Does this make Massive Chalice a better game than XCom? Short answer: No. Long answer: No, but what is here in Massive Chalice is still a LOT of fun and well worth your time. Here is what I think of Massive Chalice.
Just be prepared, the comparisons to XCom are going to come often, since it is the benchmark to where all these types of games are compared. Also, I have been playing the game on PC, but it is also available on Xbox One.
The game begins with, go figure, a big cup, a massive chalice if you will. This big freaking cup, however, talks, and is worshiped by the locals. The two voices of the Chalice inform you, the player, that you are overseeing this war against the Cadence, monsters brought forth to attack and bring darkness to the lands. Your task is to control warriors in battle, build, research, arrange marriages to keep the bloodlines going, and basically keep the land together as best you can over the 300 years of game time it takes for the Chalice to charge up and cleanse the land, taking care of the Cadence for good.
By the way, it took me way too long to see the two faces on either side of the Chalice. I mean, I can't not see it now, but it was quite confusing and depressing seeing how obvious it is.
Let's start with the non-battle part of the game. You will mainly be looking at the overworld map. This shows you all the different parts of the land, their "panic state" (like XCom where you have to keep different countries happy, you have up until level 3 in this game before the parts of the land are forever lost to the Cadence). On the top of the screen is a timeline and a play button, which will show all the events in the game: births, deaths, researches completed, random events, so on. You can talk to the Chalice to begin researching new buildings like Keeps, where you appoint a Reagent and Partner and have them make the sex to make the children who will become new battle fodder. You can also research new weapons, items, and armor, you can even adopt a new baby or send a party out to find a handful of new warriors should they become scarce.
Now, of course, all of this takes time, so, much like that YouTube video of that cat knocking a glass off the table (because #LOLCATZZZZZZZZ), you are going to hit that play button A LOT. If you build a Sagewright's Guild, this will reduce the time it takes to research new things. Though, Keeps and Guilds require heroes to run them, which will remove them from your party when you go to war.
The Keeps are where the magic happens, more ways then one (wink wink, nudge nude, say no more). Each character has personality traits that can be passed on to their children, not all of these traits are positive, so you do have to at least take a second to see what you're going to end up with. Everything matters, age, fertility. personality traits, and classes. The possibilities can be endless, but, ultimately, the little things don't seem to matter so much, because, over a 300 year span and with multiple Keeps having multiple babies, if one doesn't work with your plan, chances are one of them will work for you. I had a family spit out about 7 or 8 kids (I guess they were trying for a reality show or something) who all came of age to fight (15) around the same time, so it didn't really matter which one I brought with me. I could have taken hours to compare numbers and traits, but, really, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference.
Because of this, I was unable to have any personal bonds with these characters. In XCom, when one of my units were killed, I felt terrible, all that work, all those acts of heroism in previous fights, it made me want to restart the whole game. Here, I didn't really feel that since years fly by and the same character won't be in too many battles to have those acts of heroism, plus, the circle of life makes sure that after one falls, another is ready to take their place.
Despite those complaints, the micromanaging aspect is still enjoyable. It's a simpler version of the XCom metagame and offers a LOT of replay value. Just get used to the overworld map, because you will be spending most of your time there.
Now for the battles. When the battle horn sounds, you choose which part of the land you want to defend, there are 2 places the Cadence will attack and you can't defend both, so repelling the attacks of one will raise the "panic level" of the other. Either fight will bring rewards, like 1.5x XP per monster kill, or even a new hero.
The battle setup is pure XCom. It is turn-based, and full of attack numbers and percentages and level-ups. Though cover isn't a huge, necessary thing like it is in XCom. Sure, line-of-sight plays a role and can become an advantage, but you don't have to constantly hide behind cover in order to survive. This is great, seeing as the levels are, for the most part, big open spaces that don't have an abundance of cover. The enemies are very well designed and are quite varied, bringing forth a challenge every time you fight. You have your basic grunts ("Seeds"), but quickly you meet enemies like Lapses, who will steal XP when they hit you, and will even level you down if hit enough. Wrinklers will cause you to age with every hit, quickly shortening a lifespan. You will also meet the Ruptures, who will go kamikaze on you, running into you and detonating, leaving behind corrosion that will deal damage over time. The battles are fully engaging and you have to stay on your toes if you want to survive. Also, there is a bit of friendly fire on explosions, which has led to the death of a number of my characters due to inaccuracies. Perhaps they were taught how to throw by 50 Cent (referential sports humor, check!).
The problem here, again, is that you won't feel a need to connect with these characters since they won't be around for many battles, which tends to have them seem like fodder. A character's level cap is 10, but the highest I have yet to get one is around 4 or 5 before they die of old age. You can equip characters with items you have researched, and each character gains new abilities at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. Just keep in mind, you will RARELY see level 10.
On the technical side, the game looks fantastic. The art style is striking and reminds me of art I wouldn't understand if I went to a gallery. The characters change as they get older, they get gray hair and wrinkles, their posture changes, it's all really well done and runs great on my computers.
The voice acting is fantastic as well. You will hear both parts of the Chalice guide you on, zing one liners at you (and each other), and try to console you during times of need and loss. It all seems natural and I have chuckled numerous times. It all seems to fit superbly.
There is a lot to love about Massive Chalice. Saying it's a simpler XCom is accurate, but let's not take away what sets Chalice apart, besides the obvious fantasy vs sci-fi aesthetic. There are a lot of interesting mechanics in play here, the idea of passing on traits to children lends itself to instant replay value and tons of possibilities. The visuals are striking, the balance between serious and goofy is well done, and you still have that feeling of accomplishment when you hit that critical strike that may have saved the lives of your fellow party members. Sure, the deeper mechanics may not have the same emotional punch that XCom's did, but Massive Chalice will still bring you hours of fun and frustration when you start over for the ??th time after your warriors end up being led to their demise.
In fact, I enjoy this game so much that I have started a "Let's Play" series on my YouTube channel! At the time of this writing, episodes 1 - 5 are up and ready to be viewed/judged, with more to come. Here is episode 1:
Side note: Episodes 1 - 3 are in 480p, that was due to an error on my end with encoding. I have since fixed that and episodes 4 and forward will be HD friendly. Enjoy!
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