I had been wondering how to make RPG turn based battles more tactical.... well Wine & Roses implements an action point system and the execution is brilliant.

Basically each character gains a fixed number of action points per round and each skill uses up action points, so if you have enough points, a character can perform multiple actions per round. The extra tactics come in when more powerful skills cost a lot of action points - so do you hit the enemy several times now with weaker skills or save up for the power skill?

The only gripe I have is that this wasn't mentioned anywhere in the game! You are thrown in at the deep end at the start with no mention of how the combat works. Players are so used to the default RPG Maker battle system that any deviation from this should be mentioned at the start of the game - even a simple 1-line comment ("you can take multiple actions per round") would suffice.

STORY 3/5
The game starts abruptly with no story. It's too abrupt. I don't want a wall of text intro screen, but a quick something to set the scene would be nice.

A skeleton, Lord Francisco, is leading the party of 3 exorcists into his fortress to rid it of its nasties.

Over time, as you win each battle, more and more of the background story is revealed enabling you to piece together what is going on (along with choice quotes from real-life authors).

The ending is also very abrupt. Having completed the game I would like to see a little more please :)

GRAPHICS 4/5
The maps are fairly standard but there is good, original art in battles and dialogues. There are a lot of empty maps where there is nothing to do but pass through. It's annoying because it increases the travelling but on the flip side it emphasizes the desolation and size of the fortress.

MUSIC 5/5
The music by D3vilsheep and Clearside is very good, original electronic music. Special praise must go to the final boss music which also features vocals. My only criticism is the ambient fx on the blue maps was a little too loud compared to everything else.

GAMEPLAY 4.5/5
There is only combat in this game but what addictive combat it is! No XP, no gold, no grinding, no respawning or random encounters. Each battle is a carefully designed set piece like a mini chess puzzle where only good tactics will prevail. The great design and balance makes battling very addictive and is far more enjoyable than some commercial games I have played.

Winning a battle unlocks some of the plot and new skills/weapons/improved abilities.

You have complete freedom to go anywhere but each battle varies in difficulty so you have to figure out the right order. Luckily you can escape at any time with no penalty if you find yourself overwhelmed. The skeleton Lord Francisco also pops up to offer clues/red herrings/humorous comments during battle as well.

The final battle against his wife (wow she really hates him!) is suitably challenging and epic.

SUMMARY
Wine & Roses is missing a strong plot and more things to do, but what it does, it does REALLY well. Definitely worthy of a play-through.