I didn't have many issues other than a few typos which is very typical for a visual novel and the title froze up on me once during a card battle. One other problem is that sometimes there could be as many as five or six different characters talking to you at the same time but only up to four would appear on screen. Therefore, during the conversation, dialogue could get a little convoluted and confusing because various people are speaking to you but it's none of the four or so that you're looking at which I found frustrating at times.

As for extras, the novel itself has the basic V.N. options for sound/music volume and text speed as well as a C.G. gallery that unlocks as the story progresses. Also, there are a number of Steam Achievements to hunt down and Steam Trading Cards to collect. Last but certainly not least, is D.L.C. in the form of a soundtrack, a set of wallpapers and some "free" D.L.C. which adds four new romances to the game and a "Quick Play Mode" that allows you to card battle at your leisure outside of the main campaign. In conclusion, although I did not find the card game enjoyable I did however find the sci-fi storyline and light dating sim aspects quite appealing so Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to visual novel, science fiction and otome fans only.

Come for the card game with an unfortunate vn attached. This card game is similar to most energy based games on the market, you get one per turn and spend them to play cards. However unlike your usual hearthstone clones this game has four different resources to manage with your specialised cards costing more of one than others and your supporting cards giving you refills on those resource types. This is a system which pushes you to focus your build around a certain playstyle whether that be high on power hungry machines or going wide with infantry.

You've got a default set of basic cards but 9 classes to pick from offering their own uniques. Each class focuses on one strategy like walling up or chargers and while some have little synergy it is impressive how many functional deck combinations can be made from any of the pairs. What's more impressive is how well this plays out despite the tiny pool of overall cards for a game like this.

I say all this with the understanding this is a single purchase game, no booster packs, no seasons just one complete package which means if you're a fan of card game gameplay you'll have a blast, however; if you're a fan of getting new cards or seeing suboptimal decks get new support I'm afraid this isn't for you.

I admit I'm giving this game a lot of slack considering it is an indie title in a market of juggernauts but there are some flaws that do need mention. The game and all its classes force you to play as the human empire, there are no mirror matches nor times where you get to add alien cards to your deck, the game is unfortunately bogged down by the vn side which doesn't allow more flavourful deck builds so while you'll see plenty of great alien cards and tactics to exploit they will be forever out of reach.

On that note I need to address the elephant in the room, the vn. It's bad, there's no better way to say it. The plot doesn't follow a structure of acts but a pattern of characters jabbering on like they're highschoolers before an alien attacks. Rinse and repeat until the finale. You never get the sense these characters fit the role the game claims and instead come of with the impression they're a group of sociopaths who make jokes before during and in the aftermath of every alien attack. For example at one point they're informed giant aliens are wreaking havoc on the colony to which the characters continue to stand around and make godzilla jokes.

The only reason these people apparently haven't been deposed and imprisoned is how no civilian ever appears at all. Even after completing the story I couldn't tell you how large or advanced the colony actually is. We as readers only ever hear about destruction elsewhere in the colony while our heroes remain in the same enclosed scenery or out in front of a generic wilderness background image.

The cramped feel of the vn is only made worse by the off camera screen door keeping the entire cast out. I can't recall a single scene where two characters talk without a third walking in and usually following the third are the fourth, fifth, sixth and so on until the entire cast forces their way on set. Worse you'll find many scenes where your screen is full of characters and yet the text box is talking from the perspective of even more standing off camera. This is a minor annoyance later but early on will pose a large hurdle when the reader is still trying to work out who's who

If this game could be divorced from the vn entirely it would be all the better and while the quick play option lets you do that, you'll only have the starting card pool until you unlock those cards in the story.
As a player interested in this product I can not stress enough, you need to play on hard for the best experience and if any of the devs read this: Please have your characters act professional or put much greater focus and freedom on the card game so it isn't hamstrung by the writing.

