I compared this to Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics as I played, and Fell Seal stands on its own just fine in most ways. I have to admit, at first I was turned off by the graphics, which don't hold up well in a few places, but within a couple hours I was hooked on the very fun gameplay loop of kicking ass and upgrading your squad. - There are several ways to upgrade, but none of them feel like fluff and I found them intuitive and fun to get in to. The game is paced well in rationing out these mechanics, and there are a few instances where the game rewards creative thinking about it's mechanics, which I like. - I LOVE what the devs did with monsters in this game. You could have a squad of 5 of the same monster, and find ways to upgrade them all to feel distinct. The human classes and "blue mage" unit are great as well, I have just been consistently dissapointed by how games like this treat monsters in the past, and they nailed it here. - On that note, the ability to customize the appearance of most units was something that I didn't know I needed. I found myself coming up with backstories for these as I played. If you like a high level of narrative and mechanical customization for your squad, you will like how Fell Seal handles these things. -The two less than stellar things I would note are the story and the music. The story was serviceable, I don't gripe about it, but I did find it predictable in places. Maybe that's just me. It was a fine vessel for the gameplay to be poured into. Unfortunately, I turned off the music a few hours into the game and just listened to something else. It wasn't horrible, it just didn't grab me much at all. -I hope that the devs make a sequel, and fully anticipate that it will be excellent if they build on what they have established here. Playtime: 110+ hours, but I completed all the secret stuff
