Hired Sword

Hired Sword is developed by the same guy who made Broken Gauntlet - The self-proclaimed best SRPG in RMN.

Sound
There isn't much to say about the sound effects other than it's pretty default for an rpg maker game. There's different themes to normal battles, bosses and final boss. So the music in all is nice, but it doesen't fit most of the context and mood of the gameplay. I mean - An ominous theme fits better with a party with a purpose and personalities, not a gang of jerks (as my impression was of most characters).

Graphics
Graphics are from the DS Resource pack, which definetly is a positive thing! The way the character and faceset looks is pretty cool and rare, and that's about it.


Gameplay
This game is focused on tactics, which is a little weird as you actually don't have to use any form of planning on how to confront your enemies. It also feels like enemies are just thrown at you in numbers rather than having special abilities or functions. Of course, several enemies have some different resistances and abilities, but that's expected - At least for a SRPG. The only thing I found
done well in this game is the mapping. The developer has clearly done some mapping during the previous games and has become quite good at it. The maps are filled and gives a pleasing feeling to it. I also enjoyed the jump functions too.

Story
One of the things wearing this game down is it's play time and lastly it's story and character development. I have never witnessed a game with such vulgar writing in an RPG Maker Game, at least then it was meant as a sketch or prank game. The protagonist is upright dreadful and gives the impression that he is a follower of IDGAFOS - "I don't give a fuck or shit". While playing I constantly hope for some cutscenes to make the characters more interesting or the story to have a bigger plot, but to no avail. The game is short and the story weak which is a MUST in SRPG's. Look at successful games like Valkyria Chronicles, FF Tactics or Fire Emblem. They got passionate characters, a wast world to explore and a darn good story.

When seeing this was called the best SRPG my expectations were high, maybe a bit too high. Kudos to the developer for making a SRPG, but at least be humble as this game does not stand out in a positive manner other than it's mapping and use of the DS resource pack. Then again I suppose this game will serve as an example how not to do a classical tactics game, but then again that's just my opinion.

As a end note, there's only one way to go from here. And that is up!