Sci-fi games are not particularly common on RMN, and the mecha games are even less so. Sure, there was RUIN FRONTIER made for the very first McBacon Jam, which stylised front-view battle system as a view from battle suit cockpit, and the latest, fourth jam had given us real-time Armored Dragon Corps. Other than that, though, it’s safe to say that Nakaishi Wars, a turn-based tactics game about the titular Nakaishi combat suits by the veteran developer Marrend has few direct competitors. Its only review was for its demo phase a year ago, and so a fresh look at it now would be fitting.

Gameplay



Something you'll see a lot of.

Nakaishi Wars uses GubiD’s combat engine to create a turn-based, grid-based experience. As each battle begins, you first deploy the nakaishi-clad characters in a small area, then move them in any order you like, with your turn ending when all have ran out of actions and been set to wait. Every character can either move and take an action once, do one of these things and Recharge 15% of their energy (consumed when taking actions, but not when moving), or do nothing but RECHARGE! (actual spelling, in a nice touch) 30%. The RTP stats are repurposed as melee and ranged (beam) attack and defense, so that some mechs are both great at shooting, and will evaporate under enemy fire quickly, while not minding melee combat so much. The energy bar’s size is both increased with level and goes up when upgrading Nakaishi’s reactors, while actions are dependent on the equipment you wear, so that you always have a basic melee and ranged attack (ranged is always much more powerful, but consumes several times more energy), and then 1-2 special actions. It could be the melee-only Defence and Weapon Break, ranged AP Rounds, Acid Shot, Drain Shot, etc. or the several heal skills + Redeploy revival skill. As a character finishes their turn (either through Wait or Recharge) you are asked to select the position they are facing, since the system also accounts for increased damage from attacks to the sides or the back.



There are no misses, but there are critical strikes, and critical heals as well, with one pictured above. Sounds great, right? In some ways, it is: there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the system, and it does allow for some awesome moments like walking up behind a Scout on the first turn for backstab damage as Gennai and hitting them with Defence Break, then having another character cut them down with the exact amount of damage needed to finish said Scout off. Similarly, the way Redeploy skill revives a fallen character on a square in a small zone around the caster, regardless of how far they were from the fallen, allows for some nice moves. However, some shortcomings soon become apparent nonetheless. For instance, Nakaishi Wars made me understand just why the big games of the kind I played (Heroes of Might and Magic 3/5, Age of Wonders 2, even the simplified XCOM) generally allowed units to shoot across basically the entire map, even if it came with penalties to damage (HOMM), accuracy (XCOM, sometimes) or both (AoW). After all, while misses are frustrating, so is moving a character across the map only to find out you miscounted a tile or two and the enemy is now just outside the firing range of your supposedly hi-tech Laser/Meson/Neutron Rifle. The way you are only allowed to attack in cardinal directions in melee is even weirder. Perhaps it’s a necessary sacrifice for the engine in order to allow the whole “backstab” thing, but it still feels weird and can pointlessly waste moves. I suppose it would’ve been best if, when you place a character somewhere and the game asks if you are sure about it, the available maximum attack ranges had been displayed simultaneously.

However, that is really a minor gripe, one which I soon got used to. The fatal passivity of the enemy AI (in spite of the time they often spend on "thinking") is another matter entirely. Essentially, it seems that if there is no way for them to shoot/heal someone during a turn, even if they move to somewhere, then they won’t bother moving, or doing anything at all besides Recharging. Thus, battles are won quite easily through focus-firing the vulnerable frontline and making sure everyone is far enough away from the furthest backliner(s), so that they’ll procrastinate until you come for them en masse. Thus, I dealt with the first boss in five turns, and during that time I was only shot at once or twice.



Goodbye. (Until he and the other two bosses miraculously reappear alive in Shin-Nakaishi, that is.)

The second one, Kara, technically fared better, even killing someone through a crit (~1900 damage vs. her normal 550), but still lost her support quickly. Her Engineer only came forward to heal her when she was halfway down (and got promptly sniped on the next turn), and even though their mission was technically to pursue us, in practice Kara kept retreating to maintain her weapon’s range until she died huddled in the bottom-right corner, possessing a sole HP point due to my successful use of Acid Rounds earlier. It felt quite sad, even if she was apparently “A cruel creature” (the single line of scan description, same for all enemies, which is almost poetic, even though it doesn’t tell you about the notable details like aforementioned Engineer/Scout heals, or Trooper’s Defence Break.) Even last two battles (one in which you are badly outnumbered from the start, and another where you are up against 3 uber-powerful Shin-Nakaishi) can be gamed in this manner. Given all this, the way training simulations on Kamiyama give you actual credits and XP, potentially allowing you to grind indefinitely, almost doesn’t feel worth mentioning, since you won’t really need to do so anyway.

