Battle Chasers: Nightwar - The Latest RPG from THQ

When we see a new RPG land, we think of checking the background, the possible license ... and all the luggage lying around the studio. When the license is good, when the Com 'promises heavy, we are necessarily more demanding and more critical. What is Battle Chasers: Nightwar worth? Here is the preview, seen by yours truly.

 

Graphics & atmosphere

This game offers a special atmosphere that transports the player to a deceptively dark atmosphere, with colorful characters. The dungeons, generally random, also offer themes related to the location, the enemies as well as a level design which, even if it is not necessarily very rich or innovative, offers a good experience.

My opinion : I like this kind of graphics, the fights visually display a good rendering, and the different types of views (combat mode, exploration mode, dungeon mode ... we will come back to this below) are well done. The different abilities are also quite nice, for both enemies and heroes. The soundtrack, for its part, offers a more than convincing sound effect and reinforces the immersion.

 

History

This game being a series of comic books, different means exist for those who want to deepen and know more, a summary exists on Wikipedia HERE.

Here you control different characters, in order to discover what is hidden on a mysterious island. You are attacked by wild creatures, sky pirates (Balthier, comes out of this body ...), and must escape from your own ship to survive. You quickly find yourself separated and will only have Calibretto and Garrison as a companion. You will find others as the story progresses.

Even if the story is a bit agreed at times, it remains frankly interesting and does justice to the comic book.

 

Characters

Here are the basic characters you'll meet, without saying too much so as not to spoil yourself stupidly.

Gully : More or less the central character of the story. His father, Aramus, possessed powerful gauntlets which, upon his disappearance, were passed on to Gully. She is a young girl with a strong temperament who possesses great strength. She appreciates Calibretto very much.

Calibretto: An incredibly powerful war golem who specializes in part in healing. Very protective of Gully, he is a truly invaluable help to her.

Garrison : An extraordinary swordsman, former companion of Aramus. His power is as great as his protective feeling towards Gully.

Tubers: A powerful mage of more than 500 years, in search of knowledge and companion of Calibretto. Coming to the island is his idea.

Red Monika: Thief, liar and dangerous. Three words that go particularly well to the personality of this character much more complex than it seems. She is also one of Gully's companions.

Character spoiler

And another playable character, entirely created for the game, will be available throughout the adventure, Alumon, a demon hunter using black magic.

In addition to this, you will meet other characters in places such as the town of Malhameau. A big thought for the collector, the first character who seems frankly incongruous and crazy.

 

gameplay

Exploration

 The simplest point of the game to describe! You walk on the world map point by point, with your batch of fights, which will activate during your encounters, and dungeons which will make you enter a different mode of exploration. The various NPC buildings will be done through this mode and you will talk to them through cutscenes. The world will gradually open up as the story unfolds.

 

dungeons

The randomly generated dungeons in this game will give you different difficulty modes and an increasing challenge, involving some form of farming. Funny thing in this game is that you will have to start over the same dungeon several times in order to find key objects that will not be there on your first or second pass. Only writings are immutable.

You will often come across creatures, bosses, and different traps and events in the same places, but that will be it for this point. Moreover, you have certain skills, limited in number of use, which can be used in dungeon.

Small bonus, you can catch some fish which will be exchangeable at our good friend the fishmonger ...

I'm afraid… very scared… Actually…

 

Combats

Here we have turn-based with a combat system via classic skills that generate resources, others that consume, others that increase a charge system to activate your ultimate skill.

You can apply different status changes (poison, stun, power reduction, or, conversely, attack and speed boosts.). You will pass in turn order after selecting an attack or a skill that will sometimes take a certain time to activate before launching.

At the beginning, the fights will be quite simple and will gradually gain in difficulty and tactics. So, you have to keep in mind that whatever you do will have consequences for the rest of the fight. Each round can rush you to the end.

 

Talents

Each character can be oriented in a particular direction. Like Gully who can be either a high-end tank or a powerful DPS. Or Calibretto who can be either a healer or an artilleryman. Each character is therefore customizable.

 

Equipment 

You can find many pieces of equipment in dungeons in chests, in different events (such as ponds) or sometimes after fights. You can also buy them from different vendors, or you can craft them.

 

craft

Your crafting is a key part of the game. To put it simply ... anything you won't get in dungeon, you can craft it or upgrade your equipment. Interestingly enough ... the more materials you add, the higher the quality of your builds will be.

 

Summary

This game is a very good surprise and offers the player interesting content. It remains too short like many games that we enjoy. The combat system, the gameplay, the atmosphere, the story, the characters, and all the work contributed by the developers have paid off to offer this game which is, in my opinion, a real success.

Despite the small ease of the scenario, the little bugs here and there, and a few less successful facets ... here we have a turn-based RPG that keeps its promises. The game is available on PC and Mac (Steam) but also Xbox One et PlayStation 4. If you prefer boxed versions, Just For Games offers them at an unbeatable price: PlayStation 4, Xbox  One, Nintendo Switch, PC.