Untapped potential.
The mixture of Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle is a great idea and it works here to some degree but the game never really manages to balance itself around the mechanics. Instead it resorts to level design that focuses on large maps swarmed with mostly weak units. Despite that finishing levels well below the turn limit is an easy task that takes a whole lot of time, even if you completely turn off battle animation.
The micromanagement aspect has similar issues, it starts out fun and intriguing but quickly bloats out of control. You assign up to 9 units to squads, assign 2-3 traits per unit, and then assign 3 gear pieces per squad. Later levels allows you to deploy up to 20 squads, shit adds up quickly and with how easy the game is -it turns from tactical to menial.
Story is not that bad but it's not very engaging either. There are few moments and characters that rise above but they're scarce. The 2nd half of the story just drags.
World building is mostly generic with a couple interesting flares like the Donari temple.
The game does try to say something about zealots and curroption but it doesn't commit to it.
Graphics are a very mixed bag and it's where the game shows its budget.
There like 4 different styles going on that don't mix.
Cutscenes are RPG Maker assets complete with overused low res fx.
This era of RPG Maker sprites just looks bad (2000 forever!!)
The battlemap grid and sprites look much better but the cherry on top is the combat sprites who had a lot of love and talent poured into them (though I could do without the pronounced buttcheeks of a certain titan).
The updated portraits are lovely, something about this mixture of western art with anime influences works on me.
Overall it's a nice experience for fans of the genre that overstays its welcome.
RIP Zorro, you were a real one.
The mixture of Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle is a great idea and it works here to some degree but the game never really manages to balance itself around the mechanics. Instead it resorts to level design that focuses on large maps swarmed with mostly weak units. Despite that finishing levels well below the turn limit is an easy task that takes a whole lot of time, even if you completely turn off battle animation.
The micromanagement aspect has similar issues, it starts out fun and intriguing but quickly bloats out of control. You assign up to 9 units to squads, assign 2-3 traits per unit, and then assign 3 gear pieces per squad. Later levels allows you to deploy up to 20 squads, shit adds up quickly and with how easy the game is -it turns from tactical to menial.
Story is not that bad but it's not very engaging either. There are few moments and characters that rise above but they're scarce. The 2nd half of the story just drags.
World building is mostly generic with a couple interesting flares like the Donari temple.
The game does try to say something about zealots and curroption but it doesn't commit to it.
Graphics are a very mixed bag and it's where the game shows its budget.
There like 4 different styles going on that don't mix.
Cutscenes are RPG Maker assets complete with overused low res fx.
This era of RPG Maker sprites just looks bad (2000 forever!!)
The battlemap grid and sprites look much better but the cherry on top is the combat sprites who had a lot of love and talent poured into them (though I could do without the pronounced buttcheeks of a certain titan).
The updated portraits are lovely, something about this mixture of western art with anime influences works on me.
Overall it's a nice experience for fans of the genre that overstays its welcome.
RIP Zorro, you were a real one.