BOOK OF HOURS - Fascinating... And Frustrating | Review After 20 Hours
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- Comment to enter my giveaway for a free key!
That out of the way, Book of Hours is a fascinating if often frustrating follow-up to Cultist Simulator. This narrative-driven deckbuilding RPG sucked me in with a rich soundtrack, atmospheric sound design, and vibrant hand drawn art. But I was then spit out by its obtuse and complex crafting mechanics that at the game’s outset completely overwhelm given Book of Hours’ near total lack of tutorial. It’s not the most playable title, but, as with all games, the longer you play, the more sense it all starts to make.
As always, I hope you enjoy this short, spoiler-free review :)
Steam Curator: store.steampow...
#bookofhours #review #pc #rpg #deckbuilding #cardgame #narrative #game #gaming
I've been taking in depth notes of pretty much every bit of lore you get-its an absolute blast and totally makes reading the books/rooms/furniture more rewarding. I have a text document sorted into different categories (Hours, Minor Deities, Organizations, Places, Events, A timeline of Hush House and its owners, other characters, and a recipe/crafting guide) so whenever I read a book I fill in any details mentioned under the appropriate spot. Slowly, the very complex lore starts to make more sense-The many gods relationships, aliases, and agendas fall into place and the very interesting details of the minor characters link together. I'd really recommend this style of note taking if you're up for it- seems to me like the most fun way to play the game!
But then did the Forge of Days split their beloved Sun-in-Splendour out of love, envy, thirst, or simply fate?
@@miser2570 iirc Forge felt rather nervious about the most powerful entity - Sun in Splendor potentially going to the dark side via Crime of the Skies. So the answer would be both "love" and "fear". I've tried to pin point "fate" angle, but couldn't find a reasonable connection.
Also, hey, the resulting entities are kind of children, right? (beside Worms, but we don't talk about that)
I will say I think one of the frustrations about the story is actually very purposeful from what I can tell.
One of the major themes is apparently supposed to be loneliness. And being told of tales in far off lands while you simply manage your library seems fitting.
I do think an in-game journal would be a good idea though
Yes, that's a good perspective on it. You are an almost completely isolated librarian wizard, after all, so most of the narrative choices make sense from that thematical standpoint.
But my gods, a journal would be nice!
I do believe WF has recently said they'll provide QoL changes
The books aren't actually color coded. Generally they match the color of the aspect but it's not a rule. For example the two books from the Traveling at night series share the same color but one is knock and the other is sky.
Love the concise way you highlight the various aspects of the game, and the little touches of humour (I see that "not that anyone asked..."!). As a fan of Cultist Simulator and someone who's been looking for a chill zero-stress game (which CS is not), I see I'll have to get this XD.
Thank you! I'm happy to hear that you like the review style :D BoH is definitely "chill CS," so I highly recommend it to people that liked CS but want a calmer, more thematic version of it. Hope you enjoy!
Dont worry to much, time does matter in the game, but you usually arent in a rush.
Also funnily enough, at the start of the game, if the timer in your Heart runs out, it just resets, atleast as long as your dont access Brancrug.
Thanks for watching! Comment to enter my giveaway for a free Book of Hours key :) I'll pick a random winner on (or about) August 23rd.
UPDATE: congratulations to
@amandamiller1603 for winning my random giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone for your comments :)
Yo Mega, i came across your channel recently and subbed to it too cause i like the detailed rating system.
That being said however, it'd be nice if you made a playlist for your top pics, like anything about 4 out of 5 so ppl can see what your most cherished recommendations are.
My first thought upon seeing your detailed review system was to check what your top pics are with this monster. Sadly i found no easy way to do so.
@@nonusbusinissus5632 That's a great recommendation! I just whipped together a "Top Picks" playlist that features the highest scores I've ever given. Hope you enjoy :)
@@MEGAthemicro Thank you
Had this game wishlisted since it was anounced, I'm pretty hyped
Nice! I hope it delivers for you :)
I literally went and bought cultist simulator, and wish listed this, because I noticed it’s release date was on my birthday.
I love the style of intro you gave! I played cultist simulator and I'm definitely going to be checking the book of hours out. Hope that they fix the UI and add even more lore. :)
Thank you! I'm happy to hear you like the review style and I hope you enjoy BoH as much as I did, if not more :)
This looks fascinating. Love your review-style.
Thank you! Glad you enjoy the format :)
Very excited to try this game. I loved cultist simulator.
If you loved Cultist Simulator, you're pretty much guaranteed to at least like Book of Hours :)
Hey! Thanks for the review, I appreciate it.
