This tactical strategy turn based game from Underbite Games is the best title that you didn’t know was missing from your collection. With over a dozen characters to choose from, over 10 full length levels with multiple sections, and more equipment possibilities than you can sort through in an afternoon, this title is the must have turn based RPG of the summer.
Every time a character is introduced into the story, you are tasked with giving them a name which is referenced several times in the dialogue, so maybe it’s best to leave the silly names for a second playthrough, since Booger Breath is not something you will want to see 80+ times during story dialogue, and without meaningful names, it can be hard to tell characters apart towards the end of the game.
This title has the old school RPG feel with a grid movement and attack system that the characters move around on based on their movement stat. There are several sub-types of characters than fit into either melee, ranged, or caster classes. You can bring whomever you like but you may find it hard to beat a level with only casters as you will be left defenceless but able to deal AoE damage. Finding a good balance will help tremendously.
Balancing your teams will not be enough to take on the hordes of Kobolds and the Undead. You will also need a good strategy to back it up. With that strategy comes a bit of luck, as each round has you roll for initiative and assign buttons or dice to your characters, but careful, the enemy also gets to select from the same pool of power-ups. The types of power-ups are as follows:
Star or Double Star- these allow you to do more damage during an attack.
Shield or Double Shield- these allow you to block incoming hits based on the number of shields.
Movement or Double Movement- these green shoes with wings effect how many squares your character can move in a turn.
Red Power-up - These activate the offensive move based on your equipped items. It is optional to use this as you can opt to use a regular attack instead.
Blue Power-up – These activate your passive and defensive perks based on your equipment. These are things such as thorns and extra defense.
Health and Double Health- these heal one or two heath respectively.
Skull- this is equivalent of rolling a zero in D&D; it can cause you to do less damage, move shorter distances, and can even cause specific detrimental effects based on the equipment you are using
There are 11 story missions, listed in purple, some having several parts. These missions take roughly 30 minutes to an hour, with the last one taking a little over an hour. Fret not, between encounters during missions you have the option to save your game. There are also side missions listed in green that take approximately 30 minutes to complete, offering a chance to get better gear. Lastly, there are mini missions and training listed in blue, these typically take 5-15 minutes and reward you with consumable items to aid your quest. Keep in mind that there are six different difficulties and these times are based on the easiest difficulty.
Verdict
Overall, this game is just the right amount of challenging with a decent story and a tried-and-true gameplay method executed perfectly. With 15 characters to choose from, there are so many different combinations to accommodate everyone’s style.
Developer: Underbite Games
Publisher: Underbite Games
Release Date: 3rd August 2018
Price: $19.99
File Size: 1.90GB
Pro:
Fun gameplay
Loads of equipment
Great visuals
Perfect blend of complexity and ease of access in mechanics.
Con:
Lack of enemy types, only two main classes, Kobolds and Undead
Sometimes too many options can be overwhelming