Langrisser I & II Review (NSW)

Written by Alexander O. Cuaycong and Anthony L. Cuaycong

Title: Langrisser I & II
Developer: Chara-ani Corporation
Publisher: NIS America
Genre: Strategy
Price: $49.99
Also Available On: PS4, Steam

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There are undoubtedly those who will remember a promising tactics game by the name of Warsong. Released for the Sega Genesis, Warsong blended Japanese-role-playing-game mechanics with turn-based strategy gameplay, asking its players to not merely take control of several mighty heroes, but also direct whole armies into battle. At the time, the unique twist to the genre enabled it to stand out; it was able to use its much larger sense of scale to its advantage. Unlike other contemporary titles, it didn't just compel characters to fight; it likewise required players to manage troop composition, take care of commander levels, and watch their overall positioning on the battlefield to win the day.

Warsong was fun and innovative. Perhaps because it was also ahead of its time, it never really received a sequel — except in Japan, where it would continue to flourish well into the nineties, under the banner of Langrisser, its original name. Meanwhile, diehard supporters in the West tried to keep it alive via fan-made patches. It would take until 2018 for an official English release to appear, first in the form of the mobile game Langrisser by Zilong, and now, after nearly thirty years of silence, the release of Langrisser I & II for the Nintendo Switch, the Sony PlayStation 4, and the personal computer.

In Langrisser I & II, players are thrust into one of two stories available to play through: that of Ledin, prince of the kingdom of Baldea, and that of Elwin, his successor and Descendant of Light. In both stories, players must make good use of their wits to survive what trials await them. From roadside ambushes to desperate siege defenses, players must employ their commanders, the troops they have, and the terrain they fight on to outwit and outlast the forces of darkness.

As a remaster, Langrisser I & II features an updated story with modern English translations, updated art, new assets, and minor balance changes. That said, it promises to hew as close as possible to the original experience, and the effort to stay true to its roots shows. Plot points across both stories run as their predecessors did, and while they're undoubtedly uncomplicated, they don't take away from the gameplay. More than anything else, the capacity to finally play these classic games on a modern system more than outweighs any general clunkiness that show up on occasion.

From the very instant control is given, Langrisser I and II expect players to handle its simple but effective combat systems with surprising deftness. From defeating enemy bosses to facilitating daring escapes, missions are linear in their design, but never feel frustrating to go through, mostly because of the game's huge sense of scale; players don't just control named heroes, but also bring into battle hired mercenaries to serve as frontline soldiers in combat. As a result, players are free to choose from a multitude of strategies to achieve their objectives, with character experimentation feeling encouraged rather than stifled.

Backstopped by a robust progression system, where characters can level up, become stronger, and hire better, flashier mercenaries, Langrisser I and II's gameplay has the makings of a compelling, if forthright, strategy RPG — one that's able to provide players the right amount of challenge to keep their interest. And if that's not enough, the myriad branching paths more than give it a ton of replay value; the divergent routes add new commanders to play with, new scenes and dialogues to uncover, and new endings to unlock.

In fact, if there's any real negative to Langrisser I & II, it's the time it took for it to finally make its way to eighth-generation platforms. Other franchises in the genre, among them Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles, have the remake option down pat, modernizing audio-visual presentations and adding new and interesting mechanics to the formula that initially helped them stand out in an already crowded space. Compared to these series, Langrisser I & II might be behind in the curve, but the mere fact that it's still able to give an immersive experience despite its somewhat dated game design attests to how fleshed out its original mechanics were, and how timeless its gameplay remains.

All in all, Langrisser I & II is a brilliant remaster of two decades-old games. And it's outstanding on either the Switch or the PS4. Beautifully remastered with little to no technical missteps, it boasts of excellent Japanese voiceovers and English translations, not to mention controls with nary a lag. And, for good measure, NIS America gives players the choice of retaining the original audio-visual presentation, or opting for the updated one, featuring new character designs and track arrangements. As with any remaster, it may be inherently unwieldy at times. Nonetheless, those steeped in RPG strategy will find it a can't-miss title that will have them staying around a while — a long, long while.

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THE GOOD

• Solid SRPG gameplay with good balance between strong characters and capable soldiers
• Branching paths and multiple endings to unlock
• Two unique and interesting stories to play through
• High replay value

THE BAD

• Can feel a bit clunky and simple compared to more modern titles
• Lacks handholding
• Inadequate explanations on mechanics

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RATING: 9/10

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Getting A Bit Of Everything In Guild Ball: The Union

Tuesday night is our game night out at Top Deck Games (aka Card Titan online if you're into Magic the Gathering) and last night was the first time I've been able to make one in a while. 

It was also the first night in a long time where I was able to get two whole games in, and it ended up being two Guild Ball games for me as the other Warmachine players had already paired off when I was done my first match. 

I decided I wanted to play more of my newly fleshed out Union as I'm probably most excited about playing them.  I figured I'd post about why I'm personally excited about them given my history and what I feel makes them strong. Please keep in mind, I'm no expert at the game so this is more of a layman's perspective. 

Why I'm Excited About Union

I can't talk about what makes me excited to play Union without talking about my previous teams in Guild Ball.  I started the game playing Brewers, and then picked up Engineers because well, I like beer, and I'm an Engineer.  