You mentioned the game being frustrating at time. I remember being frustrated at Cult Simulator, because I would sometimes feel hard locked in my progression, and would eventually die from too much dread or something before I could figure out my next steps.
My question to you : Did you get that feeling in either game? Can you die and lose your progress in book of hours?
Thanks for your time!
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching :) To answer your question, BoH is basically chill Cultist Simulator. You can save whenever and there's no dying or losing progress. Though the mechanics are super complex/deep, I never felt stressed during my playthrough. In fact, it's downright relaxing at times.
@@MEGAthemicro Nice! That sounds just for me then. Thanks again!
It is more chill, but it is possible to have your main cards get damaged and be unable to satisfy the checks you need to repair them. But if you are playing the game reasonably then this is extremely unlikely.
This is a near-perfect summary of my feelings on the game so far. The game is brilliant, but deeply flawed in its execution. I spent the first many hours of the game being completely locked out of mr and Mr kille's, for example, because I'd unknowingly made a character that didn't have the stats to go say hi.
The game doesn't feel relaxing to me, it feels claustrophobic. You're constantly waiting for the right visitors and weather, clutter lines up outside your door while you're doing it, there aren't many shelves in the first bit of your house and you find a lot of things that you can't use for anything yet. This makes it nearly impossible to start on any sort of real library, because you don't have the space to start sorting your books into any kind of order.
This is exacerbated by the terrible UI - I'm using WASD to scroll, every other time I try to do it bugs out and starts going to the edge of the map though. Using a mouse to scroll back and forth to the town is literally painful after a while.
It doesn't help that the UI is a mess - like damn, put the important timer popup next to the other popups, why is it on the right? CS at least had great UI in the sense that it was simple, deliberate and largely in your control as a player just by rearranging your cards.
It's a shame, I really wanted to like the game. I have hundreds of hours in CS, and I love it. But this game is a hoarder simulator more than anything - you're trapped in mounds of things that you either can't use and can't throw out, slowly losing any sense of control or direction on your life, waiting for visitors that may or may not come.
Thank you for your detailed comment! I share many of your complaints with the game, and I'll take it from your review that the game's UI hasn't improved in any meaningful way since launch, which is a pity as that's the main thing holding this game back from being what it could (and should) be.
I love your rating system, it's both clear and in-depth. The game is good, and it's being updated with QOL improvements. I hope that by Christmas the UI is actually good.
Thanks, glad you like it! And I'm happy to hear that BoH is on the right path-I'll plan on checking it out again in a few months :)
I'm very excited. I've been waiting for a book of hours for a very long time and now the hour has come. I hope it will surprise me like the cultist simulator
ooh, I'd take a free key. Loved cultist simulator, the expanded scope of this one looks awesome.
Maybe this was a later patch, but the game I have DOES tell you when you’ve read the book, by giving it a Mastery aspect. (Although you still either have to go to another window to past stuff into an outside text file or, as I’m doing, take copious notes.)
Deserves more love. Nice editing!
Thank you so much! ❤️
Thanks for the concise review and numbering system of rating different features. If I'm not too late would love to be entered to win a free copy as well!
You're just in time and, better yet, you won my random giveaway! Congratulations :D Please send a screenshot of your RUclips profile to "megathemicro@gmail.com" and I'll shoot you the key.
A thorough yet concise review, thank you! I've watched some gameplay videos and am considering it because the house exploration mechanic just looks so neat! But Cultist Simulator drove me up a wall, so that gives me a little hesitation.
You're very welcome! Thank you for watching :) BoH is frustrating in its own ways, but it's nowhere near as intense as was CS. In fact, BoH's save function makes it virtually stress-free.
Wow I just found this channel and I love the reviews! I'm really surprised at how small you are. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, Myles! Appreciate the encouragement. More reviews to come :D
That's what she said. :P
This is the reviews style I like the most. Thank you. Subscribed
Glad to hear you like it! Thanks for the kind words and welcome to the channel :)
Just bought it and I have zero regrets. I would say it appeals more to the board game person in me. And it's very relaxing.
Cool, I'm glad you're enjoying it :) and yes, it definitely plays a lot like a board game.
The problem I had with Cultist Simulator was that I would repeatedly get to about the same point in the story and then get stuck or die. When you called the game frustrating, I was concerned it would have the same issue. Is that the case?
BoH is nowhere near CS in terms of frustration potential. For starters, there's no way to die. It is, by design, a more relaxed and forgiving experience. This said, there's still a good bit of challenge and potential frustration to be had in BoH. Given the age of this review, however, it is possible many points of criticism are no longer valid (I haven't had the time to confirm/deny, sorry).
