Wintermoor Tactics Club

One of my favorite genres has always been, SRPGs and today everyone thinks they have to take Final Fantasy tactics and top it. That they have to add more complexity, more over the top rules, more characters, more everything. But sometimes more isn't better as it begins watering down what makes a game so good, like adding dozens of ingredients into a recipe, you start to lose the clean simple taste that made the original recipe beloved in the first place. The developers, took a small cast of characters, fleshed them out with a tight fun story, environment, and game-play. I would have liked to have seen more varied enemies. A small complaint to an otherwise really great game. This shows that a small team, a tight vision, and a slant toward fun over everything else is all one needs. You know this game reminds me of Bully, Psyconauts so much if anyone needs a reference to go by.

Seriously, the game is wonderfully engrossing. I found myself caring so much more about the story than the actual tactical side of things and, honestly, I think that that's kind of the point. The characters are cartoony, of course, in some ways, but suddenly you'll find all of these hidden depths and all of these moments for self-discovery on everyone's part. People are flawed but work to improve themselves, people come together to fight against a common enemy, seriously, it's just lovely. As for the tactics, well, as I say, I think that the story was more important than the tactical side of things when this was designed or they wanted to keep it somewhat simplified so as to also attract players who just love a good story. That being said though, simplified though it might be, battles are still challenging and fun. I definitely had to use the No Fail option on one of them and I was at my last hit point practically with the last battle. If I was going to say that there's maybe a downside, it's that, with the combat being more simplified it almost makes it *more* difficult? There's no chance of missing which is great for the heroes...until the monsters attack, and there's no real way of healing either so you have to be VERY careful where you finish your turn. Honestly though, I loved this, it made me feel warm inside at all the right moments, creeped me out at all the right moments, and even surprised me numerous times. And, because SOMEone might write about it being "too political", let me say, as a cisgender white male...I loved that. I loved that the main character is a POC girl, that there's a non-binary character, that there's an immigrant who explains that there's more to their culture than people think, there's queer representation, and I LOVE it. I just hope that it can make even more people feel welcomed and I'm so glad that it exists. Thank you.

I cannot recommend this game enough to anyone looking for a carefree, charming, and hilarious journey to go on. The story in this one is intriguing and full of heart, enriched with characters (both in your party and outside) that you can't help but to root for. The combat is simple, but layered. Unlike many other strategy games, you don't level up, you cannot heal, nor do your stats ever go up. However, throughout the game you can unlock customizable upgrades and an additional attack through side quests and missions. That said, it felt like a true strategy game. Enemies were often on par with or even outnumbered you and, with your party of only 3 characters, you had to figure out the best way to get through. It felt like a true game of strategy, rather than a game of grinding your stats to bulldoze the competition. That said, the game is also very accessible and offers a "no fail mode" for those more interested in the story or who may find themselves frustrated with the more challenging levels. I'm new to tactics games and was able to get through on the intended difficulty, so I'm hoping other folks have similar luck. I also wanted to add that the representation in this game is really sound, with the game hosting many characters of color, queer characters, and even having some non-binary representation. I felt the game handled these elements rather beautifully and I was happy to see so much care go into this representation. All and all, this game was phenomenal. If you're looking for a story-based, cozy, and puzzle-like experience, I can't recommend this game enough!

It's a nice little game. The tactics battles are easy but not boring. The story is pretty upbeat and deals with finding yourself and having friends and helping people. It's pretty straightforward young reader/young adult reader kind of stuff but the lightness was refreshing. It did bring me back to high school and early university days where finding a real friend group can feel like quite the struggle. It is not a complex game. The storytelling is not deep or involved, and the combat is pretty simple. There is some heart to it all though so if you can get behind that sort of vibe this is worth a try. If you can relate to being a bit outcast and getting into tabletop role-playing games as a way to connect with people there is probably some nostalgia value here.