Voyage into the wide world of Eral as an explorer, trader, or privateer. Defeat your enemies on land or at sea in deep but straightforward tactical combat. Unravel the secrets behind Dominio's betrayal – or sail off in search of your own adventure.
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Anyone looking for a joba nd skill system akin to FFTA, with fleet and a world to explore should give this game a chance
Also, it does have a pletora of mods that expand the experience 3fold
The best pixel SRPG I played, I strongly recomend
Also, it does have a pletora of mods that expand the experience 3fold
The best pixel SRPG I played, I strongly recomend
Neat little indie game that squanders its potential by putting its best system (the tactical combat) to the wayside in favor of a weird trading simulator that doesn't really have that much depth. What little combat that's there is great, but it was so few and far between the hours of slowly hauling trade goods between ports for a tiny increase in income.
Indie Pillars of Eternity Deadfire but with less pirates and more trading.
Indie Pillars of Eternity Deadfire but with less pirates and more trading.
Sometimes I get on a big tactics kick, and this game really scratched that itch. No frills, not really much of a plot all told, but that's all okay as it lets the tactics gameplay take front and center.
The progression system for your units works pretty elegantly, by having experience unlock new classes, which you can then earn experience on these new classes to unlock more classes. As a plus, the experience on classes you don't plan on using long-term still has value as it lets you earn points to upgrade base stats such as HP, MP, and weapon/magic proficiency, and the abilities you unlock can still be used thanks to subclassing. It lets you get a good idea of what options are available to you pretty early on, and shows how how vast the possibilities are when it comes to team composition.
Also this is a small thing but I do like some of the environmental interactions this game has. There's some stuff that can affect combat like tiles with water on them can arc lighting-based attacks to other adjacent wet tiles, but I also really enjoy the (mostly) out-of-combat interactions. You can cut down most plants with a standard attack as long as you're using a bladed weapon, or chop wood with an axe, which can then be used to replace the steps on a rope bridge. Just little things like that are just kinda cool and not the kind of thing you see in a lot of turn-based games.
There are also naval battles in this game, which can be a fun thing to do from time to time but they definitely lack the depth of the standard battle system. Thankfully one thing you can due in naval battles is board enemy ships and take out the crew in said standard battle system. Granted, you can only stay boarded for a limited time before your ship's turn ends, so it's not something you want to do without first softening up the enemy ships (and their crews by extension).
That leads into another slight downside, which is that sailing from place to place can get tedious due to how large the map is and how wind can affect your ship's speed on the map. If you're just exploring the map and going into whatever caves or groves you find to break things up, then it's not too bad. It does become a bigger drag once you're in the late-game and you're just trying to play the trade economy and you have most of the map already explored.
While I do wish that part of the game would go a bit faster, it's not the end of the world. What the game does well, it does really well. While I do enjoy a good Fire Emblem or XCOM, I appreciate that this game exists for when I want to play One Of Those without being concerned about the involved story of the former and the stressful consequences of failure in the latter. Funnily enough, Horizon's Gate's straightforwardness what sets it apart.
The progression system for your units works pretty elegantly, by having experience unlock new classes, which you can then earn experience on these new classes to unlock more classes. As a plus, the experience on classes you don't plan on using long-term still has value as it lets you earn points to upgrade base stats such as HP, MP, and weapon/magic proficiency, and the abilities you unlock can still be used thanks to subclassing. It lets you get a good idea of what options are available to you pretty early on, and shows how how vast the possibilities are when it comes to team composition.
Also this is a small thing but I do like some of the environmental interactions this game has. There's some stuff that can affect combat like tiles with water on them can arc lighting-based attacks to other adjacent wet tiles, but I also really enjoy the (mostly) out-of-combat interactions. You can cut down most plants with a standard attack as long as you're using a bladed weapon, or chop wood with an axe, which can then be used to replace the steps on a rope bridge. Just little things like that are just kinda cool and not the kind of thing you see in a lot of turn-based games.
There are also naval battles in this game, which can be a fun thing to do from time to time but they definitely lack the depth of the standard battle system. Thankfully one thing you can due in naval battles is board enemy ships and take out the crew in said standard battle system. Granted, you can only stay boarded for a limited time before your ship's turn ends, so it's not something you want to do without first softening up the enemy ships (and their crews by extension).
That leads into another slight downside, which is that sailing from place to place can get tedious due to how large the map is and how wind can affect your ship's speed on the map. If you're just exploring the map and going into whatever caves or groves you find to break things up, then it's not too bad. It does become a bigger drag once you're in the late-game and you're just trying to play the trade economy and you have most of the map already explored.
While I do wish that part of the game would go a bit faster, it's not the end of the world. What the game does well, it does really well. While I do enjoy a good Fire Emblem or XCOM, I appreciate that this game exists for when I want to play One Of Those without being concerned about the involved story of the former and the stressful consequences of failure in the latter. Funnily enough, Horizon's Gate's straightforwardness what sets it apart.
It's a wonky little guy, but I had fun with it for a bit. Exploring the world gives you that distinct feeling of setting out on a brave expedition. It's kinda satisfying to trade up into better boats and a bigger fleet so you can haul more trade cargo.
But the star of the show is the class system for your characters. Leveling up feels great because you're progressing through this tree and long-term investing characters into certain skill paths. But once you have multiple classes learned, you can mix and match all the skills to create these delicious hybrids. I was ready to dump hundreds of hours into min-maxing all of my characters.
Unfortunately, the combat is fairly easy and the game doesn't seem to want to admit that land combat is its biggest strength. There just isn't much to explore on land - you'll end up fighting in just 3 or 4 different area types overall. Naval combat isn't great.
If you like tactical strategy RPGs, this is worth trying out. But it did leave me unsatisfied.
But the star of the show is the class system for your characters. Leveling up feels great because you're progressing through this tree and long-term investing characters into certain skill paths. But once you have multiple classes learned, you can mix and match all the skills to create these delicious hybrids. I was ready to dump hundreds of hours into min-maxing all of my characters.
Unfortunately, the combat is fairly easy and the game doesn't seem to want to admit that land combat is its biggest strength. There just isn't much to explore on land - you'll end up fighting in just 3 or 4 different area types overall. Naval combat isn't great.
If you like tactical strategy RPGs, this is worth trying out. But it did leave me unsatisfied.
The SRPG combat isn't my cup of tea, but it's worth it for a fun and ever-rare Age of Sail-themed exploration adventure. Probably as close as we'll ever get to a new Uncharted Waters :)