I just started another run of CS yesterday, the day this released. Now thats serendipitous
Doing CS and BoH back to back sounds intimidating! Godspeed :)
🤞 for that key then bahaha
I love how the game is like a Virtual and mathematical enhancement to Cultist simulator in theme and feel
Indeed! It really does expand upon CS in every way, both thematically and mechanically.
This isnt a dig at this review in particular but as a game design student i find it endlessly frustrating that whenever a game developer tries evoking unenjoyable feelings in the player people get upset. Like, if you believe that video games are art then why only settle for popcorn? When you watch schindlers list do you necessarily expect to have a good time? When you read Ulysses do you expect not to be bored? We need more games that are unpleasant but artistically satisfying imho
I agree with your central point. The current problem with BoH, however, is that it's often frustrating in ways the devs didn't intend. They're currently planning a significant QoL/UI overhaul to address, in part, some of the issues I raised in my review: store.steampowered.com/news/app/1028310/view/3650783611414080475. So, the difference between BoH and Schindler's List (which is a hilarious thing to type) is that the minds behind SL perfectly executed their vision for a harrowing, heart-wrenching film and were appropriately praised for it. With patches and polish, BoH can also achieve its ultimate vision.
I liked cultist simulator a lot, even though I never got to any of the endings…
and that’s my problem. I had hoped they’d do something different than the “ticking clocks shaped like cards” mechanic.
I liked the reading and the choices of the first game, not shuffling cards and keeping track of a half a dozen different timers.
That isn’t fun gameplay. It’s not _even_ gameplay.
It’s not even the kind of busywork my ADHD-brain can sink its teeth into like… idk like say Dwarf Fortress or a Paradox grand strategy or something.
I couldn’t put up with it long enough to finish the first game even once, though I got deep enough to have a good idea of *how* to finish.
I don’t want to do it again.
I’d so much rather their writing and lore tied to some other form of management, if management it must be.
I understand your frustration. I will say that BoH's gameplay is presented in a much calmer, more narrative-driven style, and I much prefer it. That said, it is essentially the same core concept, so you might find it tedious, too.
Thank you for the review. This is an interesting looking game!
Thank you for watching! BoH is a handful, but it's a darn interesting one and I recommend it to the more patient of gamers. If you do end up giving it a try, I hope you enjoy it :)
Fascinating game evaluation solution. Had to slow down your talking since I am from Germany and the game mechanics are quite difficult to understand in a foreign language. I like your style though. Keep going!
Thank you so much for the encouragement! And sorry for talking fast, I'm trying to get better about that 😆
What in included in the .5 part of the score? Why isn't is a 3 or 4 straight?
Are you referring to the "MEGA" score at the end of the review? That's an average of all of the micrometrics (Story + Gameplay + Content + Style), so it usually comes out to a decimal.
I'm looking forward to this a lot - with the map and items as actual items it seems like gameplay might be less overwhelming in the late-game...
You're definitely right. Early game is a bit dizzying, but things start to click as you continue to experiment. Around 10 hours in, I felt like I "got it."
It starts out that way, after the initial onboarding process anyway. Then the sheer size of the map as well as the huge number of almost-never-relevant items becomes quite oppressive. You can easily spend 5+ minutes just hunting for an item to give to an assistant to give +2 to some specific aspect.
Amazing review style. Thank you. Instant subscription
Thank you so much! Welcome to the channel :D
A lot of the UI complains I see are missguided, the aspects all make sense in the context of the ocult system established and except for room unlock requirements you can sort anything the way you want. The only thing I found specifically bad is the copying to clipboard.
I'm not here to say "You're wrong!" because everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I did see a Reddit post today full of people echoing the same criticisms I levied against the game's UI: www.reddit.com/r/weatherfactory/comments/15v6v2i/early_criticism_boh_is_an_organizational_nightmare/
@@MEGAthemicro I feel like all these complaints are more about theme, it's an old mystical mansion, it is supposed to be messy and bewildering
I think one of my biggest complaints is that it feels unnatural and yet necessary to catalog a book, put it on a shelf with books you haven't read yet, then after you read it, immediately put it on a different shelf alongside books you have already read. Not only does it take some time to even get enough shelves to have two per aspect, but a lot of the shelves are so small that they barely help with organization.
Also just the scrolling. It's really rough.
Excellent review, thank you.
I am so excited for this game, my understanding is that this is a "CS Light".
A someone who banged his head against the CS (purposefully) obtuse mechanics and extremally complex lore ,fine hints hidden in complex text and merciless timers I think that this will be a well deserve respite.
Just need to get another couple of CS endings done before that, to get back into the right mood.
