Ballads of Hongye – Review

Ballads of Hongye reinterprets many conventions of building strategy while featuring stunning visuals and a refreshing take on the genre.

There are benefits and drawbacks to breaking from conventional wisdom. What should be the appeal of a new construction game if it plays too much like existing titles in the genre? Contrarily, if a game is too experimental, it may turn off potential buyers. After all, familiarity breeds a preference.

This is where Ballads of Hongye aims for a middle ground. The construction strategy game, while using many standard mechanics, is nonetheless willing to take risks with novel concepts.

Ballads of Hongye has a beautiful setting that immediately draws the player in. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that there is more to it than meets the eye. For instance, there is a great deal of complexity and interconnectedness between the various buildings, but there are also many unanswered questions and potential pitfalls.

First, I’ll give you a brief summary of Ballads of Hongye so you can form your own opinion. As a first step, take in the eye-catching visuals. Since a gameplay trailer is worth more to you than a thousand words, we’ll show you this one instead.

As far as construction games go, Ballads of Hongye is striking. It’s not that games in this genre are inherently ugly, but in this case, developer Seasun Games appears to have purposefully pushed the envelope. The changing of the seasons, the swaying of the trees, the abundance of colour, and the overall visual and playful effects all contribute to the allure of ancient China.

Since crops can’t be grown in the fields and wood is needed more for heating, these things happen during the winter. Since we’re already at the gameplay portion, let’s examine the core mechanics! Since this is where risks to the new building project might be lurking.

When compared to similar building games like Anno 1800 and Frostpunk, what sets Ballads of Hongye apart? The game’s progression is the first point of reference. To avoid legal issues, we develop an area gradually rather than all at once.

As a first step, we appoint advisors to help us in Hongye’s first district. They have an impact on the game thanks to the bonuses they offer, such as faster construction times or lower overall costs, and they demand high wages for their services.

Our first district has been given a list of challenges by the regional rulers. Expanding the population, studying architectural plans, and erecting new structures are all examples of what we’re supposed to do. Although they may seem like extra work, meeting these challenges is essential if we ever want to make any real headway.

The catch is that we can’t advance to the next district until we’ve conquered every obstacle in this one. All the pieces are reset, and now there’s new ground to cultivate, a new set of advisors, and a whole new set of responsibilities.

As the game progresses, things get more complicated, in part because of the variety of available buildings, some of which are interdependent on one another due to supply chains. As more neighbourhoods become accessible, more moving parts in our urban system come into play. Even after a level is completed, it is important to keep it active for the player.

But the time limit is the game’s most distinctive feature in Ballads of Hongye. There are two game modes available. Or, you can play in the unhurried Classic Mode, which is similar to other building games but puts less emphasis on speed. There’s also a “challenge” mode that restricts how long you have to explore each area.

If you don’t finish all of the tasks by the deadline, the region will be considered a failure. As a result, you’ll have to reboot the entire municipality. Here, where you are essentially helpless except to plan and take a deep breath, the pause button is more than welcome.

After completing a challenge in Ballads of Hongye, the local district government will give you a rating based on how well you performed. So, as you take on each challenge, you’ll find the familiar S-ranking incentive common to fighting games.

I’m on the lookout for a game in the building genre that can re-capture my interest the way Anno 1800 did. That’s intricate, but it frees my mind to think rationally about the situation. This could be accomplished with a ballad from Hongye.

Not if I’m going to be rushed to complete the structure. I was about to start over because I didn’t realise the casual mode had one. The game is still in its early stages of development, so there’s a chance it was an accident.

However, I couldn’t help but notice the interesting interplay between the buildings and the believable Asian atmosphere. Let’s watch to see how Early Access progresses.