Falnarion Tactics

Review

The kingdoms of Nerfelo are under attack from the Garfarian Empire.  Take charge of the rebels and lead them to victory in this SRPG game from Team Syukino

The world of Nerfelo was a wonderful place to be; the three kingdoms, Drestibell, Kessania and Inelda had lived in peace for many years. There were pilgrimages, trading of goods and stories told between the three kingdoms. Everyone was happy and content and thought it would be like this for an eternity. However, it wasn’t to be; a darkness was spreading, and they wanted everything, except for peace. The Garfarian Empire had arrived!

They attacked and laid waste to the kingdom of Drestibell. The other two kingdoms were appalled by the sudden and ferocious attack and sent forth waves of troops to try and retake Drestibell back, but alas, they failed. Over time, the Garfarian Empire grew stronger and stronger and it wasn’t long before they were setting their sights on Kessania and Inelda. Things looked bleak and hopeless, but a few survivors from Drestibell banded together to form a rebel group called the Shelminai. Lead by a young man who goes by the name Felm, along with Momo and Arestol they plan to stop the Garfarian Empire no matter the cost.

Felm Heisen, the son of Marclex, a great war hero who was murdered when Felm was young. Since then he’s strived to bring peace throughout Nerfelo, while also looking for his father’s killer. Felm is a swordsman and leader of a rebel group called Shelminai.

Arestol Nightviel is the co-leader of the Shelminai, and best friends with Felm. He’s not scared to speak his mind, which is as sharp as Felms blade, and will make the tough decisions if need be.  Arestol is a black mage who uses tome magic in battle.

Momo Amoichi is the little sister of the group and non-blood relative of Felm. She has a heart of gold, is kind-hearted and only wants to bring peace and happiness to everyone she meets. She is a priestess; she doesn’t fight in battles but instead uses her powers to restore and heal those in need.

The game starts with you near the village Elequix, which is under attack from the Bandit, General Rearo, and this motley crew. Arestol will give you some information and hints on what to do. The battlefield covers the whole screen with you up near the top left corner with bandits and thieves scattered here ‘n there. Before the battle starts, you’re able to check your units, manage your group, save, and check the objectives of the battle. The objectives will tell you how to win (defeat all bandits, for example) but it will also let you know how you can lose the battle (lose a certain member of the team).

The battlefield is divided up in to a grid, with each character only being able to move a certain number of squares. Clicking on a character will show you where they can move too, and if you right click anywhere on the field, you can see whereabouts the enemy can move (indicated by yellow squares). You can use that knowledge to your advantage, but sometimes you can’t quite get within attacking range within your current move. You can move closer to them, but it may put you inside their range of movement their turn. Only moving to just outside of their movement range instead will set you up for your next turn, where you can then move in and get the first attack in, whereas had you moved into their movement range, they would gain the advantage of attacking you first.

Once you’ve dispensed with all the bandits and their general, who were attacking Elequix, you head off to your base of operations. This will happen after every mission you do. Here you meet up with the rest of your group, Selten (Cavalier), Luna (Thief) and Dreth (Archer) to discuss what your next move will be. Once your discussion is over you can head out on your next mission by clicking the “next” button if you’re ready. If you’re not ready just yet, then you can manage your group, learn some information, check the side quests to earn some extra gold and items, do a bit of shopping at the shops for new weapons, etc, save and load a game, if required. You can also visit the bonus trade special shop, where you’ll be able to trade bonus points collected from battles or quests for items you may not find in a normal shop.

As you progress through the game, you’ll come across some allies who may join your group if you help them. As your group starts to build up in numbers, you may have to choose which ones come in to battle with you. Sometimes you won’t have a choice on who you choose, it’s all down to your current mission and the objectives which you need to complete. Before starting a current mission, though, you’re able to manage your group, so having a quick butcher’s at what’s around may help you decide.

All the weapons and items within the game only have so many uses before it’s gone, then you’ll have to buy or find more weapons from battles or quests. It’s probably best to have a couple of weapons at your disposal; one for dealing the main damage and one which won’t do as much damage. This way if you don’t defeat an enemy with your main weapon and it leaves them with say, five damage, you can use a lesser weapon to finish them off, saving your better weapon for when it’s better needed. The weapons a character can use is down to what class they are.  You can change your class upon reaching level ten (max level twenty). You can also change class if you have a Class Token any time you feel like it.

On the main menu screen there’s, New Game, Continue, Config, Extras and Exit. In the Config (options) you’ll find On and Off options for Real Battle, Real Battle Scaling, Auto Cursor, Auto Turn End, Auto Turn Skip, Enemy Range, Map Grid, Map Unit Window, Map Unit Symbol, Damage Popup, Load Command, Mouse Toggle and Mouse Cursor Tracking. Unit Speed, Message Speed and Scroll Speed option of either Fast, Normal or Slow. Music and Sound volume (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%), Map Unit HP (Number, Gauge, None) and Skip Control (All, Mouse, None). So, there’s plenty of fiddling around you can do to tweak the game to your own personal preference.

In Extras there’s Sound Room, where you’ll find music from within the game. They will unlock as you progress through the game.  Some you’ll get simply by checking config etc (in total there’s thirty to collect). Next there’s the Gallery; images are displayed here from within the game. And finally, Characters, who are found in the game and will unlock as you find them; each character tells you their sex, age and bio about them. There’s around eighty-one characters to find and unlock.  The first character slot reveals the games controls for mouse, keyboard or game pad.

The game has not long been released on early access, and as of the 28^th November there’s six chapters finished so far out of possibly fifteen, but the developer is working hard to get the rest out to us. I’m enjoying the game so far; I’ve not come across any problems yet and look forward to the rest of the chapters.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!