Grand Kingdom Review

This review is based on the Playstation Vita version of the game, with a digital copy provided by the publisher.

Back in 2011, Tomohiko Deguchi, along with the company he worked for called Vanillaware, released a PSP game named Grand Knights History. It was originally supposed to be localized for both the North American and European markets, but was later cancelled due to a lack of resources. Fast forward to 2015, where another game by Deguchi was unveiled, this time under the helm of his own company, Monochrome Corporation. Called Grand Kingdom, the game could be called a spiritual successor of sorts to Grand Knights History.

The game takes place one-hundred years after the fall of the Uldein Empire, where an organization called The Guild was established to help those without a home, as well as adapt to the mercenary way of life that has become the norm in the world of Resonail. You play as the leader of a ragtag group of mercenaries that ends up joining this guild at the beginning of the game, who are simply trying to make a name for themselves. The story is kind of non-existant towards the beginning and doesn't really pick up much until halfway through the main questline. It's more of a means to an end, with the main focus being the gameplay.

It's the gameplay of Grand Kingdom that really makes it shine. Players operate out of a base, where they can do all of their preparations for battle. Not only can you create your own four-warrior team of mercenaries, but you're also able to customize each one you create. Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury to choose any of the 17 classes that come with the game, as you are limited to whatever the game provides for you, which seemingly changes after every quest you finish. However, there is a large variety in the classes themselves, consisting of melee characters, ranged and even magic ones.

Once you've picked and chosen your squad (you can have multiple squads, but can only bring one into the story quests), as well as outfitted them with equipment, you can choose a quest to go on. There are multiple kinds of quests available, including story ones, single-use quests that scale with your level, and even some where you can freely roam an area without worrying about any restrictions. Each quest takes place on a map that is similar to a board game, where you move about using pieces that might look they came out of a chess game.

If you remember, I mentioned the word "restrictions" earlier, which comes into play during the majority of the quests. A lot of them have you failing the quest if you exhaust the number of turns, which is basically every step you take during the map portion. You usually don't run close to running out, though, but there are a few instances where it might happen. Other restrictions could include something like an enemy symbol reaching a certain spot or something as simple as your party getting wiped out. You will encounter many things on the maps, such as treasure chests, hazards (like tornados or a fissure in the ground), and of course, enemies.

Enemies come in two major distinctions, with purple ones being normal encounters and red ones being stronger fights. Once you come into contact with one of these symbols, a battle will ensue. You'll be transported to the battlefield, which is a 2D plane with three lanes on it. The battles are turn-based, with a line on the bottom of the screen dictating the turn order, similar to Final Fantasy X. Every character, enemy included, has two distinct phases when it's their turn. They are able to move, with each inch taking up some of a movement gauge, and attacks using up an action gauge. There are also objects you can place on the battlefield, which can block the enemies from reaching your party, provide buffs or even give a height advantage to ranged classes.

Depending on the kind of class you have, each one will be performing different kinds of attacks. Melee classes usually have attacks assigned to the Circle button, with some others assigned to Square and Triangle; they need to be next to an enemy to connect. Ranged characters, though, are a different story, as their attacks are precise and require that class to be a specific distance in order for their attack to connect. For example, the Medic's main attack has a medium range to it, while the Hunter's is a long ranged one. One thing you will want to be careful about is the fact that friendly fire is always on, so it's possible to deal damage to one of your own characters with a mage's spell.

The game is about learning the ins and outs of each of the 17 classes, finding out their strengths, weaknesses and how well they play with the other classes. To elaborate more on the classes, each one of them have skills that can only be used a number of times during an entire quest, although it is possible to replenish those uses. For example, the Medic starts with access to a Heal Potion that can only be used a total of five times before you either can't use it anymore or have to find a way to replenish those uses. Defeat all of the enemies in battle and you will clear that battle, earning experience, gold and TP. The latter is used to cast skills on the map, as well as some other things, like open locked chests.

Surprisingly, the game is quite deep and simplistic at the same time, as there is a lot of strategy involved in quests and battles, without being overly complicated, to the point you might need to plan super far ahead on what to do. One of the big problems, though, is the game's online mode. It wasn't mentioned before, but there are four nations in the game (Four Great Nations) and it's possible to align yourself to one of them. You can do this from one to five Wars, which seem to last around 24 or so real-time hours.

By aligning yourself with one of the four nations, you can visit their capital and use their shop, as well as go fight battles on their behalf. These battles are against other players' squads, but they are controlled by the AI instead of the actual players. These maps are different, though, than the normal quest maps in the single player, as you need to take over points on the map (or defend your own). You can also send out squads on their own, customizing them to act like you were actually controlling them. There's a lot more here, and it can be rather confusing, as it's possible to use your influence to propose where that nation should attack next, spend resources on upping that nation's supplies, and much more. The catch is that this mode offers a lot of gameplay should you be finished with the offline stuff.

Outside of the gameplay, you will notice that the game looks and sounds exquisite. You'll appreciate the nicely-drawn 2D models in the battles, as well as the character portraits whenever you see them talking to you. You might even hum along to the music as it plays in your base or during battles. Also, the character's voices, especially your advisors, are exceptionally well-done and for those that care, there is both an English and Japanese option for voices.

Since the general quests level up with you, you're never going to have an easy time with them and you can also endlessly grind your characters without having to worry about any time limits. The game comes with story quests for your main faction, which provides around twelve chapters, probably offering something like 10-20 hours of gameplay. The plus side is that the English version of Grand Kingdom includes all of the DLC that was released in Japan, giving you story quests for the Four Great Nations, letting you play through a whopping total of 36 more chapters. With a very enjoyable battle system and a seemingly endless online mode, Grand Kingdom offers plenty of gameplay for anyone who wants to play a tactical RPG.

PROS
- Tactical battle system with a lot of depth
- Excellent artwork, music and voice acting
- Deep online mode

CONS
- Mediocre story
- Online mode can be convoluted to new players
- Friendly fire