All right! I finally beat another game in my Steam backlog! I’ll still post the console box art, though (not sure how to link the BLAEO-specific progress images yet):

You may be familiar with Tactics RPGs, but this is a Tactics Third-Person Shooter. You have multiple units in your squad and you move them one at a time, but rather than being grid or hex based, movement is free-form. Another thing that this game does differently is: rather than give each unit one move per turn, you get a set amount of Combat Points (CP) each turn and can use them to move whichever unit(s) you want (although moving the same unit multiple times in one turn means the unit can’t walk as far). This, combined with how large the maps are, often results in just a couple units moving ahead, taking everyone out, while the rest stay at base camp doing nothing. Also, enemy soldiers will shoot at you if you get in range, á la Tower Defense units (the same is true in reverse during your turn). Of course, during your turn, you only get one attack per move (with certain weapons letting the enemy counterattack you), so part of the strategy involves leaving units in just the right spots so they can take out enemy units during the enemy’s turn. It’s something I haven’t seen done before, and I think it was pulled off really well.

Building on these mechanics, the game has certain units that, if alive at the start of the turn, will give you an extra CP. This, combined with how CP works in the first place, means that it would still be a good idea, for example, to have explosive-weapons-only Largo be in your squad during the operation that prohibits use of explosives, just so your other units have that one extra CP. I’m not that big a fan of this as it practically punishes having certain loadouts that may otherwise be more beneficial during certain situations. Seriously: the only time where it wasn’t a good idea to deploy as many CP-generating units as I could was during the Shock-trooper trial, and that’s only because Lancers can’t counterattack or Tower Defense.

The last main mechanic the game has are “potentials.” Each unit starts with a few potentials, and they get another when their class reaches certain levels. Potentials can either be good or bad and have a percent chance to activate when the potential’s conditions are met. They are also one of the most important factors for whether or not a unit should be sent into battle (usually second only to “is this unit a CP generator?”). I like the concept, but I have two issues:

1) Unlocked potentials can’t be viewed until after you recruit the unit, so someone who seems really good at first might have a bad potential hidden away (or vice versa), making it harder to fine-tune your squad.

2) some potentials only involve a subtitle, a voice clip, and some colored lines, so it doesn’t interrupt the flow of game-play. This is great, but other potentials will stop game-play, flash the word “Potential” across the screen, then show a brief cut-scene where the unit says something to evidence the potential being in action. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of moving my unit to be in just the right spot to take down a tank or a shock-trooper, and now I have to reorient myself while being shot at.

As you play through the game, you’ll unlock “Skirmish” battles, which take place on the same maps as story battles, but have different enemy positions (and sometimes, different starting positions). At first, I thought this was kinda cool since it could provide a different, interesting challenge, but then I realized that, for the most part, “Normal” mode Skirmishes are practically the same as their story mission counterpart, and “Hard” and “Expert” modes are locked until the game is beaten. That was more disappointing than anything.

Another thing you get as you play through the game are the option to buy “Reports” (with in-game money). At first, these are just more cut-scenes that give characters more characterization, but after a bit, they start containing extra operations (with new maps and everything!). This was always a nice surprise when it happened.

Something else worth mentioning is the story. On paper, it should be really engaging with many plot twists. In practice, one of the surprises can be spoiled if you’re half-paying attention to the opening/Steam trailer (it’s Dust: An Elysian Tail all over again!). On that subject, I’m not that fond of how it handles plot twists in general. Shortly before a big reveal, there’s usually at least one cut-scene that has such heavy implications on what’s about to happen that it could level Ghirlandaio, so almost nothing comes as a surprise. Also, there will sometimes be a cut-scene of exposition not long after the reveal, just in case you didn’t get it the first time (it’s even more jarring when the exposition is presented as dialogue and not narration). First, Bravely Default, now this; what happened to subtlety? Why are these T-rated games treating me like a child? Baten Kaitos was pretty good about being subtle before its reveal, and that was a T-rated game.

Oh, and the surprise in Chapter 9 was completely superfluous. It makes you think it’s going to go somewhere with it, but it could have easily been an ordinary operation with as much as it had to do with the rest of the game (it wasn’t even expanded upon in the DLC; maybe the sequels focus on it more?).

Also, the plot-exposition will sometimes bleed its way into game-play. For example, in chapter 15, you have to clear the tracks leading up to the citadel Ghirlandaio so a train full of explosives can blow down the entrance and you can storm the place. As you get close, you’ll notice ladders leading up to turrets stationed on the front wall, but a few minutes later, a cutscene will play out where the CO practically says “oh, gee, how are we going to destroy those turrets?” before the game zooms in on the ladders (which are also clearly marked on the map beforehand) and he says “of course! We can climb the ladders to take out the turrets!”

Rated T for tchildren.

And then you climb the ladder and fall through the world. I’m not even kidding.

This game would have been an easy recommendation from me if it weren’t for that egregious glitch (and it’s only in the Steam version, too!). I mentioned it in the game’s Steam discussion and was only told that the bug had been reported since the PC port’s debut. I sent an email to SEGA support about it and was told to update my graphic drivers (I didn’t get a response when I specified that the glitch wasn’t graphical in nature, so updating my graphics drivers wouldn’t fix the problem). I had always heard about how modern AAA games have these kind of bugs, but I still can’t believe this.

The last bit of extra content lies in DLCs that come with the game. One DLC mission has you playing as the other army, which is cool because you get to experience first-hand just how it’s like playing with one OP unit and every other unit being weak. The second part of the DLC is even different if you achieve an optional objective in the first part (an objective which is conveyed subtly, so it gets points from me, there). Unfortunately, it reuses Ghirlandaio’s map, so you have to deal with the bug again. The second DLC mission stars a few possible recruits that get separated from the rest of the squad. My only issue with this one is that it seems confused about when it takes place. Everything about the DLC’s opening cut-scene implies that it takes place during chapter 8, but at the end, they reference events that happened at the end of chapter 11.

Overall, I’m torn. The game is otherwise really good, and I think Tactics RPG fans will really like it, but that bug is really severe. If you can, get the Playstation version; if not, wait for a huge discount (I heard it can go as low as $4 on the Humble Store).