2022 is a great year for all turn-based RPG lovers. Although the recent delay of Marvel’s Midnight Suns has been a strong blow for the genre, there are still several worthwhile options. Last February came Triangle Strategyone of my favorite games of the year, and in November the long-awaited game will finally be available Tactics Ogre: Reborn. Fortunately, before this happens, Square Enix has another tactical JRPG that has turned heads. The DioField Chronicle It will arrive in our hands in September, and recently I had the opportunity to try an early demo, where the full potential of this installment is made clear, as well as some of the mistakes that this title seems to make.
The DioField Chronicle is being developed by Square Enix in collaboration with Lancarse, a Japanese studio recognized by Monark, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, Lost Dimension Y Strange Journey, the spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei. In this way, the game is in very good hands. The demo I had the opportunity to put me right at the beginning of the adventure, and this is where one of the main problems with this installment comes to the fore. The DioField Chronicle It starts out unfriendly. Instead of offering a bit of context about its world, and slowly introducing the main characters, a cinematic greets us with what appears to be a section that could very well have taken place a couple of hours into the adventure.
complicated beginnings
In the blink of an eye, the opening cinematic presents us with a couple of very important concepts, and establishes part of the context that marks our protagonists. After this, we jump back in time and are finally introduced to the heroes of this story. Here we meet Andrias Rhondarson and Fredret Lester, two young men who, after losing their family and friends in a war, decide to become mercenaries and join the group known as the Blue Foxes. At the same time, a neighboring nation begins a major war conflict. The Trovelt-Schoevian Empire and the Rowetale Alliance go to war, with the former group gaining the initial victory. This puts the Alletain region, where Rhondarson and company live, in a rather difficult situation.
Although the story is clearly heading in a direction where our heroes will have to face the Trovelt-Schoevian Empire, the first chapter of the game, which is included in this demo, is more focused on presenting what seems to be endless concepts. and different alliances, political groups and organization within Alletain where the conflict is similar to game of Throneswith betrayals everywhere.
As I already mentioned, the problem that the story seems to have is its bad start. Although eventually everything becomes clear little by little, there are still many names and characters that are introduced and eliminated without a great explanation, all this while the game expects you to have a great knowledge of the great political and social context that marks the three nations of this world. Fortunately, a library that explains many concepts in detail is within the reach of all players, but this is something that clearly needed more work from the developers.
A tactical game on the move
While the story seems like something that will eventually pay off, the gameplay managed to captivate me from the first minute. Here we are presented with a tactical JRPG, but instead of having a board, we find a system similar to that of titles like XCOM and Valkyria Chronicles, but in real time. That’s right, there are no shifts here. Along with this, the way you interact with the characters and enemies is similar to an RTS, Age of Empires style. By this I mean that you move the characters, either one by one, or in a group, to a direction marked on the map, and directly instruct them to attack, take control of some structure to open a path on a map, or collect some treasure. In the same way, you can mark exactly the path that your units can take, thus avoiding any conflict, or attacking from behind, with which you will do more damage.
Once you decide to start a fight, we see something more traditional here. Each of the units will attack automatically as soon as they see an enemy in their vision range. During the demo I had the opportunity to test four different classes. We have the classic swordsmen, which deal good direct damage. Then we have the riders, who are fast. Often we find the archers, who work perfectly at a distance. Lastly, mages specialize in dealing large amounts of damage in a given area.
In addition to simple hits, each unit has different abilities at its disposal, and each one requires a certain amount of EP, the MP of this installment. These freeze time, so you don’t have to worry about being a bit slow in selecting the option that suits you best. Although during the demo all the special powers were quite general, such as a stronger blow, or a shower of arrows, there are also traces of some more interesting ones, such as a blow that is capable of stunning and delaying the strongest attacks of your opponent, or a shock on horseback that changes the position of the opponent. Clearly, there will be a wide selection of skills that will play a big role in preparing you for combat in future missions. Each encounter has different objectives, such as meeting the objective without a single one of your units dying, or finishing before a certain time, and each offers some bonuses that you can use in your barracks.
Similar to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, at the end of each mission you will return to your mercenaries’ barracks, where you can interact with various characters, buy items, use skill points to give your units new moves, and improve their attributes. In addition to the personal skill tree, we also find a general one for the classes, and this allows, for example, all the magic that heals to be more effective, or a certain movement to be more powerful.
Something that I really liked is that, although the missions only allow you to use four units, each of your soldiers can use the abilities of those who are outside the battlefield. Of course, this has its limitations, but, for example, one of your swordsmen with better attributes can use certain abilities that only one of his companions has. In addition to this encouraging you to experiment, it also forces you to know in detail all the cards you have at your disposal, and pay attention to certain information that you may go unnoticed in another game.
I can’t wait anymore
Although I only had the opportunity to play a demo that lasted just under two hours, The DioField Chronicle managed to captivate me. Although his narrative has problems, there is clearly a story worth discovering. Along with this, its gameplay is extremely addictive, and considering that everything takes place in real time, you are always thinking and reacting in a quite natural way, and the game forces you to think about strategies, use items, select skills, and more in an instant.
The DioField Chronicle It will arrive on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, Nintendo Switch and PC on September 22. For its part, the demo of the game will be available to everyone tomorrow, August 10.