The extent of the mechanical depth of Fae Tactics is evident since the first time you mouse over a character, the complexity of the combat is embedded within the characters themselves in the form of elemental affinity, passive skills, reactions, assists, etc. Due to all the important information being readily available, the combat is highly based on hard counters. There's even a permanently available elemental chart which can be brought up by holding the space bar.
On a similar note, Fae Tactics also follows the honored SRPG tradition of allowing the player to recruit enemy monsters to their party. I think this is a nice addition to a game that otherwise lacks a traditional progression system. As an example, the player might not get new skills from a level up, but completing missions can potentially result in a new party member, spell or equipment upgrade instead. This is a trade-off more than anything because the usual job system is completely absent.
In terms of presentation, the game is colorful and flashy, I'm not a fan of most character designs, but I do realize that's subjective. However, what does deserve a lot of well earned praise is the sound design, the soundtrack is delightful to listen to and there are distinctive sound effects for buffs, debuffs, kills, different movement types, etc. I could almost play the game blindfolded, it's awesome.
On the other hand, I don't have the same degree of praise for the story. Without spoiling it, there's a decent mixture of lighthearted and surprisingly dark moments, and it's clear that a lot of thought went into creating different locations, cultures and characters. What stopped it from being great in my opinion is that the main plot is highly compartmentalized, each "chapter", so to speak, goes over a new character, their personal struggle and the culture they inhabit, only to be basically forgotten by the time the next character is introduced. All things considered, I don't think the writing is bad overall, perhaps a few more campfire interactions would have fixed my problems with the storytelling.
To conclude, I think Fae Tactics is a good addition to the library of any SRPG fan. It's easy to understand, colorful, and the biggest problems I could point out about it were purely subjective. It's a really sweet game overall.
On a similar note, Fae Tactics also follows the honored SRPG tradition of allowing the player to recruit enemy monsters to their party. I think this is a nice addition to a game that otherwise lacks a traditional progression system. As an example, the player might not get new skills from a level up, but completing missions can potentially result in a new party member, spell or equipment upgrade instead. This is a trade-off more than anything because the usual job system is completely absent.
In terms of presentation, the game is colorful and flashy, I'm not a fan of most character designs, but I do realize that's subjective. However, what does deserve a lot of well earned praise is the sound design, the soundtrack is delightful to listen to and there are distinctive sound effects for buffs, debuffs, kills, different movement types, etc. I could almost play the game blindfolded, it's awesome.
On the other hand, I don't have the same degree of praise for the story. Without spoiling it, there's a decent mixture of lighthearted and surprisingly dark moments, and it's clear that a lot of thought went into creating different locations, cultures and characters. What stopped it from being great in my opinion is that the main plot is highly compartmentalized, each "chapter", so to speak, goes over a new character, their personal struggle and the culture they inhabit, only to be basically forgotten by the time the next character is introduced. All things considered, I don't think the writing is bad overall, perhaps a few more campfire interactions would have fixed my problems with the storytelling.
To conclude, I think Fae Tactics is a good addition to the library of any SRPG fan. It's easy to understand, colorful, and the biggest problems I could point out about it were purely subjective. It's a really sweet game overall.