Aesthetics (art, design and sound)



It's getting a little old to place opening screenshots in these sections, but come on!

The outdoor maps presented at the start of each mission are unfortunately largely underwhelming, being both simple RTP and overly blocky. True, some of that geography is done this way to allow for more complex gameplay once the grid combat starts, but even so, there are enough empty map edges that could’ve looked much more distinct. The interiors look a lot better though; whether it’s the austere look of the Kamiyama’s quarters, or the bio-tech Dohimquildsaetcqu race hangars. Combat sounds and visual effects are clearly RTP and function fine. The environmental sounds, though, are limited. There are no footstep sounds for instances, and sci-fi doors also open and close silently.

However, the OST is very well-selected. There are only six tracks, but they often work so well, I had a hard time believing they are Kevin McLeod. There’s a clear audio continuum between the “peaceful” Spellbound playing on the Kamiyama, tense Lightless Dawn heard during the mission cutscenes before combat itself begins, energetic Cephalopod and Ouroboros during regular battles, and then haunting Take the Lead when you are up against the bosses. In some ways, it even feels like it’s the writing that’s secondary to the music, rather than the other way around.

Storyline

Nakaishi Wars is unashamedly anime-inspired, presenting a heavily Japanese spacefaring future (which is quite unlikely, given the current world demographics, though not that much more unlikely then the usual US/European-centric variety). The main character that you control during the brief Kamiyama sections is Lieutenant Naora Kobayashi. Her initial subordinates, who are under your control in the first battle, are Gennai Kokan (pilot of your ship, Kamiyama, who reached that step after getting tired of racing on the ground and in the air), and Kichi (weapons expert who’s focused and taciturn to the point of outright refusing personal conversation, and knocking back any suggestion of relaxing beyond “stand-by mode” to Naora’s dismay). You also have Izo (the wizened commander who records notes in the captain’s log as one mission ends and another begins), cheerful blue-haired scientist Midori Kikui, Chief Medical Officer Rise (whose dialogue is quickly reduced to the single “Be careful out there, you hear me?” line), energetic mechanic Toshie and engineer/shopkeeper Zenko. Nakaishi themselves, though are individually named after the Nordic mythological figures instead. The few lines mechanics tell about them to convey their strengths and weaknesses in a more atmospheric format are also the only environmental description on the ship. It’s nicely written, though there are some it’s/its errors there and elsewhere. (Plus "loose to the enemy" and "Shin-Nakaisih" in some of the final dialogues).



In short, the writing is all very solid and workable, but feels like a framework that never got fleshed out. That’s partly the fault of the rigid structuring that makes everything feel particularly condensed. You first get the short “Captain’s log” cutscene with associated discussion, then ask everyone on the ship to see if they get an extra line or two of dialogue, shop/attend training, if needed, then land on a planet, and watch a slightly longer cutscene (a minute at most) before the combat begins. Every second battle also has an additional person join in after the first 2-3 turns, which is almost like clockwork in its regularity, and rather takes away from the excitement each new soldier’s appearance is supposed to bring. You do not get to explore anything outside the ship on your own, and so something as potentially dramatic as infiltrating base is reduced to “landed on a planet – exchanged few lines- their security parameter is weak from the east - got inside - saw Naora obtain key information from their logs - got discovered & fought two easy battles”. Similarly, after battling Kara in space, everyone’s dialogue is about how they need to rest and relax and whether they’ll get the opportunity, so I hoped we might at least see something more backstories and/or some non-war-related sights on the “peaceful” planet. Obviously, you are just thrown into another battle immediately instead. Your antagonists, too, just say one-two lines at the start of the combat at best, and there's not much real drama there.

Conclusion



This error message comes up during the battle with 3 Shin-Nakaishi, and seems to be triggered when one of them tries to retreat. I am pretty sure that this was the final boss battle, since I have gotten a full squad of 6 by that point (plus the Shin-Nakaishi of the allied ship, finding which is the objective according to the gamepage) I have tried 3 times: the first time around it has been a while before that happened, since after I saw my team does barely more then scratch damage, I just chose to spread everyone out across the sides, leaving their healer (who can otherwise restore back all the damage you deal) sitting uselessly in the center while the other two went in both directions, up until your Shin-Nakaishi arrived, which eventually triggered the bug. After that, I reloaded and equipped half the team with Acid Rounds to inflict Corrosion on all 3 enemies during the first turn, while the other three would hang back and Redeploy them. This caused 2 of 3 to go back immediately on the first turn, and triggered said error, and same thing happened on my last attempt. I am sure that bug will get fixed soon, so I am not really letting it affect my score. Either way, Nakaishi Wars is a solid slice of mecha action that is fun enough on its own, but leaves you with a distinct sense it could’ve easily been much more than what it currently amounts to.