I had thought this was a sci-fi strategy game with romance in it but in actuality it's a romance game with sci-fi strategy elements. The characters seem to think about sex so much it's like they're teenagers or work in porn and there's some cringeworthy dialogue like whether ectoplasm would make a good lubricant or not. I also find it puzzling that although there are gay, straight and bisexual characters nobody of any orientation is fine with you having 2 people at the same time and get jealous; the degree of diversity seems very arbitrary that way.

One of the worst Winter Wolves' games out of the ones I have played. It has very few redeeming qualities and while I usually like WW games despite their flaws, I had a hard time enjoying this one.

Characters

Unfortunately, the characters were very weak in this game. WW can create some interesting characters and I know this, but in this case, I think they missed the opportunity to do so. The good news is that there are many characters you can choose to romance (with the free DLC). The bad news is that the characters felt shallow and unrealistic. I know you don't play these games for their realism, but one would expect them to at least have some common sense. Instead it seemed like they were doing the most irrational things. For example at some point the rebel guy implied that he has assassinated people. Why would he admit that in front of people who are military officers? It makes no sense.

Also, these people were supposed to be military officers, but they didn't act like it at all. They seemed more like a group of friends than a military unit. They also spoke super casually to their captains, in a way that seemed pretty unrealistic. Again, I don't expect realism from these games, but I think they should have at least tried to make it believable.

Plot

The plot was very boring. It had a few elements that could have been interesting here and there, but it failed to entertain me or really make me care. Unlike in Cursed Lands and Loren when the characters had a clear goal in mind, in PS:CD it seemed like the plot was all over the place. There was no clear beginning and ending, no clear point in everything they did.

Card Game

The card game was actually pretty interesting. If I were to recommend this for one reason, it would be for this. I actually haven't played any similar card games in the past, but I found myself having fun.

The Art

The art was okay. I do prefer the manga version over the "realistic" one. I think in the realistic version a lot of the characters just look ugly. It's good that you can choose the type of artistic style you want.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was surprisingly good. I usually don't pay attention to the music in these kind of games, but I did notice it in this one, so this is a good sign.

I recommend this game to people who like Card Games. If you want to play it for the visual novel , like I did, then there are better WW games for this.

Just finish the game and I think I like the game.

I personally feel a pure Visual Novel game is a bit boring. SO I am glad to play game that have RPG or card game element & can be myself at the same time.

This is first game that I as Gay Captain can have relaionship with Royal family! Thank you for break stupid stereotype that Gay can't be Royal or knight.

Character talk too casual about SEX in my opinion but I still can live with that.

I hope Winter wolves make more game like this (Card game/RPG).

I'm not so keen for the VN and romance stuff here (was implemented better in other games). It has funny stories sometimes, featuring alternate choices. Characters and dialogue writing is ok-ish.

The collectable card game is pretty solid. While still simple, it allows for interesting strategical and tactical choices. Deckbuilding is also fun!

If you are a CCG-player, remember to choose "hard" difficulty or there will be no need to upgrade your cards ...

I have yet to finish the game, but I'm a good few hours in, and the issues are already glaring. Perhaps this is because I'm playing on Visual Novel mode, but the writing for this game, and the scene changes are horribly put together.

They really skimped out when writing. It appears the writer did not know the age old rule of "show, don't tell." Instead of subtley letting us know the characters feelings/backstory through written movements/facial expressions, and various other hints they opt to fill the game with dialogue, and coincidences.

Most of the dialogue is actually unneeded, theres so many times the characters go off on some random conversation that attempts to be funny (i think?). The worst part is that I often don't know whos talking because many characters will speak, and their sprites won't even pop up. Typically, visual novels will make the names/words colour coded to help quickly tell who's speaking, but oddly enough only some characters have colour codes, and its only in their name.
Doesn't help when only a few of the characters get a proper introduction in the beginning of the game. So I'm sitting here the first 20 minutes trying to remember who's who, and figure out who's making that one snide unneeded off screen remark.

