Lightracer Spark Lets Players Shape Worlds To Face A Grave Threat
Lightracer Spark is a blend of base builder and visual novel. The narrative is unique but has a minimal look. Base building elements are reduced to a stat screen and players get a globe to look at instead. The story of an indescribably strong “Them” lurking somewhere in space, for now, is what drives progress. If players want a chance at stopping “Them”, they will choose civilizations to rise up. This is less exciting than it sounds in practice.
As an Amender, players will get choices for how they want to develop each civilization. Each of these choices boils down to solving the situation peacefully or not. How powerful an army is, is clearly marked. This also makes it easy to decide how many troops to send for each battle. These won’t be shown along with units moving to each location. Buildings become very important as they produce the special resources needed to complete your goals. This is especially true in newly obtained territories.
Players can make the game harder for themselves, but failure opens another option to progress. It may be less than ideal though. The game’s systems are in-depth as well, so checking the tips often can help. It’s definitely a juggling act and, without many visual distractions, can lead to an overwhelming wall of text. So buckle in for a lot of reading.
Players may enjoy this as a unique take on civilization building. Lightracer Spark has detailed lore. On one hand this makes the worlds feel alive but unlike most world building, it isn’t entirely background fluff. Players will need to remember at least some of what they read to make it past certain points. This, along with not keeping track of production, could end with someone becoming “hard stuck”. At that point only reloading a prior save can fix the problem.
Lightracer Spark has interesting systems and narrative, yet it falters at being fun. The story brings up a lot of interesting questions. The in-depth menus give players a lot to do in place of detailed scenes. It also feels like a chore. Fans new to base builders might find Lightracer Spark to be a good entry point.
