SpoonySage
N3DS Community Ghost Gym Leader
The Story Thus Far...
Pokemon is a franchise known for having produced many spin-offs over the years (quite literally in the case of Pokemon Pinball), but with few exceptions these games are shrugged off by the majority of the gaming community and even the hardcore PokeFans themselves. In this newest addition, a popular Japanese strategy series has merged with Pokemon to create a tactics version of Pokemon, bringing the battling to a whole new level.
In this game, a legend exists where anyone who unites all the kingdoms of the Ransei region will be chosen by a legendary Pokemon to be partners. Towards this end, Nobunaga has conquered most of the region and wants to use his power to destroy. As for what drives this man's ambitions, and how he can be stopped, are up to you to find out!
Gameplay/Mechanics
The game plays very much like Final Fantasy Tactics or other such turn-based strategy games. You pick a team of Warlords, all with a Pokemon partner to play their role in battle. The Pokemon have one attack and ability, but the particular Warlord with whom they train will also have an ability to aid in combat. In this way, you must think carefully even when you are recruiting new Pokemon.
Another important aspect of gameplay is the link partners share, which will increase their stats and growth when a partnership is strong, or even prevent the Pokemon from ever evolving if the partnership can only reach certain levels. Each Warlord has only one Pokemon they perfectly link with, so you need to limit your search based on what type(s) they prefer and find good partners.
Link percentages are like levels in the main games.
This is a game with a strong foundation in the rules of Pokemon, but will keep teaching you about the world of the Ransei region as you progress. Each stage has different obstacles you will learn about on the fly, so you have to be flexible and a good tactician if you want to survive. Even upon revisiting levels, you will find the areas changed, so you can play the game as long as you like to level up and grow your army.
Early on, you will learn that fire types can walk on lava and water types can
wade through water. Of course, flying/levitating Pokemon can do even more!
Of course, even doing so will invite other armies to invade your territories, but the risks are worth it as random events and characters will appear as the months go by (each complete turn on the world map equalling one month in the game world, which comes into play with farmers needing help with crops, weather, and other events).
Really, I can go on and on about the mechanics of this game, as it gains more and more as the game goes on, but I'll just leave that to you to discover for yourself.
Graphics
I was quite pleased with the graphical style of this game. The Pokemon are, of course, adorable, and better-looking than even their Black/White counterparts. The Warlords and locations all have designs that seem to suggest them being in a world inspired by the Pokemon around them, which was a nice touch. Seeing the different statues or armor and figuring out what Pokemon it is based on made me happy, and even helps you figure out who a Warlord's perfect partner may be. Its refreshing when a game's graphical choices reflect the gameplay itself.
I can see the resemblance.
Music/Sound
Honestly, I could have been more impressed with this aspect of the game. While the music reflects the Japanese setting well, it does little to make me remember the Pokemon themes and has little variation. The world map theme is ingrained in my brain and the game only has a few different battle themes. I think the designers could have made a different song for each area/map and it would make each area more memorable.
Replayability
There are several reasons to replay this game. First, there is an album of collected Warlords and Pokemon to fill up, so you need to recruit different people and partners each time to get your 100% rating. Secondly, only the Warlords and Pokemon you've collected will be available for multiplayer battles. So if you only evolved Charmander into Charmeleon, then you won't have a Charizard even if you set the levels to 100.
You start small, but there is sooo much to conquer and build!
That being said though, I STILL have yet to replay anything because of all the extra content released for this game! For more on that, check out the Extras section of this review.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer was another part of the gameplay that I felt should be tweaked a bit. Being able to set the link levels before the match helps make for more balanced gameplay than even the main Pokemon franchise games, being limited to local wifi only is a huge damper to any multiplayer experience. Of course, the only way online would work would be if they included a Transceiver. Furthermore, the game lacks the ability to record and replay matches, which is one thing that makes the main franchise metagame so popular.
Another big problem with the multiplayer experience is how they remove all items at the beginning of a multiplayer battle. This means there is no reason to grind for cool items in the main game because all you will have in the metagame is whatever you can scavenge around that battlefield, which generally limits you to Potions and Iron Wristbands.
Without items, you need to rely on tactics and your surroundings to the fullest!
Extras
After you complete the main quest of the game, you will gain access to the plotlines of several of the other characters (in a post-united Ransei region). You can play through their stories to gain access to these Warlords in multiplayer and further level up your old allies from other games. Then, after beating some plots, you will gain access to even more side stories! With more extra games being released via wifi, you will find countless hours of gameplay that can even rival a main franchise Pokemon game!
Rating
This is possibly the best Pokemon spin-off in terms of the amount of content and quality of gameplay. It hardly feels like a spin-off, as the game mechanics from the main series are so well incorporated and evolved into the tactics setting that this game feels like a prequel to the original Pokemon games, taking place in the same world many years prior when Pokemon were used for war, like they were originally described.
The game has some faults, but these are easily overlooked as long as you want a strong single-player experience and you can enjoy with a friend every now and then. Any fan of the Pokemon franchise will find themselves at home with this game.
Final Score: 8.5/10
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