Medieval Dynasty is a management game for people who don't want to manage, and a survival game for people who can't die. It is a beautiful, hollow clockwork village where the only thing that actually 'grows' is the player's realization of the sunk-cost fallacy.

It didn't take me very long to realise just how much of a grind crafting items would be, considering the time it took to build a few small things for a settlement. The tech tree is completely useless (10% is negligible compared to NPC speed) and it honestly has a lot of overly complicated survival mechanics that don't really mesh well with what the game actually is. The main character must manage several meters for survival but the NPCs aren't required to, they just complain and nag at you while being your only source of efficiency.

The game is very clearly more focused on lineage mechanics than actually creating a medieval village/town. For example, NPCs require space and a house. The problem is that each house only shelters male + female + child, despite having three spaces. It was common in the medieval times for same-gendered lodging simply for house scarcity and survival; applying nuclear family logic to shelter requirements is a category error.

So instead the game wants you to focus on NPCs and getting them to do things for you, as the tech tree for player intervention is negligible. The "dynamic" NPC interactions are deterministic dialogue trees and romance is as simple as just asking someone to bang. But what actually is the goal beyond making the lineage?

The failure state is very simple, if you have no heir then you lose. If you can't pay taxes, or starve, you lose. As stated previously there are no actual challenging systems aside from your patience. The endgame is static equilibrium where production offsets taxation. No raid mechanics, no pillaging, no politics or trading with other villages. No negotiation over who owns which land, just build wherever you're allowed. You pay taxes to a Castellan, but that Castellan cannot be overthrown and has no army or physical presence.

Not recommended for people who enjoy actual colony management systems. Can't say it's really recommended for the 'cozy' players either due to how stupidly complicated/taxing some of the systems are.

The developer’s claim that nuclear-family housing constraints (1M+1F) serve "optimization" and "management ease" is incorrect. Increasing the housing-to-population ratio increases resource consumption and maintenance frequency without adding depth - this is a technical bottleneck rebranded as a design choice. Attributing the 1M+1F housing constraint to "making the game more understandable" is a non-sequitur; complexity in housing (communal living, barracks, or multi-generational homes) is a staple of the management genre and history. Stripping it away is a reduction in simulation quality, not a functional "optimization."

The developer confirms the goal is "stability and prosperity." Once production offsets taxation, the game enters Static Equilibrium and without external stressors (political friction, trade fluctuations, or physical threats), the "Lineage Engine" operates in a vacuum, making the end-game a simulation of waiting rather than managing. In a true management sim, systems have friction; in Medieval Dynasty, the "Castellan" is a tax-void without a physical or political presence. This is not "relaxing management"; it is an incomplete simulation.

Directing players to "adjust settings" to skip mechanics validates the critique that the core systems are poorly integrated. A well-designed management system should be scalable within the gameplay, not bypassable via a meta-menu. I could have crafted a billion stone knives like everyone else and been set -- since stone knives are still the least-costing and most profitable item. I just personally noticed the poor design choices earlier than others and quit before I got to that point.

The developer’s response posits a choice between "stress" and "relaxation," which is a strawman; my critique is not directed at the game's difficulty, but its Mechanistic Depth. As a proponent of high-complexity management sims (e.g., RimWorld), the developer's suggestion that I'm "not really into management to such an extent" is provably false. RimWorld succeeds by utilizing interlocking emergent systems; Medieval Dynasty fails by replacing systems with linear timers.

Frankly, I do not appreciate the condescension over genuine feedback. The developers have proven in responding to my review (and others) that they would rather deflect critique and defend their poor design decisions (with redefinitions, obfuscation, and appeals to authority) than admit the materialistic issues and fix their game. This title has recently entered a "live-service" styled model where they release small DLC updates and cosmetics to gate the modding community from fixing the game for them, but they redefine this as "we want to make sure your save games work because if you use mods we can't help you fix problems" which is 100% a sign of incompetency and masking. My post-response audit of how they handle their community responses as well as responding to negative reviews proves they are untrustworthy and I would not purchase more products from them until they fixed their internal issues.

Breath of Fire III was THE JRPG I grew up with. I had the PSP version, and the digital download version for the PSVita. My early teen years were entirely this game, so, colour me surprised when Capcom had released the OST on Steam but not a Remake/Remaster. Wild, right?

Either way, it was a genuine joy to re-listen to all of the songs I remember so fondly in high-quality FLAC.
The only downside is, Battle for Tomorrow (the boss music) is not included, instead the SE version was used. (An Alt version of the track that has in-game sound effects running over it.) It's...truly a baffling choice.
But...for £7/$8? Definitely worth it for the amount of songs you do get. A game and soundtrack that has gone on to inspire so many future titles since the 90's, and you can definitely see why.