Natural Doctrine is like nothing I've ever played in my life. A brutally hard Turn Based Strategy that punishes in a way that no Souls Game could ever dream of, I know because I've played them all minus Bloodborne.
The in game combat system is easy to understand but extreme to master. Lines of sight are imperative and attack lines from each party member interlink and overlap to create extra affects on top of the attack skill selected. It's chess. It will take all the tactical nouse to just get through one early dungeon. Near perfect Positioning and Range are mandatory if you are to stand any chance of progressing. Initiative is on display thorughout. Ignore at your peril, if you dont disrupt initiative immediately you may as well start again.
What makes this game special is that the difficulty is so high that a basic win feels like an epic victory. You are up against it and you will fail many times but if you get your characters builds, positioning and movements right you can destroy enemies as quickly as they can you. Yes you have to sit through enemy moves in their entirety but this is information you will need in order to capitaiise..if you survive long enough to get the opportunity to at all. One misstep and 95% of the time you're entire squad is wiped. I promise you this is like no challenge you've ever had before.
The story doesnt hold back, within the first 45 minutes there's a massive unexpected twist which shocks and surprises. Character development is fine, voice acting decent.
I got rather far in this and to this day I've never felt such satisfaction in completing a few levels. This absolutely has to be given the light of day, has been under the radar for far too long and will rip anyone who believes they are an exceptional tactical gamer in short order. The joy is in the challenge, learning from your failings and the success you grind out after trying many different tactics. Get it on catalogue GoG, I've been looking for literally years!