by Dante (@videodante)

• Distant Star: Revenant Fleet
  
• Developer- Blazing Griffin
  
• Publisher- Blazing Griffin
  
• PC (Steam)
  

Distant Star: Revenant Fleet, by Blazing Griffin, is a solid addition to the space strategy genre. The setting is classic grand sci-fi, an empire of traveling humans protecting the alien artifact that gave them the technology to explore the stars (fittingly, called the Arc).The player is put in the shoes of the commander of a ‘revenant fleet’ (get it) of A’kari warships, carrying the Arc to safety away from the pursuing Orthani forces.

If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s remarkably similar to 2012’s FTL, another game in the ‘space roguelike’ genre and clearly an inspiration for DS:RF. It’s not necessarily a bad thing- Revenant Fleet clearly builds on the structure that FTL laid the foundation for, but has enough unique differences to hold up on its own.

As you travel through the galaxy, you find yourself picking between destinations and often running into encounters within them. As with FTL, these encounters either take the form of narrative choices or combat encounters, and each will net your fleet supply (which allows for more safe travel), credits (to buy more equipment or ships) or occasional rewards in the form of crew, ships, or equipment. It’s a simple enough system- more risk, more reward.

The battles are where the game truly shines. Combat in DS:RF plays out on a small, skirmish-sized playing field (think the size of a smaller Starcraft map). Your fleet, at maximum five ships, navigates the warzone to complete certain objectives- most often ‘kill all enemies’ but sometimes ‘defend point A’ or similar.

Because of the small fleet size, combat takes on a quality somewhere between an action-RTS like DOTA and more macro-level strategy. Not all ships have auto-firing weaponry, so frequent pausing and issuing commands is key to winning a combat encounter. It’s somewhat brutal at the beginning- even when playing on a lower difficulty. Learning how to manage your fleet becomes key to surviving each encounter.

For my playthrough, I ran with three ships- a heavier, autofiring Assault-class; a short-range, positional Rogue-class; and a sniper-esque long-range Lancer-class. Between the three, I could hold key areas with the Assault, while manually controlling the Rogue to fire potshots on smaller craft, and frequently firing the slow-reloading long-range artillery via the Lancer. Enemy types were varied enough that each scenario felt like a new challenge, and never too easy. Your ships have stats comparable to those of your enemy, meaning that your success depends on your strategic maneuvering more than any simple numeric bonus.

I even found myself engaging more with the story as the game went on. I initially found the game’s setting to suffer from many of the pitfalls of sci-fi, particularly with the lore-dump at the beginning of the game. However, the writing is well-done, and the various factions and sub-factions that populate the universe quickly become recognizable by their names and behaviors. The proud A’kari, stewards of the Arc; the aggressive and volatile Orthani; the pirates, traders and profiteers on the fringes of the war effort.

The care and detail that Blazing Griffin have put into the worldbuilding is noticeable. Aside from the writing, the game boasts an aesthetic somewhere between matte paintings and shiny, futuretech aesthetic. Whether on purpose or more by accident, the randomly generated skirmish arenas would often place heated combat zones between the rusted hulks of giant battleships, lending even the smallest battles a sense of wonder and awe. The universe of DS:RF has seen a lot of combat, and presumably most before the player’s story even begins. The revenant fleet is less the central actor and more a last-ditch effort in the thick of a seemingly-unending war.

Some narrative encounters hint at the possibility of some A’kari and Orthani deserters banding together to make small colonies in hidden parts of space, in an attempt to avoid further fighting. Entire markets and micro economies have sprung up on the frontline sectors of the war. Little details like this help give context to the universe, even as you race across it with your small fleet.

It’s an impressive title. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of it when I first picked it up, as it’s certainly one of the strongest modern roguelikes I’ve played recently. The depth of combat and narrative design in DS:RF shows that Blazing Griffin can hold their own in this genre.