The story starts off pretty simplistically - you are a promising swordsman, and lead a small band of warriors to investigate a disturbance at the nearby gate that your town Guardiana is supposed to be protecting. You find the forces of Runefaust assaulting the place, and from then on your battle against evil is waged. You travel from place to place in a very linear fashion and pick up new people as you progress and slowly more of the story unfolds. The basic structure of the story and its progression is tried and true, however it never ever represents a problem.
Speed Increases by 1!
The battles are the meat of the game so to speak, and play out in a very similar fashion to say, Fire Emblem. You have up to a maximum of 12 units at your disposal and a top down view of the map. Units can move a certain number of spaces, then do an action after moving. When performing an attack, spell or using an item the game will shift into a battle screen and show close up what is happening. Experience is gained relative to the level of two characters involved, and of course you get more experience if attacking, killing or even healing a higher lvl character. Stat increases are earned at lvl up and new abilities for certain characters are learned at certain levels. Once past level 10 you can even promote characters to advanced classes.
There is some nice variety in the characters available but they all seem to fall into a small number of categories. You have the hero, who is a straight up sword wielder with a bit of specialised magic. Then there are the magic casting characters both offensive and healing. After that there are the knight type characters who wield lances and spears, the archers, birdmen and other special characters including a werewolf and a dragon. However even amongst similarly themed classes each character has a distinctive look which is further emphasised after promotion, and different spells accessible. For example all the healers get the basic Cure spell, however some get Detox (which removes poison) and others get Quick (which increases speed).
Promote that man!
Promotions are performed at the local church (along with raising dead characters, curing curses and saving the game). Characters when promoted revert to level one, and lose some stats, thus becoming weaker. However they gain experience as fast as a regular level one so it is easier for them to catch up. Once they pass level 10 as a promoted class they really start to shine and get great growth. Also promoted classes get access to new and specialised weapons, and extra abilities eventually. It is a very simple idea, but very satisfying when implemented in this game.
The AI isn't bad but like most strategy games of this nature is a little quirky. It is a lot more challenging though, than the original version of the game. Most bosses now move to engage nearby characters, and other enemies that were rather stationary before have become more proactive. However the game still includes little things like the main hero being amazingly good bait fot the enemy. If say for example you leave another character in an exposed position, and another attack may finish them off, you can just send in your main character and the enemy will swarm around him like nobody's business. That said the AI does like to pick on the weaker characters so there is some challenge to be had.
However it really is a game that you can take at your own pace. In just about any fight you can warp back to the latest church, raise anyone that has died, lick your wounds and jump back into the action. The battle will be presented exactly the same way every time (with the exception of different AI in relation to your movements) so it is quite possible to redo the same battle over and over to level up your characters. Whilst this may seem like an exploit, it is actually quite a good feature because it allows you to level up your entire team evenly so you progress much better through the game.
What's new?
Well there are 3 new characters, and one of them is Narsha the princess of Runefast. She begins her own journey away from there to meet up with your hero. Another new character Mawlock can utilise the new card feature to this game. These cards seem to be a bit of a gimmick, and apparently there is something to be unlocked by collecting them all. They can be found around towns, talking to characters in HQ or in certain battles. They have a few interesting uses, however they need to be equipped before battle and disappear after a single use. Sure there are many many different ones, but it all seems rather pointless. The story has also been tweaked and changed, but generally isn't an issue and in some cases rather interesting. There is a new inventory managing system added which is so easy to use it puts the clunkiness of the old game to shame. However one particularly bad change is the aptly named 'Sword of Light' and its partner 'Sword of Darkness' are now called the 'Light Sabre' and 'Dark Sabre' respectively.
The graphics and sound are very faithful to the original game. The graphics have been improved yes, and changed but the oldschool style hasn't been totally lost. It is a bit disappointing, but the superior quality and detail on the sprites now makes up for the change. The game looks quite nice, and whilst it won't win awards on looks alone it pulls its weight. The sound is basically the same as it was, but that is a good thing as the original had great music. As an addition promoted characters get new battle music now, whether that is a good or bad thing is up to the player.
Overall the game still plays well after all this time and the tweaks made do spice things up a bit. Yet it is still very much an oldschool title which may turn off a few at the start. However those who get into it will really enjoy it, it is a game that just charms the pants off you.
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