The Reconstruction

(...In my humble opinion, of course.)

The Reconstruction is a rather unique game. It's a Tactical Eastern-style RPG in terms of gameplay, and (roughly) a high fantasy in terms of plot. And yet, it seems to make its greatest effort to subvert both as much as possible. Indeed, the developer has stated that his intention was to defy convention at every turn. How does this manifest? A thoroughly entertaining and thoughtful game, in my opinion.

-Body-

Both the graphics and the music are a mix of RTP and original creations. The art style is simplistic and somewhat cartoonish, but it works. Everything is outlined, as well, which can look somewhat odd, but it does help important objects pop out of the scenery. Important objects also tend to be unique-looking, too, so you won't have to be mashing confirm and examining everything to find the magic tile that has what you need most of the time. The distinction between walkable and unwalkable tiles is rather inconsistent, though, and explorative players may find invisible walls in far-off places. This gets better as the game goes along, however. As for the music, the tracks used are usually very fitting. The original compositions won't move you to tears at their beauty, but they aren't bad by any stretch of the word -- they do their job adequately.

But of course, the meat of an RPG is its combat -- and The Reconstruction has a rather complex system. As mentioned above, the battles are in tactical RPG format, though a bit more simplified than most, since movement is one-dimensional. However, I feel this strikes a nice balance between the bland static battles of most Eastern RPGs and the complex (and often time-consuming) 2D/3D battles in Tactical RPGs. The developer is aware of the maxim that time does not equal difficulty, as well -- battles are usually quick but exhilarating, requiring you to use all your resources effectively. You have multiple choices in approaching battles, as well -- using skills can either advance or break the "skill chain" in the top-right corner, and if you pay attention to it, building it up will massively increase your attack power...at the cost of severely limiting your strategy, of course. Or you could just ignore it, and use whatever skill is necessary at the time. Another strategic part of the battle system is the lack of health and mana points -- instead, each character has three life bars (Body, Mind, and Soul) that work as both simultaneously. Reduction of any to zero means defeat. Almost all characters can only damage two of the three life bars, so you need to plan your attacks carefully to make sure you aren't wasting time by attacking an irrelevant life bar. It's also important to get the hang of which stats the enemies have few or high points in.

In sum, this is not your average RPG where you'll just be hitting "attack" mindlessly every battle, and the only thing that forces your brain to put a modicum of effort into strategy is the occasional boss battle. This leads to a very enjoyable battle system where there are many variables and angles of strategy to be considered. Oh, and there are no random encounters either, which is a major point in the game's favour.

But what happens outside of battles? Where is the exploration and environments? Well, the game takes a rather rigid, mission-based structure -- in every city, there are a number of things you can examine by using an ethereal examination arrow, including your own party members. Unlike in some games where you must wander around towns endlessly, talking to everyone and desperately looking for that one NPC that will actually give you something to do, in this game, quest givers are prominently displayed with a bright red exclamation mark above their head. This lets the player easily pinpoint priorities and advance the game quickly if they so desire, without unnecessary padding. Of course, some may feel this takes something out of town exploration, or makes the path one has to take too obvious. (And it's true that cities do feel rather small as a result.) These are all valid opinions, and I doubt the format is to everyone's taste, though I did feel that it makes things flow better.

In the actual missions themselves, you are given free roam in an area to accomplish the mission's objective. These sections are fairly well-done, and often very expansive, with hidden items/areas and occasionally multiple routes to take as well. For what the game lacks in hub exploration, it makes up for in the expansiveness of its mission areas (mostly).

Overall, in my opinion, The Reconstruction distills and analyzes the elements of RPGs we love, without being afraid to cut away elements that only cause frustration. However, it would not be the masterpiece it is if it was only a soulless husk, with nothing but missions and a fancy battle system. As fun as The Reconstruction is to play, its strongest point is its plot.

