Grand Kingdom Review (PS4)
This console generation has come into full swing, and along the major blockbusters we are finally starting to see smaller, more innovative titles. Enter the world of Grand Kingdom, a refreshing 2D tactical RPG that is sure to pique the interest of many gamers.
The story of Grand Kingdom is forgettable at best. In the world where four nations fight for supremacy you quickly become the leader of a mercenary group who take on dirty work in pursuit of fame and glory. Thankfully, aside from the 12 standard chapters, the game offers 36 more chapters to flesh out the world which were originally only available as paid DLC in Japan. The story also serves to introduce the players to the multiplayer, where you can opt to sign a contract with one of the four nations and fight online, slowly expanding their territory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ISHDXNZwXg
Despite its mediocre plot the actual gameplay is what makes Grand Kingdom stand out. It mixes turn-based combat and free movement, not unlike the superb Valkyria Chronicles. While the game has clear turn order, you can move your characters freely, using up any leftover movement to increase your attack combos even more. At times the hectic combat almost makes the game feel like the once popular Worms franchise, since you will be constantly planning turns in advance and hoping you don’t screw up in the last moment by hitting your allies with an area of effect skill instead.
Even though this is a 2D game, each character can jump to one of three different lanes whenever you desire, giving what would otherwise be a flat battlefield much needed depth. You can circle around enemies and traps, an even position yourself to deal as much damage as possible. Most skills involve a mini-game of some sorts where timing is key. Depending on when you press the button you can either do more damage, bounce the enemy to your advantage, or even outright miss.
If you just missed defeating the enemy by a single hit your nearby allies can do an assist attack. You can even revive a fallen ally if you successfully complete a QTE sequence at the moment of receiving a KO, however this isn’t only limited to your characters but more powerful enemies as well. These little touches make battles in Grand Kingdom infinitely more exciting.
The combat is even spruced up with other factors such as incoming catapult barrages, which deal massive damage to everyone in the way, and obstacles which can funnel characters to a single lane. Some enemies can place explosive barrels on the map, while others can cast sticky spider webs which slow you down, and yet others throw spikes on the floors to impede movement. You will always need to keep a sharp mind if you wish to succeed with as little casualties as possible.
The overworld is a game in itself and plays like a miniature board game. You move your player piece around a board map, with other enemies visible. Every time you move, all enemies move as well. This lets you plan your route in advance. Keeping things interesting are various treasures, fast enemies, hidden enemies, hazardous tiles, resource points and secret paths.
Grand Kingdom offers a number of distinct character classes. The fighter is not only excellent for dealing out direct damage to enemies, but also as a guard for your squishier units. The witch can cast devastating spells but often requires some time to charge them and if not careful can easily do harm to ally units as well. The healer is a vital character since she keeps all other characters going, at the same time she has a few attacks which are great for breaking the enemy’s guard. The archer can freely dish out damage from afar, but is defenseless in close quarters.
There is a constant urge to try out new characters and seeing how they fit in with the rest of the team. My second detachment troop consisted of a noble, a paladin, a shaman and an arcanist, each with their own little quirks. You won’t need to worry about having too many characters, since you can assign them to one of six different squads and send them out as detachments to complete missions even while you are not in the game.
There are a number of quest types that keep things interesting. The elimination quests task you with defeating a set number of enemies within the given number of turns, giving you the option of taking on weaker enemies for time’s sake. However not every mission solely focuses on combat, as you are encouraged to sneak past enemies instead of engaging everyone you come across. The travel quests allow you to freely explore the map, while collectathons have you gathering a number of items on the map, and yet another mode has you arriving to a specific point on the map within the allotted time frame.
Unfortunately, the gripes that we had with the recent beta are still at large. The stuttering frame rate during cutscenes is appalling, with almost all the story and menu backgrounds running at under 10 frames per second at best. Another issue that hasn’t been addressed is the absolutely horrendous control scheme. I can’t count the number of times that it cost me the battle. Sometimes the X button serves as cancel, at other times its used to skip the turn, and yet on other occasions it confirms actions. This means that you can accidentally skip your turn or even escape from battles that are already won. Rotating a character in place requires you to hold L1 and press the direction you want. It’s just a mess.
Visually the game looks stunning. Not a small part of this can be attributed to the fact that the developers of this game also worked on Vanilaware’s Grand Knights History. The characters aren’t static but actually move around, with their hair and clothes fluttering about. You can customize the clothes, skin and hair color of your characters. Add the fact that all accessories and weapons are visible in-game, and you will have a hard time finding two similar looking characters.
Grand Kingdom is a fresh of breath air today. Its few shortcomings do hamper the experience, but ultimately this is one title that is bound to keep you entertained with its engaging combat and sheer strategic depth. If you are looking for something different in the hot summer days, look no further than Grand Kingdom.
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