Massive Chalice Critic Reviews

Between the far-reaching scale, the slick and intuitive combat, and the fun of raising heroes through the years, MASSIVE CHALICE brings a whole lot to the table.

A brilliant and subversive take on tactical RPGs, is for the rest of us. Bravo, Double Fine. It’s easy enough to make a good game a lot of people will like. It’s not so easy to make a great game only some people will love.

When it comes to the sound of Massive Chalice the voice acting for the huge piece of silverware itself is great, both funny and sat, and the music itself manages to underline the tense moments of combat and to illustrate the way time influences the world of the game.

Massive Chalice is one of the better Tim Schafer creations, combination of Crusader Kings and XCOM works quite well. Very well, actually.

The game’s style is good, and the basic structure is engaging and challenging. Combat could be a little more tactical, but overall it’s a solid game that provides a great outlet for any turn-based craving you might have.

Massive Chalice really has a unique and interesting premise and even with the lackluster combat it's a lot of fun to play. The management of bloodlines and Keeps, the necessity to keep breeding different types of units to keep your army balanced, and a wide array of power-ups you can research make each playthrough feel different.

While Massive Chalice isn’t much to look at, I couldn’t wait to see this century-spanning adventure through to the end. Double Fine’s strategy simulation is rough around the edges, but hard to put down. With more polish, Massive Chalice could have been one for the ages.

Between the bloodlines, research, and combat, Massive Chalice tosses a ton to micromanage, and it can feel overwhelming. But it all builds up to a spectacular ending that makes it worthwhile and satisfying.

Mix together two simplified versions of XCOM and Crusader Kings and you'll get Massive Chalice, an enjoyable game where unfortunately some aspects are not at the same level as others.

Massive Chalice is lots of fun and highly addictive.

Created by Double Fine through a crowdfunding campaign, Massive Chalice is an interesting turn-based strategy game that mixes the classic mechanics of the genre with some unique feature like permadeath, bloodlines relics and bloodlines genetics.

An enjoyable tactical game in the vein of the new XCOM with a very unique strategy layer.

Grand and inventive.

​Double Fine’s Massive Chalice takes XCOM’s DNA in a fresh direction, but doesn’t exceed it.

Unique and fascinating. With more depth on the tactical side, it could be a real must-have.

Double Fine clearly had huge plans for Massive Chalice but unfortunately not all areas received as much love and care as the bigger picture, causing certain other areas to feel a bit lackluster and thin.

There's the foundation for a phenomenal strategy game here if Double Fine is willing to build on it. As it is, though, it makes for a diverting few hours, and a welcome change of pace from XCOM.

By following the tangled paths of lineage, we’re left with tales too large to be understood in terms of the lone hero.

Massive Chalice’s personality and ingenuity ultimately win out over its shortcomings, and it’s certainly worth a try for strategy fans who don’t want anything too ponderous or serious. But its cup does not, as they say, runneth over.

Beautiful and varied.