Hero's Saga Laevatein Tactics
- November 11, 2009 21:39 PM PST
- Email this!
Another entry in the ever-growing selection of SRPGs on the DS, Laevatein Tactics doesn't quite blow away the competition but still remains a relatively solid, if flawed, strategy experience for the DS.
- GamePro Score
- User Score
- Write your review!
Why is it that you can't have a strategy-RPG without some grand-scale war going down? Hero's Saga Laevatein Tactics is one of the newest additions to the popular genre, and it's more of the kingdom-clashing we've come to love. The impetus for battle this time revolves around mysterious weapons called "Vaettir Arms" that house the souls of powerful heroes past within them. There's a bit of flavor to the proceedings from some of the references to European countries in the text, but for the most part, it's a pretty familiar war story.
But if you're a sucker for graphics or music, then Laevatein certainly isn't going to wow you. The 2D sprite art is quite bland, as is the portrait artwork (Disturbingly, every character seems to be illustrated with the same set of facial features.) Plus, everything takes place outdoors in generic-looking fields. Much like the backgrounds, the music changes little. You'll be tired of slow-moving, uninspiring orchestral tunes within a few fights.
Combat is where things greatly differ from the standard strategy/RPG norm, however. When units engage in battle, they fight with troops and soldiers at their side, acting as additional damage-dealers and damage sponges to the leaders. You can also kill the leaders of the brigaes without beating all their soldiers, but picking off the troops cripples them severely. You have three rounds of combat where you and the enemy unit exchange blows, picking one of three combat formations, each one with a special advantage over another. (Ranged units forgo the rock-paper-scissors bit entirely and attack without fear of retaliation.) Things like elemental affiliation, weapon type, unique unit skills, and morale also affect the fight. However, as a leader endures through combat, a meter will fill, allowing them to unleash a powerful Vaettir Arms attack when full. It's an interesting concept, but it often feels more luck-based than strategic -- you'll guess what the enemy wants to do and cross your fingers that your choice beats it out.
This is where multiple problems with Laevatein stem from: the game either making information a pain to access or not letting you see it at all, leaving a lot to luck. Going into a fight, you can only see how many enemies of each elemental affiliation are onfield, not what class they are or where they are positioned so you can pick troops to counter them. Finding data on units requires numerous buttons presses and wading through confusing menus. Damage display in combat is enigmatic, as soldiers will only show exclamation points over their heads to indicate damage (and despite seemingly taking heavy damage, they may or may not die). The HP damage shown for the leaders also misleads by displaying multiple hits and then having total damage pop up in the exact same fashion. And you never get a clear picture on accuracy beyond ambiguous factors like "morale" -- I've even had full soldier brigades completely whiff a normal attack on a near-death leader numerous times, only for the foe to retaliate with a Vaettir Arms sweep.
The game does have some interesting ideas, however. Unlike many SRPGs with set-in-stone character classes or branching skillsets, a character's class and special abilities are determined by the weapon they have equipped. I can see this concept appealing to some players, but I personally didn't care for it -- you may unintentionally change classes simply by equipping a different elemental sword, for example. I also felt this system stripped me of control to carefully fine-tune individual soldiers' abilities to my whims (which is something I relish in SRPGs). What I liked more were the well designed multiplayer options. Not only can you fight a friend's units and trade items, you can also "loan" strong characters to friends having trouble in their single-player game.
I didn't find myself particularly enthralled with Laevatein -- the dull as dirt presentation did little to augment a game system I often found flawed. There's still fun to be had here, but given the numerous caveats, it's hard to really recommend Laevatein when you're got options like Fire Emblem, Devil Survivor, and Disgaea available on the same platform.
PROS: Unique weapon-based class system and army-driven combat,?well-done multiplayer modes
CONS: Weak art and music, too much hidden vital information
