Time to lead a group of adventurers, test your combat skill, and explore the vivid hand-painted world in tactical RPG Grimshade on Nintendo Switch! Although I don’t know if tactical RPG truly grasps the concept of Grimshade. Let’s dive in.
When this game landed in our inbox, I was intrigued by the artwork. A badger with a rifle, set in a tactical RPG setting? Could this be a JRPG in a western sauce? Well, sort of. Grimshade tells the story of the company of heroes, by a twist of fate involved in the cycle of events unfolding in the world of Ree’fah. Numerous dreadful monsters infested the forest around the city of Brann, and high walls could no longer protect residents from the attacks. The menacing army of the neighboring kingdom suddenly landed on the outskirts of the city, wreaking havoc. There is no hope for salvation — the strength of the defenders is running low, but the King and his loyal Champions had vanished.
Hybrid-RPG
Grimshade is a fitting name for a game this … grim? When I booted it up, it felt like an anime-adaption of Diablo, or Torchlight (even Van Helsing in a way), with an art style reminding me of Avatar the Last Airbender (not an anime, I know). Yes, combat is tactical and in an RPG setting, but running around town, sewers, and other places, it felt like a hybrid between the A-RPGs of the good old days and the JRPGs I suck at. A delightful combination, and one I would love to see more off – although I still prefer the action the A-RPG’s offer. But enough reminiscing, that’s not why you clicked this review; you want to know more about Grimshade. The main goal of this game is to lead the group of adventurers on a journey and explore a varied and intricate world, meet new characters, and reveal plot-related secrets. Remember, beauty is deceptive — danger lurks everywhere. Test your skills in challenging turn-based battles, adjusting your combat tactics, and optimal team combinations for each foe you met on the way.
Grimshade Gameplay
Grimshade smartly does this, since you start with one companion, unlocking more along the way (up to seven), including Kiba, the dark child, Charlie, the talking sniper badger, Alister, the brave guy with an Ether gauntlet, and Ruby, the princess of the thieves. Each of them has their role (sometimes more than one) on the battlefield and their mission on a big journey. What makes Grimshade interesting is the character development system. It’s based on equipment, instead of leveling up or completing quests, which leads to each piece of armor, weapon, or accessory giving a unique skill to a particular hero, expanding their range of attack types and defensive boosts. Find, trade for, or craft new equipment to improve your characters and make them versatile and adaptable. One of these skills is a beverage you can craft for one of my favorite characters, Charlie the Sniping Badger. When he consumes this crafted beverage, he can not be ‘kicked’ out of his focus, which is handy given his most potent skill (sniping), which needs a turn or two to load and aim. When Charlie is attacked (which can be prevented in other ways as well), he loses focus, and the attack might miss or deliver less of a punch (in a way).
Craft-a-palooza
All these elements give room to a system of complex tactical turn-based battles. When I thought I had the hang of it, I encountered a new variety of elaborate enemies, which won’t let you complete the whole game using a single tactic or invincible team build. You have to adapt and craft, in combination with the right squad to take into a fight — proper positioning and awareness are essential to your success, struggling against powerful foes. Sadly the game does a poor way of explaining this feature – or the need for specific items to progress in certain fights (hence the beverage I mentioned earlier). Since the game is rather text-heavy, it can be a challenge to remember all the mechanics and concepts at play. So don’t be alarmed when you can’t finish a fight; you probably missed a key-point along the route, so do a little backtracking, talk to the fauna and NPCs, and you’ll probably figure out what you need to do.
Conclusion
Grimshade looks good, plays solid, and has a good storyline about good and evil, which reminded me of One Piece in away. We tend to look at pirates as the bad guys, and marines as the good guys… but is this always the case? Grimshade throws a similar concept at us – but mixed with a more anthropomorphic sauce added to its story. I’ll let you dig into this one for yourself. If you are into solid tactical gameplay with a small hint of A-RPGs, you’ll be more then happy with Grimshade. And as a bonus, the game looks visually stunning. Oh, and it will keep you entertained for a solid 20 hours of gameplay. Just keep in mind that you’ll have to talk to every NPC and craft a lot because you will never know when you need something.
7.5/10
Tested on the Nintendo Switch.
