It’s just that, with such strong foundations for a real-time strategy game, not much is actually built on top. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy the battles, as we definitely did: it has too many simple joys in satisfying of objectives, pulling off team-ups, and using the environment to your advantage: blowing up enemies with exploding barrels and bear traps. We quickly found our optimal setup for each battle and stuck to it, with the objectives being the only prompt to change things up. With a bit more focus and emphasis, Reverie Knights Tactics could have made managing your team so much more wrinkly and interesting. There’s only a dozen abilities to choose from per character, and leveling up is purely a choice between Attack, Finesse and Defence. Reverie Knights Tactics is too conservative in offering you strategy, too: you only get four characters, and those characters will be present in every scenario, outside of the first few. The levels may change up their backgrounds (the art on them is notably gorgeous, it should be said: a hybrid of cel-shading and comic book), but there’s no getting round how flat they all are, and there’s only so many ways you can present a single 2D plane. The flip is that there’s a nagging sameyness to proceedings. And there’s a nifty team-up mechanic, where you can combine your attacks in a kind of Mortal Kombat fatality sequence, just without the gore. It would have been all-too-easy to get into a rut without them. There’s a superb objective system for each level, where you get extra ‘cogni’ (a crafting resource to make equipment) if you satisfy a couple of criteria, which forces you to switch up your playstyles. You know what will happen with a move before you make it. From the attack and movement range of the enemies, to the expected damage from your own attacks, it’s all well presented, simple and without an ounce of randomness. We struggle to make the combat sound particularly snazzy in Reverie Knights Tactics, but what it does, it does well. While there aren’t many abilities to choose from per character, they do have chunky, differentiated benefits, so they at least feel cool to pull off. We outfitted her with a taunt and a defensive ability, as well as an area-of-effect attack in case she got swamped. Brigandine has a huge riot-shield-looking-thing, so it’s quickly clear that she’s the tank. If you’re looking for something with a stratospheric skill ceiling, with extreme difficulty or refreshing gameplay, then you might want to look elsewhere.Įach character has a basic attack and three other attacks, chosen from a modest list before the action starts. But there are very few knobs or levers to twiddle, and there’s not much in the way of innovation. As a simple, easy-to-learn and easy-to-master strategy game, it definitely satisfies. So, the question becomes: does it hold a candle to the best in the genre? The answer’s complicated, as it depends what you’re looking for. It’s decently done.īut hey, this is an X-COM-style strategy game, so narrative isn’t the priority. We unlocked some forced decisions that prioritised the mission over the other characters, which was a double-edged sword when we didn’t expect one. We went for ‘obedient’, which – refreshingly – didn’t mean that we were ‘good’. It’s not all single-direction traffic, either – your choices do lead you down a few different paths, with characters reacting differently to you based on your current alignment. There’s a lightweight morality system going on too, as you can make dialogue choices that make you ‘obedient’ or ‘chaotic’. Spending time with the characters in Reverie Knights Tactics is always a pocket joy. They’re genuinely likable, and the plot generates enough fun scrapes for them to talk and argue about. Brigandine is happy-go-lucky and perennially hungry, while your elf guide, Fern, is one of those frosty characters that thaws out as the story goes on. It might all seem like weighty, dull fantasy, but Reverie Knights Tactics leans more into its characters, and that’s where it comes up trumps.
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