-Mind-

The Reconstruction is set in a vibrant, detailed world. The developer has clearly put a great deal of effort into worldbuilding, and the societies and politics described within that world feel strong and realistic as a result. Characters will often reference areas and events you won't learn about until much later, even at the beginning -- though of course, this is filtered through the character's perceptions. Long before going to an area, you are exposed to the rumours, myths, and opinions surrounding it, causing a buildup of dramatic tension that makes the final revelations on the topic all the more powerful. (However, unlike in some stories, where you will only learn about the cryptic reference when the time comes, you can gain addition insight here in the form of a literal in-game encyclopedia, with articles on the many aspects of the world that you will hear characters mention off-handedly.)

The Reconstruction's planet is not named, though it looks like a typical fantasy setting at first, with cat people (here called "fih'jik"), lizard people (here called "shra"), and boring-but-obligatory humans sprinkled around the setting. But as you progress through the game, the narrative slowly picks the traditional fantasy stories apart, and a much darker side of the world is revealed. The different cultures are full of internal tension, as well as having prickly external relations. This turmoil is a driving force of the plot, and oftentimes the central question of each chapter is whether or not your band of plucky heroes can fix it. Sometimes the answer is no.

And that brings us to our characters. The Reconstruction's cast is quite large -- a whopping eighteen playable characters (plus two that are only playable in the prologue) and a supporting cast to match. However, it's clear that a lot of effort went into fleshing out their personalities -- each has a unique voice and an opinion on the situation of the world. Many have backstories and even entire subplots that revolve around them, in the form of optional sidequests. Many characters go under visible character development as the game progresses, dealing with issues of their upbringing or coming to new realizations about their worldview.

Perhaps the most interesting, though, is our protagonist, Dehl Sikholon. If his status as the story's "hero" was not made explicit, it would probably be difficult to tell, as he can barely claim the title. Dehl has virtually none of the standard hero traits -- he is polite, stoic, pacifistic, and is a member of the aforementioned slave class. (Though unlike most heroes, he doesn't use this as a source of angst or try to strike back at his oppressors -- he even, creepily, seems to (at least somewhat) believe that the humans are correct when they say shra are non-people.) He does not want to be the leader of his group, and, at first, only sees the formation of a guild as a means to pay back the city that he lives in for its hospitality. He grows into the role very slowly, and undergoes and almost complete transformation by the end of the fifth chapter -- though you may still wonder if it's really what he wants. Dehl is a unique and dynamic character that the audience can easily get attached to, and you may be quite surprised by some of his decisions.

Dehl also has an interesting relation with his human friend, Sicious Qualstio, another major character. Qualstio is Dehl's opposite in almost every way -- he is brash, blunt, chaotic, and somewhat haughty. At first it is befuddling why these two came to become friends, but it soon becomes apparent that they do share similar morals and ideals, and their behaviours often work together for something they could never achieve individually, rather than conflicting with one another. You also come to realize over the course of the game that although Qualstio may seem detached and even somewhat rude to Dehl, he honestly does care about his friend, and Qualstio's touch of chaos into Dehl's life is exactly what Dehl needs, much as he may dislike it. When he has chained himself because of his adherence to order, Qualstio is the only one who can free him.

Now, this is all well and good, but it is nothing without a plot to tie it together. But the plot's course does not act independently of the detailed world and three-dimensional characters. It feels like the plot was molded around them, rather than the other way around. One may even say that the plot and the world are the same -- after all, your quests and missions often revolve around solving or analyzing the turmoil in the world, or the troubles the characters face. Like the worlds of Planescape: Torment and the obscure indie game Pathologic, the plot simply exists. It does not feel like an odd piece out, or as a means to an end.

(However, one caveat I and others have noticed with the plot is that it does take a while to get rolling. In the beginning, the driving force of the plot is literally pest extermination. Though you learn about the characters' personalities and are giving tantalizing hints about the rest of the world, the missions you're given are not terribly interesting. However, by the end of the second chapter, the plot really picks up speed, and meaningful revelations about the world and characters start coming in full force.)

