I’ve written quite a bit about it over the past year ixion, a space city builder that combines the joy of small building construction with some 4X elements like exploration, then wraps it all in a compelling story about mankind’s dying days. I loved the game but I also hated it.
The Week in Games: Return to Hyrule
Monday 3:53 p.m
I loved it For all the reasons I’ve set out herebut I also hated it because it was pointlessly stressful at times, and the tight narrative that helped the game in so many other ways was also a tremendous pain in the ass when trying to get through it Ixions Levels:
In ixion you are always in danger, always short of what you need, and even in the best of times it’s hard to get the stuff, let alone when you’re struggling with everything from workers’ strikes to burning factories. A city builder should at least do it Sometimes Be a calm experience because it’s all about building things and watching them grow. There were some precious moments here when I didn’t feel incredibly stressed out and never felt like I had the chance to just enjoy the fact that, hey, we were still alive for a day or two. A sandbox or freeplay mode could have really helped here, but unfortunately the game doesn’t contain either of those things, there’s only the campaign.
I wrote this in December:Ixion easy squeaked to my GOTY list 2022– and now we are in May 2023. And what do you know? While the game doesn’t have a “sandbox or freeplay” mode, it may now have something even better: difficulty options.
In fact, it’s even better: they’re highly customizable difficulty options. Look at that!
Each new playthrough now begins with a choice of three difficulty levels:
Trip:
This mode is aimed at players who want to enjoy the game’s narrative and is recommended for those unfamiliar with the city-building genre.
Default:
This is the intended IXION experience and is recommended for players familiar with city builders.
Challenge:
A relentless struggle for survival; This mode is intended for administrators who really want to test their skills.
Want a little more customization so you can play IXION the way you envisioned it? Then this fourth option is for you. Custom mode allows you to customize a variety of game mechanics to your liking. Tired of the constant damage to the hull. Turn it off. Not getting enough labor from cryopods? Change the ratio. Do accidents happen too often? Lower the frequency.
You can also adjust these difficulty parameters during the gameplay via the pause menu – even in your existing saves!
Perfect. That is perfect. This allows us to continue playing the game the way the developers intended it, but we – the royals of us, those of us who weren’t happy with some of its difficulty and pacing issues – can also tweak some of its more annoying aspects to making it easy it’s more fun. And that doesn’t just mean making things easier, you can make them too heavier if you want!
my initial ixion The 2022 recommendation came with some pretty strong caveats; These are now almost all gone, so when the idea of building a city comes up Battlestar Galactica sounds like your thing You should definitely try it in 2023.
