Developer: YummyYummyTummy, Mintsphere
Publisher: YummyYummyTummy
Platforms: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory – Review
You might have heard of the game ‘Fallen Legion’ as it has been released on a variety of consoles and devices. With Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory, YummyYummyTummy and Mintsphere are adding the Nintendo Switch to the list. In this title, you’ll be able to get the best of two sides. War and betrayal surely are some harder subjects for a game, but the struggles of both protagonists are shown in a nice way. Which narrative are you going to choose? Are you going to follow the young adviser or will you put your faith in the princess of the country?
Story
In this title, you’re able to get both sides of the same narrative. The story takes place in a country called Fenumia. It has a rich history, but also has known oppression. For example, the republic Bywrn was assimilated into their new state. As time passes, these tragedies that took place were forgotten. Or so it seems at least. During the current war there are two protagonists, both having their own vision and background.
Legatus Leandur, the young adviser of the princess of the state still remembers what his people went through before. When Princess Cecile’s father dies, she is gifted a mysterious tome. His first impression is that the book is evil, which must be eliminated. As he is fueled on by his subordinates, he decides to take over the throne and restore the lost honor of Bywrn. The story of Princess Cecile is something else of course. After the death of her father, she rushes back to the capital to start reigning the country. The book was a trusty adviser of the former King and although she is reluctant of following its advice, the state is in shambles which she also tries to change. This comes with a price of course.
As you can choose between two stories that are tightly woven together, you can get the complete picture and see how both parties react to the treason and death of the former king. The choices you make in between the fights also has its influence on the rest of the game, so be careful when selecting certain replies.
Graphics
There are several different aspects to this game graphical-wise, but you’ll be mostly venturing in a 2D side-scrolling game. This type of graphics will be shown when you’re inside a level fighting or watching the aftermath of some of your choices. The overview is a 2D map of the several levels, each connected and showing when you should prepare for battle. The story is sometimes also told via several conversations in a beautiful 2D environment with enlarged character images.
The style of the game can be called cartoonish, with luscious green backgrounds when venturing the forests or a more rocky environment when going into the mountains. Everything fits well together and makes a harmonious entity. This is also the perfect canvas for the characters that are visible on the foreground. Each of them has their own characteristics and stand out against each other. Fallen Legion surely is a nice game to look at, especially when you like this kind of hand-drawn settings.
Sound
Just as the graphics, the developers added the right music at the right locations. The battles are really chaotic at times, which is emphasized by the more upbeat tracks that will blast through your speakers. It keeps you concentrated and always on your toes. The same can be said about the sound effects, as they really helps you to immerse in the game. One of the downsides might be that the characters shout the name of their special ability every single time it’s used, which might get on your nerves rather fast as you can trigger these easily. Also, only some of the conversations are fully voiced, while others just have short lines here and there.
Gameplay
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is an action RPG with side scrolling fighting elements. You’ll be up against several enemies, depending on the story you picked at the beginning. At any rate, the battles are rather intense as you need to make combos with your subordinates. The issue is that they use an action point to perform an attack, which means that you might need to block incoming attacks as you’re out of moves. Blocking is important to keep that combo going and it also gives you some sweet AP refills. Keeping the chain going is rather vital as there is a special spot in the combo that will unleash a special attack from the one who triggered it. As you yourself are in the battle and three fighters, you have to control everyone by using the four buttons of your controller. Only the main protagonist can use a variety of skills, like healing and resurrecting. The vanguard will do most of the fighting though and when they’re wiped out you have a short time to get some mana back to get one of them back to live or otherwise it’s game over as you can’t take much damage.
As the actions of the fighters are queued for the combo, it gets chaotic rather fast as everything is done simultaneously. Although the enemy shows signs of attacking, it is hard to detect when it’s actually happening and it might be you react too late. At the beginning of the game, you might still be trying to get consecutive attacks but eventually you just go to button mashing. Hey, it gets the deed done.
The combat bar, which visually shows the combo streak and how far you’re off for your special attack, can also have some other buffs. This is done by selecting a choice during the dilemmas you encounter during the different stages. You get presented with a certain situation and you get three answer possibilities. Depending on your reply, you will get a different buff but it will also influence the world around you. This means you could even increase or decrease the morale in the army drastically or infuriate some of the towns. Sometimes you can also receive items which you can use only once during that level, which might give you quite the advantage at certain points.
Of course, there are boss levels now and then that will make you sweat a bit but the combat system remains unchanged. Afterwards you can continue your story or you can choose to increase your rating and return to previously visited levels. There is no level or experience to be gained, the only customizations that are available are gemstones that strengthen your arsenal of fighters. Even more, your small army can also learn new special attacks. As there isn’t more to it, the die-hard RPG fans might be a bit disappointed as the set-up of the game is rather simple.
Conclusion
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is a special title that is now available on the Nintendo Switch. You’ll be able to dive into the story of Legatus Leandur or Princess Cecille, but the combat stays the same. You’ll be greeted by some awesome comical, hand-drawn graphics and fitting sound effects and music. The combat and gameplay elements might lean closer to a fighting game rather than a full-fledged RPG, especially with the limited amount of customization options. If you like to have something more fast-paced and less importance on the growing part of the characters, you’ll be in for a treat.
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory - Review,
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