Brewers, especially when I picked them up, were more of a fighting team, and Engineers once they got reworked were more of a goal scoring team, so they'd make excellent compliments to each other, or so I thought.  Both teams also generally rely on a single captain more than the other. Brewers generally want to be playing Tapper and Engineers generally want to play Ballista. 

What I've found from playing both teams is that it's like playing the two extremes of the game. It's not quite as opposite as playing Butchers and Fishermen, but it's close enough to feel limiting.

Union by contrast can more easily play what the developers call a balanced game, looking to get 2 goals and 2 take-outs to get the 12 points to win the game.   This is probably why I'm more excited to play Blackheart as my Union captain compared to playing what most people consider to be the stronger Veteran Rage as my captain, though I do enjoy playing both. 

My First Dream Team

I wanted to make a team that had as much 2" Melee as possible while also being balanced.  Back in June of last year, it appeared that Union had a good 6 player lineup for this:

Blackheart, Strongbox, Harry, Mist, Benediction, Gutter

Then in July the nerfs came for Harry which toned the team's damage output way down, but I still feel as though these 6 players can make for a hell of a team. 

Blackheart can still score from very far away, using all kinds of dodge shenanigans to get in range for his 6" kick to nail a goal, quite likely at Tap-In range.  He also has Butchery which can give you +1 to damage results against the model hit, and with all non-mascots having 2" melee, it's not hard to stack crowd out's on the player you've hit with Butchery.  Strongbox add's +1 TAC in a 4" aura, which again can allow someone like Gutter to get in and do a massive amount of damage, but nearly anyone on the team can be made to hit hard enough to be a problem with that kind of setup. 

And then there's Mist. He's got to be one of my favorite models coming from playing Brewers and Engineers. Now that Slothecian models have been released, he gets a free 2" dodge if he's within 6" of Grace or Benediction. He has Acrobatics, so he's got a guaranteed 2" dodge.  He has 2" Melee which is fantastic on a striker, and he's got dodges for days.  A turn 1 goal with him when you're receiving is extremely easy to bang in, and with him kicking off it's not impossible to get in that scenario either if your opponent isn't very careful about it. 

The Extended Roster

Blackheart wasn't my first Union captain, that went to Veteran Rage, since I could buy him and Strongbox cheaply in a blister and I already had all the other models necessary to make a team with him at the time (a friend had given me an extra Mist model he had as payment for splitting a pizza on game night – damn Guild Ball is a cheap game to get into).  This gave me a 6 man of:

V. Rage, Strongbox, Avarice & Greed, Gutter, Mist, Harry

This team was far better before Harry and Avarice & Greed were nerfed, but now that I've fleshed out the guild there's a lot of flexibility on how you can build a solid Vet Rage team.

My 10 player lineup is now:

Blackheart, Vet Rage, Strongbox, Avarice & Greed, Gutter, Mist, Harry, Grace, Benediction, Decimate

As of last night, I tried out the following team for Rage and it worked well into Engineers:

Vet Rage, Strongbox, Mist, Gutter, Decimate, Grace

With this, I have three models with 3 dice kicks, and two models with an 8" kick.  While it seems like a lower Influence team at only generating 11 influence, it gets 2 influence for free to fuel Grace every turn.  This allows her to give a "free" Quick Foot to extend Rage's personal threat or to make Mist go even further to score a goal. 

Since it's a Vet Rage team, few people want to fight into it and so go for goals, allowing me to easily get snap back goals with Mist or if I'm receiving, get a very easy turn 1 goal with Mist.  Getting an early goal is a big deal for the team since the extra goal Influence goes a long way to helping Rage do what he wants to do.

It's hard to understate how deadly the team can be with Rage's Heroic or Legendary play and Strongbox's 4" Aura.  Last night I had a setup where Colossus (DEF 2, ARM 2, Tough Hide) was crowded out by Mist, Grace, and Strongbox. Rage popped his Legendary play and then charged in for free with Furious. On the wrap I got a Knockdown and did 4 damage.  I then spent 4 Influence on Red Fury, not making Rage attack, but making Strongbox, the friggin Turtle attack.  

The amount of damage it does in this situation is outrageous: 2 Base Attack, +1 from Shelling Out Aura, 3 Crowd Outs, +1 from Legendary Play, +1 dice from a DEF 2 model being knocked down is 8 total Dice for TAC and +1 to all damage results.  Since Strongbox only has a 2 deep playbook, he is able to wrap many times. Even with Tough Hide taking damage off of each result, I was still regularly pulling 5-6 damage per attack after Tough Hide. With 4 Red Fury attacks I easily took down one of the biggest models in the game with a little turtle.  He's like an honorary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, I should try and paint a mask around his face.

Strengths and Weaknesses

One final thing that Union has over my other teams is that with my lineup I really can pick either Blackheart or Vet Rage and play two very different games, which is something relatively rare in Guild Ball. 

This isn't to say that the team is nothing but a power house, I actually lack a significant amount of resiliency that I normally have with a lot of Tough Hide models.  As it is a lot of my models are either 4/1 or 3/2, which is possibly better than average, but once they get knocked down or debuffed they will take a lot of damage very quickly.  So far my games with them have been good, but I intend to play a lot more with the team.

The only thing is…I really want to play more with my Engineers and even my Brewers since it feels like so much has changed in the game since I last played.  I'm definitely riding high on Guild Ball in general right now and it feels pretty good.