Overall most helpful review

Posted on: November 1, 2016

frackzwang

Games: 37 Reviews: 2

Well meant is not well done

First off, this is not an RPG. There is hardly a single RPG element present: You cannot build or level your character (although units may gain a rank, thereby gaining higher general stats). The only arguably RPG-esque element are (very limited) dialogue choices. As a turn-based tactics game, it is a fun game, and the combat mechanics (including laying ambushes) work very well. However, do not expect too much depth or variation: You will face only three kinds of enemy units, and basically command three different kinds yourself (plus your own character as a special unit). Difficulty only lowers or increases enemy stats. On high difficulty, you will get swamped with unnecessarily tough units. Lowering the difficulty suddenly makes you cut through the enemy as if they were cooked pasta. Still, it is fun watching your assassin springing an ambush and singlehandedly take out a whole battalion of archers. All in all, Tahira left me somewhat disappointed: It starts out very promising, hinting at an interesting narrative. But in the end, it delivers...nothing, really. You never really learn much, only get hints and bits. You fight a number of battles, listen to your companions' at times cringeworthy banter, exchange happy, distressed and sorrowful whinnies with your horse, then suddenly it's over. It' s almost as if the developers were having you on: Wanna know more about the Astral Empire, and their ancient space-faring namesake? The mysterious Light? ...anything, really? Well too bad, 'cause we're not gonna tell you. Haha. We'll only give you some bits and pieces and make you wonder what all this is about. The whole game feels more like a very elaborate proof of concept. But for all its shortcomings, I liked the oriental fantasy atmosphere, rather unique graphic design, and the combat. If you like round-based tactics games, Tahira will give you two or three evenings of moderate challenge, but it will leave you lamenting over an interesting idea not followed through.

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Posted on: October 16, 2016

poptron

Verified owner

Games: 103 Reviews: 7

Lost Potential

This game has a good and interesting premise. It also has a pretty good tactical-battle system. Unfortunately, it lacks the story (that is, the heart) and the design to make it a good game. The Story Side: As others have mentioned, the story ends up feeling pretty empty. Your choices seem to matter little and in the end, you learn almost nothing about what's going on. The game seems very linear and it would have been nice to at least feel like there were a few choices in the game that mattered to the story. The lack of RPG elements in the game also hurts this side of it. The Tactical Side: On the tactical side, the game could have just been a series of battle scenarios. The battles don't connect well with each other, or the story. They might as well be separate maps with little to no story. There is no way to manage your units between maps. No way to feel like you are progressing. You don't get a sense that the numbers matter between maps. There are some places where your units carry over between parts of multi-map scene but this only emphasizes the bigger problem that you don't get that elsewhere. A good strategy/tactical game would give you a way to buy / mass troops between battles. It would let you heal wounds, plan attacks or make decisions on where to go next. You get none of that here. Overall, it's a good try and there is some good potential but the game is unfulfilling. By the end, you can't help feeling disappointed.

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Posted on: September 1, 2016

Absentmindedcat

Verified owner

Games: 309 Reviews: 10

Fantastic Game and Great Story

To go against the flow of experienced players, as someone who had never heard of the game until it came up on GOG, I just spent the past seven hours straight playing it and it's Brilliant! The animation is beautiful, on attacking and being attacked, the game has a really unique style, more from just the subject matter and cultural inspirations than anything artsy or weird, and it looks really great. The battle mechanics are simple but with the maps and characters brining in little spins on it so you don't get bored and always have something new to think about, as the tactic that worked on the last battles won't at all this time, but without every becoming stressful or confusing. The story is really cool and seems to calling up both every rebel story ever as well as current events, and through the dialogue you get these tiny glimpses into this interesting world and its history. And so far the characters have all been likeable and without falling too much into their tropes. Also I'm running it on a computer that does not quite meet minimum requirements and without running into any noticeable problems, so it seems like its a good game for slow computers. Anyway, am totally loving it and would completely recommend.

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Posted on: September 1, 2016

Saberdaber1

Games: 56 Reviews: 1

Great Design, Story, and Gameplay

(Owned on Steam) I've been following this game for a while now and I can easily recommend it to anyone now that I've finally played it. It has a great, deep story and has great gameplay that, while at first glance is reminiscent of the Banner Saga, has different elements to its gameplay (i.e. Area of Denial, diverse level design etc.) which helps make the game unique in comparison. The art is also a highlight, and the effort of its animator/artist should be noted. Definitely try this game out especially if you appreciate story-based RPGs, the developers deserve it. Hopefully we see more content produced by them in the future.

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Posted on: October 30, 2018

idared

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 3

Okay-ish game, good artwork

The game is basically a sequence of battles with some narrative in between. If that sounds a bit limited, then that impression is about correct. Anyway, strong points: turn-based combat is fairly decent, setting and story intriguing, graphics and sound downright great, I like the style. At highest difficulty, the game is also remarkably hard. Weak points: the game is unpleasantly streamlined even when compared (not exactly fair comparison, but anyway) to Unfinished Business or Fallout Tactics, which themselves felt restrictive compared to their predecessors, JA2 and Fallout 1/2, respectively. This is further exacerbated by how saving/loading a game works, which discourages from experimenting. Additionaly, how units are/are not carried over/healed to/before next battle is rather opaque game mechanics. For example, some battles consist of multiple sub-battles and units carry over from one sub-battle to the next with will (think "mana") and health/guard not replenished. The problem is you do not know this beforehand and may end up in the next sub-battle with hopelessly exhausted units, and at the same time you can not reload (unless you save & quit and then mess with files, which is possible but tedious) the last or next-to-last turn of the previous sub-battle to pick up some resources and heal, build up will or avoid at this point needless damage or losses; you have to start the previous sub-battle all over. Overall, for the money I had enough fun, I suppose.

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