Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
Score: 72% ESRB: Not Rated Publisher: Konami Developer: Hijinx Studios, LLC Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment has an odd mashup of art styles that may work for some people, and may turn some totally off. It's as if someone rendered some CG lighting on top of hand drawn artwork for the character portraits. The lighting is harsh, and in odd colors. If the weird lighting were taken away, the artwork's charm would probably show through a lot better. In fact, the rough line sketches that are displayed during loading screens are a lot more interesting and fluid than the art you'll find anywhere else in the game. There's also the odd proportion that may make things strange. It seems like everyone is 3 feet tall. Perhaps this is a part of the Vandal Hearts world, but I have not been able to find anything in the lore that specifically says this. Of course, this is all related to the character portraits and the cinema scenes. The main game features 3D rendered characters. These are nothing spectacular, but they are clean and well done. The game's soundtrack is typical RPG fare. Flutes and wind instruments give you quaint town background music, and things pick up a bit during battles. Sometimes the background music doesn't change when you might think it's appropriate. For example, when your party is cornered by a powerful enemy and you're still listening to the laid back town music, it's a little anticlimactic.
Gameplay: The story follows the orphans of a brutal war as they train for, well, more war it would seem. You get your basic fight tutorial in as you watch some very mild drama develop between the main characters. The thing is, you never really get to know a character before anything really bad happens to them, so it's difficult to care about anything that happens. Then as far as the main plot, you've got your old, terrible war that's supposed to be over, you've got your betrayal, then you've got your new terrible war that your characters have to fight. The story is full of RPG clichés and there's very little in the way of fresh material here. Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment's gameplay is much like its story: a strategy RPG on training wheels. Everything is simplified. Things that you may have to build your character for or train for in other similar games are just built in to this game. Counter attacks and team attacks? Everyone can do them from the start. Even the spells are categorized and named with very straightforward names. Damage spells are, well, spells that damage the enemy. A spell called "Ensnare" will restrict an enemy's movement, "Mobility" will increase an ally's movement range. You get the idea. You definitely get the idea if you've ever played a strategy RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics. That being said, I guess you could call this "casual" strategy RPG. If you're playing purely to see how well you can do in a particular map, or just to pass time, there's really nothing wrong with this system. It performs predictably and has a simple set of rules.
Difficulty: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment may be simple, but it can still trap you in some tough situations. True, you can go back to areas you've beaten to level up and gain some cash for better gear. Even so, you can get trapped in story-related areas where you can't go back to old areas until you get past the one you're in. The first such area comes along when your group is trying to take refuge in an old cave to escape a powerful assassin. Even though the level only requires you to escape into the cave in order to win, you'll be bombarded by powerful enemies that can make this impossible. Immediately before this level, your party is in a town, and when you leave it, you'll be forced into the cave level. The main point is, keep more than one save going, and save often. You never know when you'll be stuck in one of these story-related areas. Other than the story "traps," there's not much that's going to hold you back in this game. Follow the general RPG rules of leveling and buying good gear before tough fights, and you should be able to make it through with no problems. The simple battle system ensures that you won't have to do anything too fancy to make it through most fights.
Game Mechanics: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment doesn't feel like it was made for an Xbox 360 controller at times. True, all you are really doing here is selecting items in attack menus and selecting a square on a battlefield to move your character. Even so, doing this with the Analog Stick feels touchy, and, of course, we all know what trying to use the digital pad is like. Things like rotating the battlefield feel especially sensitive, and it's one thing I wish I could adjust in a settings menu. And it never seemed like I could quite get the view of the battlefield I wanted, even if I was very careful with my adjustments. Other than the touchy selections, Vandal Hearts performs smoothly. There's really not much more to say about this little RPG. If you're craving the next Final Fantasy Tactics, this will definitely not satisfy. Even if you're just craving a pretty decent story, you're not going to find much here. The only way I can recommend spending some points on this is if you're introducing someone who is completely new to the genre, or if you're a veteran who simply wants to sit back and relax your way through an RPG.
-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications AKA Christin Deville
Related Links: Vandal Hearts: Flames Of Judgment Konami Page
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