Kemco has a reputation for bringing amazing JRPG Fantasy games on multiple platforms, and they never failed to bring us tons of characters, worlds, and stories. For the start of the new year, Kemco has delivered us a new turn-based RPG game called Sword of Elpisia, and I was given a chance to review this amazing game I can’t wait to tell you all about this game without giving any spoilers.
Story
The game takes place in the fantasy world of Terra, a world in which magic has always been part of the way of life, but something has gone wrong. People are turning into magical swords one by one; these swords are known as Magiswords. The story revolves around a party centering around the young Aldo, a Magitool repairman, with a past that is full of mystery. He is joined by a girl who has been on her own since she was an infant known as Alice. You will meet many characters throughout your journey as you explore the world of Terra and uncover the mystery of the Magiswords. The world of Terra is split into 3 factions: Independent area, Prometheus Dominion, and Nereid Dominion; each faction has its own Lords and cultures.
Gameplay
The game sticks to the traditional Turn-based system but with some extra features like auto-battle or fast-forward battle. I remember back the days playing this kind of game we didn’t have those options, and with that, the game was always a long grind, especially if you are farming for experience to level up your characters. Another cool thing about this turn-based strategy is that there is a tactical approach. You can position your characters in different spots on the battlefield so you can get different buffs, such as additional health, damage, or mana points.
On top of the battle, you have a wide range of different weapons you can use from different weapon skills to magical abilities; sometimes using your Magiswords will be important, especially fighting against other monsters that wield the magical swords as well. The Pets addition to the game is like an extra DLC mini content; it is such a great feature, especially for players who love pets such as dogs or cats. What makes it even cooler, you can take these pets with you to battle as well and also send them to Dungeons and find tons of treasures and items.
Graphics/Audio/Controller
The graphics I have to say are one of my favorite things about Sword of Elpisia because it is not like most games these days that are super fancy and high definition but still retain the Pixel graphics a bit from other JRPG in the past. I love to see what the world looks like, but also, I like to see how the world looks through the eyes of the characters. The character design was well done, especially for each character you meet and how their name or personality fits how they look, and I have to say the developers did an amazing job doing that.
The music for the game starts from the menu to the world map music to the battle music, I just love all the different musical scores and how they fit so well where you are and how it connects you and your characters to the world of Terra.
The controls weren’t too bad, just had to get used to the way the game played, but there was a good tutorial that explains everything steps by step, and I was able to get used to the controls from moving my character, to setting up a strategy for battle and one of my favorite things to do in a game, shopping at the store.
Replay Value
Like many other JRPGs, there can be sometimes that you want to play the game again or sometimes you don’t want to; it is quite similar to watching a movie over and over if there is a movie you like most people would watch it over and over. Sword of Elpisia is a game I can see that happening because there are a few things you can do to make the game fresh.
You can play the game on the normal default setting and just enjoy the game how it is or jump into settings and modify the game where you can either increase experience gained, damage output, or use no Action Point or Mana Point when using skills or magic. After I finished the normal approach, I attempted to try a speed run and see how fast I can get through the story, especially after maybe 10 battles I learned that there is an auto mode for each battle where I don’t have to do much work and let the character decide how to fight each battle.
Conclusion
From what I have enjoyed so far from playing the game, I have enjoyed every moment of the game, especially the classic JRPG turn-based style that I have always enjoyed back in the 90s that I can continue even now. Kemco continues to enhance the tradition and bring us rich story games, along with a fun battle system, character design and backstory, and an epic musical score.
I have to say this game is one of my favorites, because ever since I started the game and loaded it up, my mind kept remembering past games like Wild Arms or Suikoden; because of how similar but unique in its own way, and these are games that even though I finished them, I would again pick it up later on and play it all over again. If you love a good turn-based RPG with some that set place in a fantasy world with a mysterious storyline, fun dialogues between characters, a battle system that is organized and gives you many different tactics to fight many monsters and bosses using a whole arsenal of weapons and abilities and above all PETS that you can form contracts with and they can help you do stuff, then Sword of Elpisia is a game that was made for you.
Sword of Elpisia is now available on iOS, Android, PS5, PS4, XboxSeries X|S, Xbox One, and Steam. The game launched on February 10th, 2022. The Nintendo Switch version is set to release at a later date.
If you want to learn more about the game and where to order it, here is the link to the official store: Sword of Elpisia (kemco.jp)
A digital copy of the game was provided for review.
