Every other cutscene in this game made me feel like I was losing my goddamn mind. Consider that there's a reason there aren't many Japanese games about WWII. Additionally, consider why anime tropes might feel out of place in a story which more or less presents itself as the greatest hits of WWII. You may be starting to get the picture as to how certain minute aspects of the game start to overshadow the parts we're obviously supposed to be focusing on.
That being said, with the right mindset this game is genuinely fascinating because it’s incredibly well-executed for what it is. The game as a whole frames itself as a depiction of a book written about your SRPG squad, which not only sets up the methodical and highly controlled representation of the battles, but also an enormous number of cutscenes and extraneous text. While it’s not exactly half-and-half or anything, there’s a ton of the game which does nothing but tell you about the game’s chronology and world, and it’s just begging to be picked apart and held up to the real-world events they’re trying to invoke.
Also! I feel a need to say that this is an extremely playable game on its own, its class matchups are intuitive once you get the hang of it, the progression systems are engaging and robust, the battles themselves are delightfully positional, it’s great. Really my only complaint is that the game expects some form of grinding from the player at some points, which I think we can all agree only happens when the developers are told that the game needs to be longer for some arbitrary reason.
If that seems like an exceedingly surface-level review of all of the game mechanics, that’s because it is. It’s not what really drove me to irrevocably sink 60 hours of my finite life (which admittedly isn’t that much in terms of RPGs but existentially terrifies me anyways) into getting through all of its content. Like, the systems are cool, I like how they make this whole new spin on SRPG mechanics as a whole by making the world’s most complex menu in the form of an intuitive third-person shooter. But truth be told, I kept playing the game because after each mission, it would unlock a block of text for me tucked away in a glossary which would tell me about some insane social darwinist shit and make that a central aspect of the lore. There’s nothing else like it.
That being said, with the right mindset this game is genuinely fascinating because it’s incredibly well-executed for what it is. The game as a whole frames itself as a depiction of a book written about your SRPG squad, which not only sets up the methodical and highly controlled representation of the battles, but also an enormous number of cutscenes and extraneous text. While it’s not exactly half-and-half or anything, there’s a ton of the game which does nothing but tell you about the game’s chronology and world, and it’s just begging to be picked apart and held up to the real-world events they’re trying to invoke.
Also! I feel a need to say that this is an extremely playable game on its own, its class matchups are intuitive once you get the hang of it, the progression systems are engaging and robust, the battles themselves are delightfully positional, it’s great. Really my only complaint is that the game expects some form of grinding from the player at some points, which I think we can all agree only happens when the developers are told that the game needs to be longer for some arbitrary reason.
If that seems like an exceedingly surface-level review of all of the game mechanics, that’s because it is. It’s not what really drove me to irrevocably sink 60 hours of my finite life (which admittedly isn’t that much in terms of RPGs but existentially terrifies me anyways) into getting through all of its content. Like, the systems are cool, I like how they make this whole new spin on SRPG mechanics as a whole by making the world’s most complex menu in the form of an intuitive third-person shooter. But truth be told, I kept playing the game because after each mission, it would unlock a block of text for me tucked away in a glossary which would tell me about some insane social darwinist shit and make that a central aspect of the lore. There’s nothing else like it.