JRPGs have gone through countless iterations. From the top down, over world style of Final Fantasy, to massive open world titles like… well yes, also like Final Fantasy. One style that hasn’t been explored maybe as much as it should have though is a 2D, side scrolling style. Think something akin to that of Darkest Dungeon in terms of exploration. That’s where Fallen Legion Revenants comes in, courtesy of YummyYummyTummy, and NIS America.

Fallen Legion Revenants is split between two main characters, working in unison: Lucien, a strong-willed politician, who will do whatever he can to get what he wants, kind of like a real life politician. The other is Rowena, a magical ghost. Lucien handles everything from inside the castle, talking to other characters and progressing the main dialogue of the story. Meanwhile, out in the miasma, where beings are infected, Rowena leads a team of characters to fend off hordes of monsters.

Starting with Lucien, you’re free to roam around and discuss politics and strategies with the NPCs inside of the castle. You’ll make promises and deals with others that will come up later in the game. This entire gameplay section is purely strategic. You’ll need use your wits and your machiavellianism to progress your position. One key thing to keep in mind is that, much like in previous games in the series, the choices you make can lead to much different outcomes. Remember who you make friends with.

When you go over to Rowena, you’ll be joined by the exemplars. This is your team of battlers, and as you progress through the game, more will become available. Characters are controlled simply with the four buttons on your controller (playing on Switch: A, B, X, and Y). Before each mission, you’ll assign one exemplar to each of the bottom three buttons, with the top (X in this case) being always reserved for Rowena. You don’t control your progression in this part of the game, instead progressing simply from fight to fight. You’ll occasionally stop along the way to make small choices, but usually it’s just simple dialogue progression.

Battles are your typical “easy to learn, difficult to master” kind of experience. When facing enemies one-on-one, it’s a pretty easy experience. Timing your guards and attacks will come pretty naturally once you learn how each enemy attacks.

Simply enough, right? Well, it is, until there’s more than one enemy. Having enemies that come to you to attack and ranged enemies to keep an eye on at the same time becomes a bit stressful. While you can move across a few designated squares on the battlefield, giving you a few spaces to try to dodge enemies, it’s much more likely you will need to block and parry enemies to avoid taking a beating. Parrying enemies and beating on them can stagger them, which will let you do massive damage and is key to winning any fight.

While the art and character design of the game are well done, and the dialogue is interesting, the music in Fallen Legion Revenants is a half step back. The reason I say a half step is because, while the music does work with the game and scenery, it’s not very memorable. The music within the castle is quite regal, while out in the field, it is more ominous, but nothing stands out as particularly interesting. The other major gripe is within the battles themselves. When a large character stands in front of a smaller one, you’re entirely unable to see what they might do. Normally an annoyance when fighting a large shield enemy and an enemy with a gun, it’s hard to see the tell that let’s you know that a shot is being fired and you need to block. Small issue, but issue all the same.

Fallen Legion Revenants stands as a much more unique JRPG experience. Despite being the fourth game in the series, you can dive right into it without any previous knowledge of the franchise. If you’re bored of the traditional JRPG style, this is one that is definitely worth diving into and giving a shot. Between memorable characters, dialogue options that will make you seriously think, and intricate battle systems, Fallen Legion Revenants is a great start of the year for fans of JRPGs and single player experiences in general.

 

Graphics: 8.0 A very clean looking art style, with clear distinction between the nice and neat indoors of the castle, and the wasteland infected by the miasma.	Gameplay: 7.5 An intuitive JRPG that mixes some of the better qualities that have been made popular by the previous games of the series.
Sound: 6.0 Nice, fitting music in each of the various areas. Nothing that stands out too much, but a fitting tune to keep interest alive.	Fun Factor: 7.5 A great addition to the Fallen Legion series. Nothing much has been added from the previous games, mostly more of the same, but why fix what isn’t broken?
Final Verdict: 7.5

Fallen Legion Revenants is available now on Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of Fallen Legion Revenants was provided by the publisher.