You can switch between each of your characters, and they all have unique dungeon abilities like destroying barriers or stunning enemies. A huge part of this game is the dungeon exploration and as you step into a dungeon space on the map, you’re transported into a Diablo style free-movement dungeon mode, with enemies, puzzles, and treasure strewn about the partially-randomized room layouts. There’s a lot of interesting design work going on with the abilities that make them more interesting than a simple fireball or mega-slash.Įncountering enemies isn’t all you’ll do on the world map, though. The girl, meanwhile, has an interesting ability that not only deals damage, but creates a damage-absorbing shield for a teammate. The robot has a unique ability that heals everyone each time they get hit for the next three turns, giving you a good buffer for damage. Their designs are sharp and eye-catching, and their varied combat roles help create a nicely balanced team.
BATTLE CHASERS COMIC FULL
While the full game promises a variety of characters, the demo provides you with a starting party of 3 a beefy warrior dude with a giant throbbing sword, a little girl with giant magical fists, and a huge and intimidating robot who actually acts as the team healer. It creates an interesting scenario of balancing regular attacks with special attacks to maintain a constant stream of mana, and it added a fun layer to combat. Rather than having to use mana potions, dealing damage with normal attacks refills your mana gauge. I absolutely loved the way the game handled mana management for special abilities. On top of attacks, special abilities, defensive abilities and item use, dealing damage builds up an Overcharge meter that you can eventually spend to perform ultimate abilities. Your party of heroes lines up along the left of the screen, while the enemies go along the right and every character acts on their own turn based on speed stats and the like. The combat itself is where most of this JRPG flavor comes from. There are fast-travel waypoints around the map, at least, so it seems like backtracking won’t be a huge concern. It’s a neat little world map system, but with the demo restricted to a pretty small play area, it’s hard to tell how it’ll pan out as you travel between full regions. As you walk along the board game style map, certain spaces will have enemy markers on them, and walking over them will initiate combat.
The early demo I played starts you off in a top-down world map at a small village, and tasks you with traversing the map to reach an abandoned outpost. The faux 2D look of the models and environments casts the whole game in a unique, painterly aesthetic that was a treat to my eyes from the second I launched the game. Remarkably, though, the 3D models and animated comic cutscenes featured in the game take that classic art style and adapt it in a way that comes across much sleeker and more elegant.
If you’re a fan of classic 90s comic art with huge necks, thick lines, and pecs larger than a doorframe, Battle Chasers has it in spades.