You're very welcome! I'm glad you liked the review. Judging by your comment, I think you're going to have a truly wonderful time with BoH :)
The biggest improvement over Cultist Simulator is the lack of a ticking clock (that I'm aware of, I'm 6 hours in at the mo). CS would just spam debuffs on me repeatedly over time causing a death spiral each playthrough, which ultimately caused me to stop playing out of frustration. Book of Hours has none of that
a highly useful review, thank you
Glad it was helpful! And thanks for watching :)
Thanks for the review, looks quite interesting. I really tried to get into Cultist Simulator a few times as I find the premise quite appealing but as the game progresses I just find myself way too overwhelmed by it all and everything becomes a massive disorganised mess and I give up. This looks like it might be more manageable though and I might give it a go.
You're welcome and thanks for watching! BoH gives you more potential to remain organized than did CS, but (as I noted in the review) there's a lot of micro involved if you want to stay on top of your book collection.
@@MEGAthemicro Cheers! Yeah I laughed when you showed all that stuff you had stacked at the gatehouse (including the cat). Not ideal but hopefully something they'll improve on. Stumbled across your channel when I was looking for videos on this game and I've been watching a few more since. Nice informative little videos!
The organization is probably harder in BoH than it is in CS; two contributions to that are the huge size of the map and the fact that you can't move the "verbs". It also doesn't help that the bookshelves are small and scattered around randomly.
You review some really unique games. Love it!
Thanks, CBlade! Glad you like the content :) more reviews to come!
How TF are you supposed to progress? Can you give me the formula you used? Like Speak to-> Buff with -> Unlock room.
Also, what can I do with each of the books I've cataloged? Does each one have something I can get out of it once I've done something to it?
Also also, how do I raise my "stats", the oddly named cards needed for actions.
At the start, progress in BoH is frustratingly slow and sporadic. My game flow starts with the weather card you draw each morning. I’ll then try to find a room or book with similar aspect requirements. If you’re focusing a room, pick an assistant that specializes in that aspect (e.g., Denzil for forge). Then start spamming the talk function to your assistant so they generate memory cards that you can use to further buff them. If things line up, you can then unlock a room.
“Consider” books you’ve catalogued and they’ll give you new skills. When you get a “Lesson” card for the corresponding skill, you can level up that skill. You can then unlock more soul cards in the tree of wisdoms.
It’s confusing as hell to start, but don’t give up! And let me know if you have other questions.
After the initial process of getting access to the library (which you can't really mess up, it's nearly scripted), the basic loop is unlock room -> catalogue books in room -> read some of the books in the room -> convert lessons to skills -> assign skills to tree of wisdoms -> get better at unlocking rooms and reading books. I think that much (and the "how" behind it all) is meant to take over an hour to figure out.
The UI is really hard to overcome.
Still bad? I haven't played the game in a good while and was hoping it had been improved :/
Can you do a review of Cultist Simulator?
I'll be honest with you: probably not :/ I'm not able to dedicate nearly as much time to this little channel as I'd like, and when I do get time I typically try to prioritize new releases as those generate more views. Thus, as CS has already been reviewed by many folk, I'll probably try to focus on new games. Sorry :(
The previous game was oddly addicting. Hopefully this one too can scratch that itch.
I found Book of Hours to be a very addicting experience! It was hard to put it down even in the early hours when I had no idea what was happening. Later game I entered a flow state and could just play for hours at a time.
I'll have to wait until UI 2.0 lands and maybe a good sale before even considering this game. Cultist simulator was a walk through hell. I will need the right tools to be fully prepared before opening the gates again.
Fair! I will say that there's no dying in BoH and you can save whenever, so it's a much calmer experience than was CS. Still, I fully support you waiting until UI 2.0, as that's currently my least favorite element of the game.
Excel sheets, the game
I liked it a lot though
Have there been any signifient updates since this review?
Yes, the game has received a bunch of polish and content updates since launch. You can read about them here: store.steampowered.com/news/app/1028310.
@@MEGAthemicro "...since this review" was the question.
@@Welther47 This review came out a little before launch, so all of those post-launch updates are "since this review."
I was expecting some annoying nibbles since CS also had those, probably not gonna stop me from enjoying this. Looking forwards to it.
Some of the annoyance here is no doubt intentional, as was the case in CS. But if you enjoyed CS on the whole, as I did, I can't imagine you not liking BoH in aggregate.
The opacity of how you’re supposed to do stuff, like crafting, seems to be by design to me. It’s of a piece with the other Secret Histories stuff. Looking back at CS: Exile, you’ll most likely just die in the first 5-10 minutes of that game in your first few playthroughs, until you start to figure out the rhythm.
