Vandal Hearts

released on Oct 25, 1996
by Konami

You assume the role of Ash Lambert, a hero torn between saving his country and restoring honor to the disgraced Lambert dynasty. As he struggles with his inner demons and personal problems, he will meet various companions throughout his journey. They will help your character fight to overthrow the oppressive regime and ward off an ancient being that threatens the world. Vandal-Hearts is a 3D turn-based strategy game. Unlike many games of the genre, the various battlefields have sloped surfaces that will either work to your advantage or against you. It will be up to you to accommodate your strategy and amount an appropriate offensive assault against your foes as well as set up defensive measures.


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Such a shame that Konami didn't do more with this IP. Think of all we could have gotten: pachinko machines, Grog Drinkwater NFTs, a remake made by Lockheed Martin that causes stupid people to insist the original game was never good. The possibilities are truly endless.

It’s no stranger to anyone at this point that Konami was once a powerhouse video game company, especially in the 90s. During this decade they developed and published so many classic and interesting titles that it’s no wonder some of them have fallen to somewhat obscurity. Vandal Hearts is a perfect example of this as I had only heard of this game from a specific YouTuber and outside of their videos I would never hear anyone discuss it even when talking about games from this era. This could be due in part to its lackluster sales or its sorta basic setup and gameplay, though regardless I still think Vandal Hearts is worth looking back on.

The easiest way to describe this game is that it’s a PS1 Fire Emblem game, sporting a similar type of grid-based maps albeit with more 3D elements than older Fire Emblem titles. The gameplay is also similar with different characters that have varying classes and skills that you use to your advantage. There is a class promotion mechanic that adds some sort of customization even if in the long run it doesn’t matter too much (more on that in a second). One of my favorite parts of the gameplay is the intense sound design that goes with each swing of a sword or casting of a spell. The best part is whenever you defeat an enemy they explode in a shower of blood. That aspect is one part of the game that stuck in my mind for so long.

The story itself is pretty basic but effective with it being another rendition of having to defeat an evil empire before they take over the world kinda shtick. As you progress through the game, you acquire more characters in your party ending with a little over 10 characters to use in every level. I wish you had the chance to interact with party members in between levels as there are certain story beats that flesh out characters somewhat but it never got as deep as I would have liked. The choice to not have to swap characters in and out for levels, though lessens customization, actually made me care about them a little bit more as I felt we were one large band marching through events.

The biggest problem the game suffers from is its stagnation. The first half of the game had me seriously considering where I should move my units when I should attack and use support spells. About halfway through you realize that this game is not as tactical as it makes it out to be. For starts, if a party member falls in battle your only penalty, besides reduced chances of winning, is losing some money at the end of the battle which you will be swimming in most of the time. Each level is uniquely made though only a few of them have some sort of gimmick which the latter half of the game stops doing. Some of my favorite examples of these gimmicks were setting up an ambush for a powerful group of enemies and advancing up a train as the carts are slowly released behind you. Once you reach a certain level with your sorcerer you can spam their highest spells for great damage which kind of loses some of the strategy when going through levels.

That being said, I still had a blast playing Vandal Hearts. Simple, defeat the Empire stories, worked on me a lot and it was fun going through a short war campaign. I also wanted to mention how much I love the art style of this game. It looks so unique compared to its contemporaries with the designs being a mixture of anime and high fantasy artwork that emphasizes exaggerated expressions. It’s a shame the artist, Hiroshi Kyomasu, has not worked on much sense as I enjoy there style.

I think if you enjoy games like Fire Emblem or just tactic games with medieval settings then Vandal Hearts is still worth checking out.

Let me know when they make Respecting Other People’s Property Hearts

Entendi absolutamente nada mas era muito daora

The PS1 was thoroughly loaded with all-time classics, and numerous games that were merely "quite good but not an all-time great" have consequently all but disappeared from gaming consciousness. This is one such game.

This strategy RPG was pretty solid across the board - likable characters, solid story and music, and some nice and colorful art. The art features what this game is mostly known for - a blood geyser that sprays red pixels absolutely everywhere when a unit is defeated. It is very much over the top, and also quite satisfying!

The gameplay is much more basic than other games in its genre, making it ideal for newbies to strategy rpgs, or those who may be intimidated by the sheer number of options in something like Final Fantasy Tactics. The runtime is also quite short for the genre. You have a set party the entire game, and each character can promote to one of a couple different classes to allow for some customization.

Mothballing this series is hardly the greatest of Konami's sins, but it'd still be nice to see it come back. There was a digital only title that released on the PS3 that was noticed by absolutely nobody, so chances are pretty slim. It's not super expensive, and as such is worth a purchase for strategy rpg fans that missed out and want to see the greatest blood fountains the PS1 had to offer.

A painfully underrated, Tactics-style RPG. Unique art style with surprisingly bloody animations, an engaging war-drama plot, and pleasantly varied mission objectives. The class system is a bit wonky, but the game puts up a nice challenge throughout.