The art style is undoubtedly the first thing you’ll notice here, as each character design is simply different and stunning. It calls back to other classic RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Star Ocean, and even the soon-to-be-released Valkyrie Elysium, which despite its other flaws, sports a beautiful design. The characters themselves can come across as one-dimensional at times, but they are certainly the artist’s eye candy.

The Deofield Chronicle is set in a medieval fantasy world where a small group of friends join an elite mercenary force to make a name for themselves. Your classic jobs are here—warrior, rogue, mage, archer—with a little Victorian and steampunk twist, as shown in the various character designs. Most of the characters are decorated in armor and robes, but sometimes top hats are also visible, adding some freshness to the game, and helping to emphasize the time period.

It’s clear that a lot of care has been put into making this game look good, which is why it’s a bit of a shame that the story and characters themselves aren’t quite as well. Our main band of heroes consists of Rhea, Frederick, and Izalayer, though there are more to join the cast as the story unfolds. What begins as a ragtag band of merchants eventually develops into a more ragtag group of friends, nobles, and other unlikely allies.

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DioField Chronicle wastes no time setting up the background of your new recruits, making sure you’re thoroughly aware of each character’s backstories as they enter the fray. For example, Valtaquin, a noblewoman from House Redditch, seems like an odd inclusion for a mercenary group at first, but you quickly find that her evil nature makes her a perfect fit for those operations. Which requires a little trickery.

deofield chronicle cast
Image Source: Lancars/Square Enix
The game’s greatest strength lies in meeting new recruits and finding out how they’ll fit into your group and how they can aid you in battle, but I often found that once the initial glow faded, They quickly became monotonous caricatures of themselves. With something else to offer. In this case, it was fun to see Valtaquin deliver lewd lines that gave some insight into how devious she can be, but she rarely shows any other interesting traits that help flesh her out beyond that.

The main characters are its worst offenders, as Rias is often portrayed as a courageous soldier, while Izzy seems to want to be the best fighter he has ever been, which honestly isn’t very interesting in 2022.

Thankfully, though, The Deofield Chronicle often managed to make me forget how boring these characters can be, as the combat system itself is equal parts engaging and satisfyingly challenging. As a real-time strategy RPG, it forces you to think about unit placement while your enemies are slowly moving towards you at the same time.

You can slow down time, but there’s no way to stop it completely, which means you’re constantly prompted to think on your feet every match. I’ll be the first to admit that the gamepad controls took a while to get used to, especially as I was figuring out how to efficiently move my individual units, select skills, and select specific enemies. to be targeted while always- the threat of my enemies getting closer every second and throwing arrows or meteors at me in bullet time.

The controls aren’t the most intuitive, which can be frustrating if you need to split your forces to tackle two areas at once. The Deofield Chronicle binds some common commands to the face button, such as commanding the unit to attack the nearest enemy, or being able to transfer all of its strength to a location or an enemy with a quick click. However, micro-managing individual units can be a real hassle, and even now, with so many hours immersed in the game, I still struggle from time to time trying to get my units to do specific things.

It’s doubly frustrating when it seems like the AI ​​wants to freeze on occasion after performing a skill, causing them to take more damage than necessary. There were a few instances where I found myself quickly going back to another character and started attacking or moving because they decided to just kill after casting a spell.

The Deofield Chronicle Competition
Image Source: Lancarce/Square Enix via Twinfinit
While it may seem like The Deofield Chronicle’s combat system was more frustrating than enjoyable, when it clicks, it actually becomes a joy to play. Each level has different environmental effects to interact with, such as powder kegs that you can blow up to completely destroy an enemy army, as well as lots of enemy and boss types with their own unique set of challenges. come.

As you progress through the story, you get even more characters at your disposal, and they all come with different jobs that make the battle feel more dynamic. Having a proper team structure with a tank capable of attracting aggro, ranged and melee dps characters, and supporting characters to help everyone survive is paramount here, as is getting them right at the right time. You have the ability to do the work. Once you get used to the controls, managing your entire party becomes a dance, and most of my enjoyment comes from studying the area while my minions attack, and learning when and where they should be. where to reinstall.

The leveling and upgrade systems also go increasingly deeper, as you’ll eventually unlock weapon upgrades, character stat upgrades, and even general category upgrades. You can also equip special medals that allow you to summon creatures like Eidolons to perform a variety of special effects, including damaging an area, or healing your entire party and restoring their mana. includes doing. And once you get used to the ebb and flow of combat, DioField Chronicle also gives you the option to speed up the game so you can get things done faster. I don’t recommend touching this option at all for the first five hours, but it’s a great quality-of-life option.

Ultimately, The Deofield Chronicle surprised me with how much depth its combat system offered, and powering my way through its levels proved to be a joy despite its narrative and feature shortcomings. Real-time strategy battles are an innovative aspect of the game that I’d love to see adapted into more RPGs, and while I don’t want the hero to come off as cookie-cutter, I’ll have bland stories and boring gameplay any day. But beautiful art.