Tactics Blade: Episode One

Introduction

I'll openly admit that my favorite game of all time is Disgaea: Hour of Darkness on the PS2. As such I have a deep rooted love for tactical role-playing video games. As such I went into this game with the hopes that it could satisfy my itch for a genre that I don't spend as much time on as I would like. Sadly, Tactics Blade - Episode One merely wet my appetite for much a better entry in this genre.

Story

On the story side of things Tactics Blade - Episode One does alright for itself in terms of the basic setup. After all, I could get behind a greedy female mercenary that will do anything for the right price. After all such a character does make for a nice contrast against the usual protagonist of a selfless and noble hero. On the downside, the game doesn't feel like it fully realizes the potential of Rose as a character.

Though to further spice things up the game pairs up Rose, our greedy mercenary, with a low-ranked but skilled soldier simply known as Melanie. Yeah, the game really could have benefited by giving Melanie a nickname or a unique weapon. As it stands, she feels like a rather generic soldier that fails to stand out from the crowd. An issue that isn't helped by her lack of character development.

Gameplay

In all honesty the name Tactics Blade feels a bit misleading for this game. This is largely because the game only relies on a few simple tactics and lacks any of the mechanical depth of a good tactical role-playing video game. While, I understand the desire to simplify a game to its bare bones. A game in this genre should require a little more effort to master then your average turn-based video game.

For example, the game should have included terrain advantages or offered increased damage for attacking enemies from the side or behind. As it stands the only major strategy you can exploit is dependent on the mapping and I'll be discussing my thoughts on that in the graphical portion of this review.

Graphics

I'll be blunt in saying this game really suffers in the visual department. I suppose, this is partially the fault of the limitations of Sim RPG Maker 95, but it's hard to deny that this game feels unbearably lazy in a lot of places. For starters the game lacks any real enemy variety for most of the campaign and sometimes different enemies share the same sprite so it can be difficult to tell them apart without hovering over them.

To make matters even worse one of the main characters shares a sprite with the various generic soldiers you'll use throughout the campaign. As such it can be a bit of a pain to locate at her at the start of a battle. And to add insult to injury Melanie also suffers from having a male sprite despite being a female character.

Though to end on a more positive note the game does feature a lot of maps that emphasize the strategic nature of choke points. Sadly, this positive aspect of the game's design is a bit undermined by the fact that the player never has to overcome a choke point, but is instead offered numerous opportunities to exploit such an advantage against an already weak AI.

Conclusion

Tactics Blade - Episode One is a tactical role-playing video game that lacks any of the mechanical depth needed for a quality entry in this genre. As it stands I really couldn't recommend this game to anyone that isn't a fanboy of tactical role-playing video games. So much so in fact, that they would play any game in this genre regardless of its quality.