6 hours into the game, I cleared 4 "scenarios", here's some impressions.
Pros:
-Western settings will never be explored enough, in videogames. I've always craved for more, and despite how cool and usually well-received the genre has been, and is, in other media, developers just seem to snob the whole thing. So, yeah, this was welcome.
-TB combat is done alright-ish. Yeah, it features the 2-action limit, and it really feels like a ripoff of the system seen in nuXcom (and SR later), but it's still quite ok, and has a few nice touches here and there. At the end of the day, it gets the job done. Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, considering it's all made in Unity I'd say they managed to make something decent despite the limitations of the platform ("good for what it is" attitude FTW). (see "combat" under "Cons", though...)
-Some graphic choices are really nice, and give bits of the game a comic-book feeling, visually speaking.
-The soundtrack is nice, but... (see cons)
-"Luck" is actually some refreshing "innovation", so to speak.
-The injury mechanic is actually nice.
-The game doesn't rely as much on the RNG as similar, TB-based, games.
-Limited-yet-fixed weapon damage and fairly low HP (both PCs and foes) amounts make combat slightly more interesting.
Cons:
-Magic, demons, afterlife... All that shizzle doesn't really cope well with The Wild West. Not imho, anyway. I wouldn't mind some "softcore" magic, maybe a curse or some shamanic powers or maybe even some Native mythology, spirits and all, but Hard West just goes into full derp territory instead.
-(continued from "Pros")...The soundtracks is more fit for a Noir game, than a Western.
-Combat is a bit simplistic, there aren't actually that many skills or "options", even across characters. This makes combat get a bit "trite", even boring, after a few "levels".
-The "world map" sections feel unrelated (to the actual game) and pointless, not to mention they really have a "FaceBook flash minigame" vibe to them.
-The game feels like a collection of "combat levels", barely (if at all) held together by a theme or overall story.
-The "cards" system could have been replaced with a "plain" skill/feats system.
-Weapon variety is abysmal.
[-No dynamite (yet?). Pfft.]
-No real plot. Nothing noteworthy, writing-wise.
-The sorry excuse for a story that we're presented with, really tries too hard at the beginning.
-Characters are bland. Really bland.
Final Edit:
I completed the game. To its credit, it was an alright change from the RPG settings we've been over-exposed to. I've played worse titles and by much bigger and better funded developers, so there's that, too. Overall, the game is enjoyable, has its ups and downs (see above), but comes across as at least "decent" in the end.
Honestly, I don't think I'll ever replay it, but I'm glad I played it once. I'd play a sequel, if they ever made one (where they'd improve all that was improvable in this title).
