Chase for Divinity is probably the first game by Unity (the developer, not the engine!) I've ever played and that I will review.

Chase for Divinity was made in 2002 and never completed or released, then revised and finally completed for the event Revive the Dead in... 2014 (or so I guess, anyway the last version of the game, the one I played was released in 2016).
This game is a classic fantasy adventure made with Rm2k: Vittoria is a mercenary who after defeating an evil bandit and saving a swordsman named Bram, joins other adventurers in a quest that will let her travel all over the world (first on foot, then by boat, and finally piloting an airship, like every good Jrpg taught us!) to save the lands from the demons. Nothing overly original, but the execution is pretty good!
The first thing I noticed is the incredible amount of interactions with the surroundings: EVERY item has a description and leads to at least a line of dialogue, sometimes even identical items in dungeons leads to different dialogue exchanges. It's really uncommon but welcomed feature, and says a lot about the attention to the details of the author of this game!


There is an interaction for almost every item of the scenario, no matter how useless

Vittoria is our alter ego, a sort of paladin that hits hard and can also heal. She is a well balanced character that will learn some useful single attacks (like one that is called "Grand Scar" and I guess it's a sort of "revenge" since she is scarred!) and restoring abilities. Then we have some heavy hitters like Bram, Ed and Mattie, a couple of wizards (skilled in elemental attacks) named Levron and Fiametta, a healer named Sarah, and a couple of odd characters that I won't describe. Oh and there are also some guest characters that cannot be controlled but will be surely be helpful during certain phases of the game.

Gameplay is classical: the quest requires our character to visit some unpleasant places to find particular items of kill particular enemies, so expect to walk a lot and fight even more. Ok, not the bad news, there are random encounters. But there are also good news, these are well doused and there is also the possibility to save anywhere and anytime, and you can also escape from combat during most battles.


The cast of party members is rather large and well assorted!

Battles. Ok, combat is the usual Rm2k3 front view with no battlers, a bit bare bones but consider that all the opponents are custom sprites and original. You won't fight the usual Behemots or Goblins, but giant evil clocks, robots, chess pieces, demons and ninjas. Some group of enemies requires a strategic approach since there are those hated witches that heal and even resurrect allies, and other creatures are sometimes highly resistants to certain elemental attacks (and weak to other, of course). For most of the game I found the difficulty to be well balanced (except against a couple of bosses, robot trios: destroyer, healer and megaboss), money is abundant and you can easily outfit the characters with the best items and buy all the consumables you need. You will also find some particular items that lets you heal completely the party in certain sparkly spots inside the dungeons, anyway bring lots of potions just to be sure! After the first half of the game you will posses plenty of gold.

Still not enough? Wait a moment, the game has also some hidden quests, a hidden dungeons with prizes (and special non-random opponents that provide lots of experience points) that requires finding shells hidden in chests scattered around the world, a coliseum, and a special smith that can create some incredible weapons if you find a particular rare metal. Oh and you can also find some items that permanently enhances some stats so be sure to use them to improve your party members even more. Another "extra" is a hidden library with a couple of extra items and informations about the various party members. Pretty cool addition, in my opinion.


No, I did not want to play chess, but I guess that I must!

Ok, I admit I liked the graphics, the edited characters, their custom facesets and the original monsters. Music is ok, not particularly original in fact I am almost sure I already heard some themes in other rm2k games, but it's ok. Mapping is ... hm let's say ok! There are some maps that are mediocre, others are ok or even very good (I liked a lot that map of the dungeon of three levels in which you can see the levels below when you are on the upper levels. It's a little but clever idea that easily creates a unique enviroment). In the end I consider mapping of this game not particularly worthy of note, but acceptable (even if sometimes I did not understand the use of some simbols on the floor since they looked like they were scattered with no reason at all).

So, is there anything bad I did not like?
As I said bofore game is pretty much a sequence of dungeon delving with very little puzzles like "press all the buttons to unlock the door" or "find the switch to open the access". There are also a couple of time in which you can press a switch that will block some passages and enable other, anyway most of the game consists in walking inside empty dungeons facing various random encounters, as I mentioned before. The problem is this drags a bit too much during the final parts in last dungeon, that also requires to use all characters, divided in two parties. Also that part feels a bit uninspired since the simple layout and lack of interaction with elements of the scenario. It that part would have been cut in half it would have been enough!

Another problem is that in a dungeon you need a particular party member in the party to progress... but unlike other dungeons I did not find any place where you could swap characters and I had to exit the dungeon and go back to the airship. Annoying, but maybe there was another way, I do not know!

Finally there are some typos. Nothing much, but strangely I noticed them especially in the last parts of the game.


Come on, Ed! You are a ghost, it's no surprise it's not very tasty!

Shall you chase for Divinity?
Despite the (maybe rushed) final dungeon(s) that I do not liked, I found this game for the most part really enjoyable and well made. It's a classical, old style Jrpg so you must like the genre to have fun, but I cannot deny the amount of detail, the entertaining exchanges and dialogues among the different party members (I laughed when Mattie got angry after she learned that "someone" looted her room... heh guess who was the thief...). Oh yes, the party members... all those characters are lovable and quirky, from the mad wizard to the spoiled princess, but despite the humor of some situations, the game is a serious and typical crusade against evil.

When l started this adventure I expected an old style system, graphics and gameplay, nothing new but extremely well polished for the most part. Well I found even a little more, quality and some features I already mentioned in this review.
For its genre this game is good, and good means 4/5.
A real classic.