Expeditions wasn't hard (at least on normal), it was pretty straightforward. Sure, when I was learning I had to reload a couple of times, but the difficulty level was fairly standard for a strategy RPG. Up until about half an hour into Mexico, I was cruising, then the game smashed me from nowhere, in a way that was inconsistent with both the gameworld and the game's pacing up until that point. That's just not good game design, plain and simple. Good luck with Valkyria Chronicles - also not a particularly hard strategy RPG, so you'll get there ;).

Moreover, most of the battles were really easy, and then every third or so, they smashed you - that's just poor game design. I definitely don’t play games that are beyond my difficulty level, but a well designed game that’s too hard makes it clear before you’re 14 hours in ;). Then there were the UI issues (sometimes you had to do camera-fu to angle the camera to enable you to select a particular hex), the CTDs (every four hours on average) and glitched quests.

Game deffo had potential, and I have no doubt you had better luck than me in terms of how it played out, but a well designed game like that (that's as heavily scripted as it is) shouldn't rely on luck for someone to have a good experience. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the recommendation, I really enjoy those types of games when they're done well :). Now back to grinding away through Valkyria Chronicles for you, see if you can get to the finish :P.

lol, nah, it had all sorts of issues before the game decided to gank me. It was just clearly lacking playtesting. That, and if a strategy RPG with four difficulty levels is still too difficult for someone who's been playing RPGs and strategy games for over 25 years (and still plays 'em, and very, very rarely has issues like this), then the game's got issues. In this case, it was a scripted set of encounters, after a random one. I must have triggered the scripted set just after a random battle when I'd copped four injuries - I'd only healed one before the next scripted battle, which if I retreated straight away got three more (and if I fought, got smashed), and then a few days later there was another one. Reloaded and they occurred on the exact same days, regardless of location. The game had its hard moments, but the big issue was the lack of difficulty curve.

Hahaha, your current screenshot collection is 67 per cent boobs ;).

I've heard mixed reports, a lot of people were expecting Civ in space (ironic, after all the people complained the Civ:BE was too much like Civ V, lol), while it's apparently less deep and more tactical. Haven't played it though, so just relaying what I've read on the internet, because random ♥♥♥♥ on the internet is even more reliable when it's second-hand, lol. Will still give it a look when there's an open slot on my game roster, but Cities Skylines is good, and my backlog's got a few more in it, before that gets the nod. Hope you like it when you get around to playing it :).

Thanks mate :) Hope you are well.