-Soul-

Video games are an art medium as well as all of the above. To give a well-rounded review, I feel I should scrutinize this, as well: Did the developer feel the need to make this game a work of art? Did he feel the need to give it a soul?

This is, obviously, a rather subjective matter, but I say yes. The world truly does feel real. There are many objects that can be examined for wonderful flavour text or snippets of life, and there are many details that aren't important to the plot but help flesh out the world. The characters, too, are embedded with emotion -- they can be funny, philosophical, and even heartbreaking at times.

But, well, I know I sound like I'm gushing here, but to be honest, that's standard fare for most stories, isn't it? Works that don't make you feel anything are almost always called sub-par or lifeless. However, I feel that The Reconstruction goes above and beyond that. Now, I am usually quite stoic towards fictional situations (for reference: I didn't cry during the ending of Mother 3), but I really felt for these characters' plights. There are many moments I can reference, but particularly, the third flashback cutscene nearly moved me to tears -- and the resolution of that storyline almost did as well, though out of joy rather than despair. I'm sure everyone who has seen that knows what I'm talking about. There are subtler things as well: On a first playthrough, you can't really see Dehl's inner struggles or problems, but on replays, it's absolutely horrifying to see how submissive and broken he is -- and all the foreshadowing towards his tragic past is far easier to catch. Many other situations evoked similar emotional reactions. (Though in the interests of avoiding spoilers, I will only recommend that you play the game yourself, and find your own moments that you really connected with!) In sum, I really empathized with the characters...and when an audience feels that, I believe it is something that should be noted as a testament to any author's writing skill.

As for the plot, that also feels quite meaningful. Its central theme is something we don't often think about, but is actually very important -- scope. A driving question of the story is: How much do you really know? When you start the game, you are brought into a fully-realized world, with a knowledge of nothing. You are essentially an infant, slowly learning and processing new information. When you are only exterminating bugs, life is simple. You get to know the characters, and only see a well-to-do city. As you expand and travel the world, you see more and more about the darkness that roils under the world's peaceful-looking exterior. You start to question how much you really do know, and if your assumptions about the world earlier on were unfounded. Blissful ignorance is substituted for powerful knowledge -- and knowledge is power. Perhaps it is pretentious (how I loathe that word in this context) to think that something from a work of fiction could be applicable to real life. But I think that this might be an important lesson -- that one should gather as much knowledge as possible before making a decision, and to see all sides of the story.

I feel the greatest works are ones that you can linger on for a long time afterwards -- that really make you think. The Reconstruction did that for me. Even a year after completing it, I am still thinking about and analyzing the story. This game gave me pause for thought over the way it turns so many fantasy tropes on their heads, and how realistic some of the political intrigue feels. That, I think, makes it a true work of art.

-Overall-

The Reconstruction is solid in all areas, and, though I'm sure it's not to everyone's tastes, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of RPGs. It's not perfect, of course (what is?) -- I'd say that perhaps its weakest point is its lack of synergy between story and gameplay. This is a frequent criticism leveled at Eastern RPGs -- that the story and gameplay seem to be in completely separate worlds. And, though one can decide which characters they recruit and which sidequests to focus on, I admit that this game is not a good counterexample to that complaint. There are multiple endings...but such a mechanic is undermined by the fact that one is the "best" and canonical ending, in addition to the fact that it is very easy to get the best ending (I got it on my first try). I'd also dock some points from it for RTP usage.

And thus, my overall verdict is that the game is very good and well worth a try, but not without its flaws. Though I dislike number scores, this comes in at about a 4.5.

Still, The Reconstruction is a great counterexample to those who say there is no innovation in the genre. I feel like the game industry would be a more fruitful place with more developers like Deltree, and I wish him the best of luck on his future projects. It is truly a shame that this work has gone so unnoticed, as other reviewers have pointed out. Regardless of whether or not one considers it enjoyable, it is definitely a learning experience.