The Astonishing Game

When you read this review keep in mind that this will not be a generic copypasta but my genuine feelings for this well created game. I have been a Dream Theater fan for all my life and just recently i learned of this games existence. Upon purchasing it for the very low and fair price of 2.99 USD I began to play it. The Astonishing Game is a 3D "chess" spinoff that is drastically different than its apparent inspiration. Although the tutorial is very hard to understand you can gain some knowledge of how to play by trial and error in the custom games. Now, with 100 hours currently logged in the game, i can humbly say that i am a pretty good player and one of the few remaining active fans of the game. The Astonishing Game has an endless amount of pros but sadly it does have some cons.
As i stated above the game has many pros. The gameplay is very unique and unlike any other game on the market. As i said it is vaguely similar to chess if you can even call it similar. Each player (you can select different characters to play as with diff. abilities) has a number of camps and moral and you must spend the moral on different troops to take out 3 enemy camps. It is a very refreshing experience in a world diluted with FPS, RPG, and other popular gaming genres. The gameplay loop is also very fresh. You can create custom games where you play against an AI and within these custom games you can select different boards which will alter the power tiles (things that you can sway in your favor to receive more moral). With the customization of the boards, selection of different characters, and randomness in the AI every match will be different providing a very interesting and never boring gameplay loop. You can also select characters to fit your playstyle. If you tend yo be more aggressive select one of the characters associated with the Northeastern Region of the United States or if you like to play it defensively than i would recommend someone from the Ravenskill militia. I prefer a more aggressive playstyle so i am a Daryus main. The game also supports local and online play so you can either play with friends on one computer or across two. This feature provides not only you but also a friend of choice with more hours of pure strategical enjoyment as you battle over the fate of music within the game. You can also continue this fight in the games rather short story mode where you can choose to play as the Ravenskill or the GNFA as you try to motivate the country to your side. Overall this game really puts your mind and strategic skills to the test and allows you to have tons of fun while doing it. The soundtrack also features instrumentals from the Astonishing album and is very fun to listen to as you are demotivating your enemies. Although i couldnt possibly name all the pros, i hope this was enough to convince you to spend the 2.99 on this rather than your normal cup of coffee for one day.
Of course, everything has to have some cons. The Astonishing game is no exception but luckily there is little to talk about in this category. I do feel that the graphics could be a bit better but than again you have to keep in mind that this game was published by a very small studio in 2017 (4 years ago). Also i wish that the game was not taken down on the appstore. If it were still up then you could also play this game on the go if you rely on a home PC to currently play it. Another major complaint i have seen among us Astonishing game players is that the tutorial is too confusing and that it doesn't teach you how to fully master the game. I also agree with this but i dont think it is too big of a problem as learning on your own in this game is a very interesting experience and arguably makes you a better player. All of these cons do not affect gameplay which is a very good thing as you can easily look over them while playing (like i do). I cant really think of any gameplay flaws but i would like for the tiles highlighting a pieces attack to be a better color. It is very confusing to see where the dark nomac can possibly attack because of its unique and confusing attack pattern so keep that in mind when playing the game. Other than that i can think of no other cons associated with this game.
Therefore if you can spare the $2.99 to purchase The Astonishing Game then i would strongly recommend you do. This game was a major change in the normal experience i have with many other games in this modern age and also allowed me to enjoy and bask in nostalgia for the band that i have listened to so much in the past with its wonderful soundtrack. This game was truly an eye opener for me and really, genuinely changed my life. Thank you Turbo Tape Games, John Petrucci, and Dream Theater for making this truly astonishing game a possibility. Once again i urge you to pick this game up when you can and enjoy it forever. Thank you for reading my review.

The Good:
-The game itself is a neat concept, and would probably work well as a physical board game.
-It does a good job telling the story of the album, going into better detail than the lyrics of the songs.
-Any Dream Theater fan that enjoys instrumental mixes of songs will appreciate the background music.
-The keyboard unit kind of looks like Jordan Rudess.

The Bad:
-Menus and text boxes are full of typos.
-Animations between story chapters are a bit sloppy.
-Unit sounds could use some work. Militia units are loud and they clash with otherwise great background music. NOMACs (which is short for NOise MAChines) don't make a whole lot of noise.
-The game tries too hard to avoid references to violence and death while telling a story that involves violence and death.

