This is a follow-on to the last post about Tales Of Honor: The Secret Fleet. I mentioned before that there was an issue that caused the game to crash when attempting to upload shared Everyplay instant replay videos. The game’s support FAQ had a workaround (close all running applications and then reboot the device) that seemed to work.

So, here’s a slightly more exciting replay that shows more of the interesting stuff during battles:

I’ve made it to the fourth sector of the game, and while I’m here, I might as well post additional critical commentary without spoiling too much.

Subjective nitpicking:

• The quality of the cutscene writing is….somewhat variable.
• I don’t like the way Lester Tourville is portrayed as a bumbling cartoon villain.
• Cameos from other famous Honorverse characters are weakly handled as well.
• The weird broken English “accent” they gave the Andermani is kind of off-putting.

Technical/gameplay issues:

• The side quests in the Breslau sector seem a bit broken or buggy.
• The random encounters get a little repetitive and are sometimes jarring, especially the ones relating to a side quest.
• Not being able to return to earlier sectors is a bit annoying.
• Not being able to sell excess numbers of missiles is a bit annoying.

The side quests in Breslau sector weren’t always very clear about whether or not you’ve met the success conditions, so I ended up replaying the same ones a few times before giving up.

I think the random encounters being repetitive wouldn’t be so bad if the enemy ship name pool were a bit larger and randomized. I think I’ve destroyed the Molech and the Nergal a dozen times over. 😆

The last 2 points on the list are semi-nitpicky–the fundamental problem is that once you can afford to stock up on Mark 13 Bomb Pumped Laser missiles and nukes, all other missile types kind of pale in comparison. Well, except for hull penetrators, you have an infinite number of those and they’re awesome for making enemy ships waste their ECM, countermissiles, and point defense lasers before you start hurling Mark 13s and nukes at them. Those three are the most useful missile types so far, and it’d be nice to sell off the excess inventory of inferior missiles.

Alternatively, going back to previous sectors for the replay value would let you use up the inferior missiles in combat against opponents that aren’t worth wasting Mark 13s or nukes on. Well, you could technically try doing that in Breslau or Sachsen sectors, but the enemy ships in these sectors frequently put out absolutely ridiculous broadsides and reload their tubes at cheaty-AI speeds, so you’re in for a serious hurting unless you nail them quickly with Mark 13s and nukes.

I’ve mentioned before that I like how the game balances advancement nicely between working for it and paying for it. With the right components and timing your upgrades to happen while you’re away from your device, you can farm plasma and steel in useful quantities and not feel like you’re shoveling the Augean stables with a spork. I never really felt like I had to pay to win, and the few small purchases I made were driven more by a desire to support the developer for making a fun game. It’s one of the games that does freemium well.