I’m not a huge fan of tactical RPGs, so I was pretty taken back by how much I enjoyed this game. I was drawn to the art style and decided pretty quickly after trying the demo that I wanted to give the full game a shot.
The visuals in typical Vanillaware fashion are stunning and make watching battles and traversing the map a great time. The characters are wonderfully designed and it makes building your army and viewing their interactions a real treat to behold. The 2D style combined with the detailed environments and settings make the game feel both classic and modern simultaneously which is pretty impressive.
The combat is set up in a way that your units and their formations are the key. Each squad designates a leader and can hold up to 5 units by the endgame, and each of these units interact with one another by utilizing various classes each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, you have plenty of your standard archetypes like soldiers, cavalry, archers, mages, clerics, etc. as well as some more advanced ones like flying units, shamans, beasts, and plenty others. The battles play out when squads come in contact with those of your enemies, and the outcome is decided before the fight begins allowing you to strategize which of your squads you send to which locations depending on what you’re facing. It’s very intricate and there’s a lot I won’t go into, but just know it’s a good time and there is a lot of room for skill expression and team building that keep things interesting.
It’s a story about liberation and camaraderie with Alain, a prince setting out to free the kingdoms from an opposing force. You’ll visit a bunch of areas and recruit characters from these nations to join your cause and ultimately face the threat, so the story is pretty bog standard as far as that goes. It’s fun and the characters are mostly well written and keep things moving, but it’s not really the biggest strength here if I’m being honest.
If you enjoy RPGs and beautiful visuals I urge you to give this one a shot, even if you’re like me and generally don’t gravitate toward strategic gameplay. It’s accessible enough to where you shouldn’t have a hard time and features difficulty settings you can switch between at any given time.
The visuals in typical Vanillaware fashion are stunning and make watching battles and traversing the map a great time. The characters are wonderfully designed and it makes building your army and viewing their interactions a real treat to behold. The 2D style combined with the detailed environments and settings make the game feel both classic and modern simultaneously which is pretty impressive.
The combat is set up in a way that your units and their formations are the key. Each squad designates a leader and can hold up to 5 units by the endgame, and each of these units interact with one another by utilizing various classes each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, you have plenty of your standard archetypes like soldiers, cavalry, archers, mages, clerics, etc. as well as some more advanced ones like flying units, shamans, beasts, and plenty others. The battles play out when squads come in contact with those of your enemies, and the outcome is decided before the fight begins allowing you to strategize which of your squads you send to which locations depending on what you’re facing. It’s very intricate and there’s a lot I won’t go into, but just know it’s a good time and there is a lot of room for skill expression and team building that keep things interesting.
It’s a story about liberation and camaraderie with Alain, a prince setting out to free the kingdoms from an opposing force. You’ll visit a bunch of areas and recruit characters from these nations to join your cause and ultimately face the threat, so the story is pretty bog standard as far as that goes. It’s fun and the characters are mostly well written and keep things moving, but it’s not really the biggest strength here if I’m being honest.
If you enjoy RPGs and beautiful visuals I urge you to give this one a shot, even if you’re like me and generally don’t gravitate toward strategic gameplay. It’s accessible enough to where you shouldn’t have a hard time and features difficulty settings you can switch between at any given time.