PRESENTATION



Graphics appear to be custom created mixed with assets. Some of them stand out quite a bit in comparison. The mapping is isometric in some areas and not in others, which stands out a bit. It's decent enough for a tactics game, though more details would be nice to see.

Sound is standard jRPG fare but fits where it is used and isn't jarring. The same with music which is decent but nothing amazing either.

Writing is quite good with not many noticeable errors. The characterisation falls a little flat when it comes to some characters, but is well done for others, so it's a bit of a mixed bag in that aspect.

The story itself is well framed and pushes the conflict along well. There's some mystery as to what happened to a town of people on the eve of a festival and now your team needs to find out the truth... and fast.

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay is FFT in a nutshell. Different characters have different skills to use and move on a grid in battle. They can attack, defend (parry), use items... the usual tactics fare. Nothing is really exciting in this set up, but at least it all works well with no bugs that I could find.

Outside of battle you moved around the map isometrically and searched for clues. You could also check out the menu with the usual jRPG options.

ENGAGEMENT

It moves at a pretty slow pace, battle-wise, which is fine for tactics games but can still get boring despite that. The story was interesting at least, even if the characters were a bit bland sometimes, and I do like a good mystery.

Also, moving around in dark areas is never fun. Less so when it's isometric mode.

THEME

Solving the mystery was the big theme of the game and while the investigation/story arcs made that work, the battles themselves had little to do with that bar providing a challenge to beat. It worked I guess.

58/80