![]() ![]() The game is based on primarily on Kojiki, one of the earliest known texts of Japanese history and mythology, dating back to the 8th century. ![]() That combat system in God Wars: Future Past, as much fun as it is, is a means to an end: to tell a story about Japan’s early history and myth. Like I said, this won’t be to everyone’s tastes, and that complexity is precisely what a lot of folks love about this genre, but I’m far, far more fond of this approach. That doesn’t mean it’s not a deep game, but depth is introduced gradually and constantly through an ever-growing pool of characters, jobs, and abilities, rather than a needlessly complex web of game systems that turn fights into a chore. These little tweaks refine the basic TRPG battle system, but without losing the simplicity that made games like Final Fantasy Tactics work so well. Instead of a traditional MP system, characters start each battle with 0 MP and recover a certain amount each turn, so you still have to manage your resources but you’re not doomed if you run dry. It doesn’t make a drastic change, but it makes tanky characters less reliant on positioning to be a good meat shield, and more useful as a result. There’s a threat system similar to those seen in MMORPGs, where enemy characters tend to focus their offence on characters with higher “Impurity” stats, and a lot of skills are based around raising or lowering that. The game does bring a few new ideas to the table but – crucially – it doesn’t fall into the trap that so many other TRPGs do of being bogged down with excessive layering of systems. Playing God Wars feels like playing a reskinned Final Fantasy Tactics, and I couldn’t want anything more from a TRPG. Earning Job Points (JP) with every action discourages wasting turns and creates a constant sense of progression and character growth, within battles as much as at the end of them. Battles aren’t as quick as in a regular JRPG, but they don’t overstay their welcome, either. Smart, tactical play is important, but you don’t have to plan five moves ahead just to get out alive. It’s a relatively simple game by modern TRPG standards, and some might even say it feels dated, but that’s precisely what I love about it. The reason I’m talking about Final Fantasy Tactics in a review of a game that’s completely unrelated is that God Wars: Future Past is the first game since Tactics itself that’s given me those same feelings. Where most other TRPGs of the day felt like full-blown strategy games that had been pulled back a notch, Final Fantasy Tactics felt like a classic, turn-based Final Fantasy game taken to another level with the addition of an element of space control. A tactical approach was certainly required, but it didn’t have the same headache-inducing focus on strategic mastery of other games like it. A deep job system offered plenty of ways to develop and customise my party, with just the right balance of rewarding progression but not being an insufferable grind. An intriguing story and Final Fantasy trademarks pulled me in, but it was the combat system that hooked me as much as anything else. This is the game that introduced me to the genre, and I know I’m far from alone in that. That said, one TRPG I absolutely adore is Final Fantasy Tactics. That’s great for them, but not so great for someone like me. This has become more and more the case as the genre’s grown over the last few decades, growing increasingly complex to sate the demands of its hardcore fans. I’ve played plenty and enjoyed plenty of them, but I tend to find their combat systems daunting, tiresome, and frustrating. I don’t dislike them as such, but most of the time when I enjoy a TRPG it’s in spite of the genre’s unique qualities, rather than because of them. I have a weird relationship with tactical RPGs.
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