The scene changes are also really bad, I'm wondering if this is bcause VN mode? Dunno, but.. Sometimes characters will be going off to battle some enemy like in Scene 16, and before your captain even leaves the hangar it cuts off to "Battle Over" and you never get to really know who the enemy actually is. If this is a result of skipping battles it was a poor move that makes everything feel even less real.

Also the romance.... I romanced Rigel, and while I was ecstatic about him at first, I quickly grew disenchanted when I realized the date scenes are just completely.. empty. Like. You don't get to see the date, you don't get to build any attachment to the character.

It seems the writer for this game has strength in worldbuilding, because the alien designs, and lore are great. Their weakness though is characters, and thats the most important thing in a visual novel game. Worldbuilding doesn't really mean squat if your characters suck.

It's obvious they were leaning on the cardgames to make up for the poor character writer, but that begs the question of why they even bothered with visual novel mode in the first place?

I wouldn't recommend this game, I'm surprised at the positive reviews this game has gotten.

One of my absolute favorite VNs. Multiple female and male romances for both Diana and Alex, and the "canon" romance for Diana is Charlotte. Multiple endings abound, with a pretty clear path to each one so you're not surprised by sudden violence. The anime-style dlc is cute but I prefer the original, though it's still definitely worth getting.

The card game is amazing. Usually I get tired of such mechanics and switch to story mode(which is an excellent thing winter wolves offers), but the balancing and style of the cards made each battle a lot of fun.

Score: 10/10 I play this game regularly and hold it as a standard for design and execution.

This is a Winter Wolves game. Which means it is a game built around a concept and created by a team that seems to have a love for making great games. While some of their efforts haven't gone as well as planned, they always do come up with intersting concepts, and even their few lesser games have been decent.

This is a good game. That said, I should also mention it is a prequel to another of their games, Planet Stronghold. And while it took a while to understand how to use the card-playing part of the game (and get past a small issue of not being able to construct decks well), the rest of the game is great. Most of the achievements can be done in visual novel mode (and one actually requires you finish one playthrough that way), but one achievement is tied to a bunch of side quests that require the card game aspect.

The characters are interesting, the combat... well, thrilling enough once you get the card thing down, and the romance options are expansive. And by that I mean you have eight options per gender. You can play as Alex or Diana Nelson. Alexander has four male, four female love interests, Diana has three male, four female, and a robot love interest. Note that four of the love interests are shared. And there is a default romance for the character you do not choose (interestingly, Diana's is Charlotte, a mother of a ten-year-old, which maybe the first time I've seen a default non-standard romance).

The art of the characters can be set as either realistic or manga-style. Note: if you choose manga-style, and choose to... not censor certain scenes, you will see some suggestive content.

I enjoyed this, although I read this in VN mode. I do believe the manga character version of this is better than the original art, since the disapproving looks in the original tended to look like somone who ate a full lemon.

I enjoyed Stronghold: Planetary Defense, but recommend this game with reservations. It has a lot going for it–a tactical card game, a huge roster of diverse characters, lots of content, decent art, and a far-ranging story–but while I appreciated them individually they didn’t add up to more than the sum of their parts. Being immersed in the card game, the side conversations or the main story all had their rewards but I didn’t feel they blended together very well. As a result, this game look a lot longer to pull me in than it should have, and it was my faith in the developers rather than my experience which kept me going until I enjoyed it.

Part of the problem in my opinion was the presentation and pacing. For the card game my first impression was not positive. The luck of my draw had as much to do with my victory as my choices, and I had many frustrating battles before I learned when to restart vs. inevitably fail. Sure, I could carefully craft a deck to combat a specific threat, but if I didn’t draw my specialty cards in time then my strategy was for nothing (especially in the 10-round limit fights). Eventually I could brute force my way through most fights via the upgrade system, so if I wasn’t in the mood for tactics I could barrel ahead anyway.

