I bought it 9 months ago and I enjoyed it. I’ve played it through from beginning to end twice (although I never beat it at heat level 32!) and I could certainly play it again some day.
I’ve been having fun playing Dispatch recently. Best I can describe it is with the description for it given on Steam (it won the Steam award for outstanding story-rich game):
Dispatch is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter. Manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero.
Would you like to elaborate on it more? I looked at it, and it seems more like a superhero themed, story-heavy auto-battler style of the game. The art looks lovely, the setting seems right up my alley, but the combination of auto-battler / dating sim seems a slight mis-match style wise to my preferences.
No shade on the game, just trying to figure out from the Steam clips and video if it’s right for me as a game or if I should consider it more like a visual novel with strong player input.
I guess I’d say it is akin to a Telltale game (like “The Wolf Among Us”). Story heavy, puzzles and quicktime events is how it plays. I think it is called an “interactive narrative genre.” You can upgrade your heroes and, likewise, heroes can be hurt and put out of action which is the gameplay part as you try to juggle it all. Each hero has certain skills so some are better for some taks than others and you need to make good decisions. Also, there are timers so you can’t just wait…things need to be dealt with in a given timeframe which lends to the urgency and “gameplay” feel.
You are definitely there for the story. This is not pew pew gameplay.
I think this one is well written and very well voice acted. I’d suggest looking at a few YouTube reviews before purchasing to get a sense of it. It’s not an overly long game (maybe 12-14 hours) and I don’t think there is much replay-ability to be had. At $30 it might be worth waiting for a sale.
ETA: There is more “game” here than a typical Telltale game.
Yeah, that was my initial conclusion - I’d probably love it as an interactive story, not as a game, and probably will pick up when it’s $19.99 or less. Thank you.
My personal game of the year, don’t be ashamed of putting it on easy mode for the whole game either. It still retains its challenge but less of the long term grind. The story to 1 was awesome and I loved it, and the sequel is everything the first was and better in many ways too.
For anyone on the fence I want to seconded a Keeper recommendation, it’s a blast to go in blind because of the unexpected things! Also I’d argue supporting Double Fine in their endeavors is always worthwhile.
I played Hades for a bit on Game Pass. It didn’t quite suck me in but it was a lot of fun.
The description of Dispatch reminds me of some itch.io game, Mission: It’s Complicated
It’s a Turn-Based Hero Sim/Visual Novel/Choose Your Own Adventure type deal about recruiting and leading (from HQ) a team of superheroes as you also play Cupid so their True Love can defeat the Big Evil. I’ve never played Dispatch and am not suggesting anything, it was just the first thing that sprang to mind. “Horny Superhero Romance Drama” is hardly untilled soil in the genre. Also, it’s free so if anyone wants “we have Dispatch at home”…
Indeed. I had no idea what secrets were coming. It was a fun thing to play blind.
I’m waiting for a better sale but I mentioned that in the General Discussion thread:
I just started to play Town to City, a very relaxing and laid back city builder. I’m really enjoying it so far. Apparently a lot of others are as well. Overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam.
It’s great! I especially love the freeform road and structure placements… you’re not limited to a grid like you are in Anno or many other city builders. You can make roads that wind every which way, build mazes, cliffside villas, organic looking market districts, etc. It’s idyllic while still being challenging enough to be fun… maybe “cozy-adjacent”?
That’s a great description. The decoration variations are pretty amazing as well. For example, I love how if you drag a street light onto a house, it transforms into either a wall light or a door light, depending on placement.
Similar games tend to overwhelm me with micro-management tasks. This one is much better in that regard.