Overall:
I'd rate it 6/10. Only recommended for the most die-hard Dream Theater fans who also enjoyed The Astonishing album, or those who like tabletop board games.

Fun chess-like game with Dream Theater branding poured over it. Had this downloaded on my Surface that I'd take to college; great time-waster between study. The "Free optional in-game competition for exclusive Dream Theater prizes (in-game registering required)" and "The game comes with the option to freely enter exclusive competitions for grand prizes during Dream Theater’s tours" perks listed in the about seem to have only been used during the tour for The Astonishing; haven't seen anything about those since I bought it.

Buy the album, skip the game.

I highly recommend this game if you like chess and Dream Theater. Its addictive and the music is pretty good

This is AMAZING! I was skeptical at first, but I said, "ANYTHING for Dream Theater." #PROUDOWNER

This is a quite simple strategy game with a great soundtrack. It would be awesome if the game had some option to listen to the voiceless music it has, but nevertheless you can enjoy the music while playing. The game is not too complex and it's not only for the DT fans, but for anyone who wants to get involved into strategy board games.

Фанат Дрим Театра? Бери и не думай!
Не фанат Дрим Театра? Подумай слегка и бери.

A you a Dream Theater fan? Then buy and be happy!
No a Dream Theater fan? Then buy and become one!

Well, I like the music...

\o/ ♫

I've been in love with Dream Theater for many years now. They are my favorite band to ever make music. To see that they have a game, especially about such a compelling story, just means that they are THAT great.

If you are a true Dream Theater fan, I would recommend this game ten times over. Sure, maybe it's a simplistic style of gameplay, chess mixed with some Magic, but honestly, it really shouldn't matter. The feel of the game is very intuitive and it just feels great to play it. It may not be perfect, but really, what game ever is?

All in all, this is a super fun game that'll keep your fix for some Dream Theater going, it's super easy to get into, the tutorial is very helpful, and I couldn't ask for a more Astonishing experiance.

Thank you Dream Theater for your beautiful music, and Thank you Turbo Tape for this wonderful game!

Astonishing

Chess and Magic: The Gathering combined, Dream Theater music as soundtrack. Do you really need more?

Maybe a little bit of R&D needed, finishing the tutorial left me with the information sig of the piece all over the screen and it made it impossible to do anything...

I can't recommend this game in it's current state even though it gave me a big amount of laughs as soon as the dancer attacked, that was hilarious and worth the money but I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone in its current state.

Such a perfect mix of Chess and Dream Theater. Love this game! 10 nomacs out of 10!

Must have for DT fans!! Chance to win some cool stuff! Not a bad turn based game. Reminds me of chess with super powers. Worth the 3 bucks for me!! Hope to win some DT Swag!

Haha pretty silly game, worth a few bucks for DT fans though...just played through it, you have achievements you can unlock for a chance to win stuff so there is still stuff to accomplish. Nothing too complex, different units that do different things, pretty much like an enhanced DT chess game.

Had the one glitch too where the drummer info page comes up and wont close which makes the game unplayable cause you can't see anything.

All in all just glad it wasn't more than a few bucks...

Disclaimer: I'm a long time Dream Theater fan. I saw then do The Astonishing live, which was absolutely phenominal.

This is a board game where your goal is to use your pieces to capture enemy camps. The game jumps right into a tutorial when you run it the first time, which is extremely helpful. Even with the tutorial, it will take a few play throughs to get the mechanics down.

Instrumental selections from The Astonishing play in the background. Rather then kill opposing pieces, your job is to de-motivate them to remove those pieces from the game.

I ran into two bugs. I had clicked on the Drummer, which brought up the information window. The window couldn't be closed. I had to exit the game to get it to close. Seeings as it was just released, I'm not bothered by it. I'm sure it'll get fixed.

The other bug is that on Mac, after the first time you run it, if you have the Steam overlay enabled, it will change the main menu to a black screen.

All in all, definitely worth $2.99. Plus, there are no in app purchases, and buying the game allows you to enter competitions for real prizes.

Pretty common turn based strategy, nothing interesting in gameplay though. BUT it has amazing Dream Theaters soundtrack! And you can also win stuff from band like tickets to concerts, vinyls and other things!

For DT fans only!