Initially, upon seeing a few screenshots – and thus the anime-styled character portraits, combined with blocks of dialogue– I foolishly assumed that it was a visual novel and my expectations dropped accordingly…until I watched the trailer.
Beginning by introducing a small cast of characters at a training camp several years prior to their graduation, the main protagonists are told by their commanding officer that the king has declared that all units in the academy are to be released into active service immediately, regardless of their current standing or level of training and capability.
Over almost thirty chapters, you’ll take your small, rag-tag bunch across the land, unveiling a suitably nefarious plot as more and more companions join you, eventually leading to the amassing of quite the (shining) force.
The tone of the game is quite light, with gentle banter between the different characters in your group rolling along in-between battles and the surprisingly engaging music jauntily rolling along – along with some tunes that are on the darker side of the spectrum, making a nice mix in terms of the music that plays during and betwixt each skirmish.
Controls and the menu system are fiendishly easy to pick up, with a variety of weapons and spells allocated to each style of character and, upon reaching level ten, your soldiers will be promoted, allowing you access to a selection of four – quite often very distinct – types of upgrades that can change their appearance, fighting style and abilities quite drastically.
Being a game focused on strategy, accumulating experience points, and levelling up, the game does a really good job of feeling satisfying on a lot of fronts; the audio chimes and effects combined with smooth, pixel-art animations give off good vibes and you feel like you are constantly being rewarded and moving forward even as you are attacked, as everything draws XP.
As the game gets deeper, you’ll find yourself in various situations such as in mansions, aqueducts, arenas, portals etc. where your main quest can alter, perhaps you need to take down specific enemies that are assailing certain items or targets, you may have to wipe out the enemy force, or a single creature whilst keeping a wounded character alive etc. it’s quite an eventful and varying system based around a central gameplay conceit that always feels fresh and yet never gets overly complex due to the inherent simplicity and accessibility of the design.
In-between the battle sections, unlike in the aforementioned Shining Force series – where you could freely wander about the world map and in towns etc. - You are located at a generic central camp where you can make characters in your party converse, swap or purchase items and spend earned tokens on upgrading weapons etc.
Initially, I wasn’t sure about this, as I was looking forward to exploring the world, but it does such a good job of keeping things focused – and again, being satisfying – melding with the main heart of the game being the chaptered turn-based fighting sequences that I found myself playing well into the evenings until my eyes were closing with tiredness, due to the ‘one more fight!’ factor. I even got immersed in the story and interplay between characters as I was enjoying the rest of the game so much, which I really didn’t expect.
Dark Deity is a focused, fun and engaging tile-based strategy game that is pick-up-and-play by design and yet has the possibility of challenge and depth to appeal to those who want to really push themselves, the three levels of difficulty feel distinct, and the overall presentation is of a high quality that makes each chapter a joy to work through. If you fancy some turn-based swords and magic, this is a fantastic way to spend your time.
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