I think you're right. Book of Hours is a zero hand-holding kind of game, which has its pros and cons-when you finally do discover how a core mechanic works (typically after an hour or more of frustrated experimentation), you feel genuine accomplishment and satisfaction.
What's the replay value?
Good question! You won't be dying and restarting constantly a la Cultist Simulator, but the lore in BOH is deep and you can specialize in different skillsets, so there are certainly two playthroughs worth of content here.
Can it be relaxing at all? And do you get the feeling you're restoring something grand?
In a word, yes. While it's not a "cozy" game (at least, not by design), I did find BoH to be a pretty zen-like experience. Though note that the day/night cycle indirectly encourages you to maximize each moment, so it's a pretty busy experience.
@@MEGAthemicro Interesting. Thank you for your additional thoughts on it.
Would this be a good first game in this genre?
Good question! If by genre you mean narrative-driven deckbuilding games, I'd probably suggest less complex titles to start. Inscryption and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales would be two personal recommendations. If you like those and want something more complex, BoH would be a good pick. If you like that and want something more intense and challenging, give BoH's informal prequel, Cultist Simulator, a try :D
alright, but lets talk about what really matters.
is douglas in this game?
Possibly, though I've yet to encounter ol' Weary Detective Doug...
they done did dirt to our boy
Love the explanation, and this seems easier than Cultist Simulator!
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching :)
It's definitely far more forgiving.
I don't believe you are ever at risk of dying, even in the beginning. You only ever get "sick." This can be rather punishing early on due to the healing requirements, but it's much more forgiving once you've leveled up some skills and unlocked more of the house.
It's still extremely grindy, but a lot of that is offset by the excitement of unlocking a new room to see what wonderful theme they've put together for it, and what new crafting stations you can interact with.
Interesting. I like the idea of this creative deckbuilding type of game, but I'm not sure how one makes a game like that without being a little difficult to follow (which card does what?) But the lack of organization of books is a different story. Feel like you'd have to have notes up on a separate monitor or something... a bit tedious.
It does feel like a two-monitor game by design and (imo) it detracts from the overall experience. Copying things into a new document breaks my immersion each time. AAA games are often put on blast for making things TOO player friendly, but a LITTLE bit of QoL goes a long way!
@@MEGAthemicro My last session and probably the next one were heavily focused on just writing down what crafting recipes I have access to and what they do. It's really not the most pleasant thing in the game for sure.
@@MEGAthemicro Yeah agreed. It's a tricky balance. Thinking especially about puzzle games - do you want to make a difficult puzzle? Then some people are going to think they didn't have enough instructions to solve it. But then it rewards the players who were able to solve it that much more.
Doesn't really apply here, though. A different analogy - only the most hardcore people actually complain about "fast travel" options.
seems Honstly p good tbh
its cultist stim but it looks a lil more polished ish
Yeah, it's a very similar experience (it's a de facto sequel, after all), but the presentation style in BoH is much better.
"fascinating if often frustrating" ah, so just what we came to cultist simulator for!
Precisely! 😝
looks interesting
Grrrrrrrreat Rrrrrrreview! 🤩
Thank you so much! Hope you're doing well :)
Hey! im commenting ^^
wow fascinating gameplay
Indeed! It really is a unique gameplay experience.
this mf really is complaining about a game where you play as a LIBRARIAN READING BOOKS not having you go out on grand adventures to see stuff firsthand
learn to manage your expectations lmao
Oh, that comment was just meant to point out one of the game's intentional limitations. It's meant to be a peaceful, albeit lonely and at times even boring experience. But ask yourself this: would the game have been more fun with an option to occasionally leave Hush House to go on expeditions to maybe discover more occultisms or put your new skills to real world tests? In my opinion, absolutely.
@@MEGAthemicro That would have been a different game. The game is about studying the secret histories and compiling them into a library, not going out on expeditions of your own.
the previous game, cultsim, had both studying books and lore and going out to do extremely questionable things for extremely questionable reasons, but i imagine neither of those things are as interesting or as deep as keeping the library in Book of Hours (that'll also be up to each player), so the game is probably stronger for focusing on one thing. even then, it really wouldnt be so strange if in the future you were to leave and explore one or two select locations.
oh, thanks for the warning, lol. this does look really deep, interesting and I love the art, tho having found Cultist Simulator obtuse & hard to get into, I'll probably pass (but I would totally watch a let's play).
You're welcome, and thanks for watching! My advice to people on the fence is to wait for a patch (or two) that hopefully addresses some of the quirks I mentioned. After that, it should be a really enjoyable experience.