Regarding the characters, there were so many presented so quickly that it was overwhelming. It took me a while to absorb who was who, especially since nearly every conversation had 2-4 additional characters participating. Eventually, a sort of Gestalt emerges as you repeatedly talk to everyone across the scenes. The feast or famine approach to the side conversations wasn’t something I liked. Several times I was left with 12+ conversations at once, and I’d have preferred if they were gated to battles or linked to story points instead. I didn’t want to rush through my “content” but after 9 talks in a row it took some effort to give them equal attention. Whether and for how long I could save up the side conversations wasn’t clear to me, either, so saving them for later was risky. Instead I took them in massive chunks and I think my experience suffered for it.

The story itself was fine but kind of relentless. It was the characters who made it worth reading rather than what was happening… they were often fun to read despite the can’t-catch-a-break narrative of things going wrong. Having said that, you know how there’s always that that one snarky character who makes random sexual comments and has a sly comeback for everything? Well, in Stronghold: Planetary Defense, *all* of the characters are like that. On the one hand, this style injected some free-wheeling fun to a perpetually bad situation, and it made me grin imagining a future so liberal that even the most grizzled general would make non-stop sex jokes . On the other hand, it wore me out when every casual interaction resulted in rapid-fire, multi-participant repartee. I guess the writer deserves credit that it wasn’t more annoying than it was… I did enjoy the dialog once I accepted that how it was going to be.

Last but not least, I liked all the art with one unfortunate exception: I didn’t like the look of my main character, Alex Nelson, at all. I thought he looked like a weird head stuck on a meatloaf body, not sexy in the least. I liked the variety in everyone else though, and appreciated their costume changes during the side conversations. Oh, and I should probably mention the romances. I’ve only tried one at the time of this review, and it was “fine.” If Alex weren’t so unappealing I might have gotten into it more. Seriously, what’s wrong with his face? They can fix that sort of thing in this world, and tell you so!

My final verdict is that Stronghold: Planetary Defense is a fair use of funds to support Winter Wolves and have some awkward fun while you do it. The game was clearly made with quality in mind and I think it’s a shame that I didn’t like it more than I did. Having said that, I by no means had a bad time, and I’m still a big fan of the developers. Looking forward to the next entry, guys!

I really think that Winter Wolves should remake this game's combat system and removing the cards & replacing with previous Winter Wolves titles battle system which there was no need to change. IMO. The original planet stronghold's battle system I thought worked out fine, so I do not know why it got revamped into the card play style. Perhaps to try something new or attract some "Magic" players/ I for one am not and not a fan of card battles. I will refund my 20.00

I you have a knack at the card battle genre and like a challenge, then by all means give this game a shot. However I experienced battles in the later missions that seemed to be buggy and heavily stack the odds in the AI's favor despite what cards you have in yours.. (I researched this on google and others complained about similar experiences.)

Time to play Loren again.

I play this game in VN mode, since cards are not my speciality:) I'm still in the middle of playing it, but im already in love. The story, the characters-im loving it all. It would be great to see more to this game-DLCs or sequel:)

The card game is fun and makes the game more interesting to replay if you’re after all the achievements. I played it at the easy level since I’m not really into card games and the difficulty was just right for someone like me who’s mainly interested in the story but still wants to experience the battles firsthand (in my opinion the game feels slightly unbalanced in pure visual novel mode, without the card battles to provide some rhythm).

The main strength of the visual novel part is the worldbuilding, with no less than a dozen of characters (most of them romanceable) and four races of aliens you can interact with and who have distinct traits. The moral choices you make outside of the romance paths can be pretty heavy especially when they relate to the war going on in Stronghold and they influence the card battles as well (as you make alliances with/try to destroy other aliens). The writing is good on the whole; it is at its best in witty scenes or banter between characters (which is probably why there’s so much of it) and can fall a little flat at other times, especially during the romance paths (the sex scenes tend to be…a bit excruciating). The romances are otherwise really cute and straightforward.

Overall I’d recommend trying out the demo to see if the VN/card game mix works for you. I definitely enjoyed this one.