Developer: OmniSuperMegaCorp
Publisher: OmniSuperMegaCorp
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Ledgerbound – Review
We’re still just over a month away from Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which is this reviewer’s personally most anticipated game of the year. Rather than scratch our turn-based tactical RPG itch by playing Three Houses again (sorry, Engage), we’re looking elsewhere for Fire Emblem-like games. That’s how Ledgerbound showed up on our radar. We were privileged enough to get to grips with the game before its release, and we’ll admit that our itch was scratched… Although that may have been because a rough edge is a better surface for scratching than a smooth one.
Story
A quick note before we get into Ledgerbound’s story: our review is based on an early release of the game. However, right before the game was supposed to go live on Steam, its release was postponed due to issues with the script, with the developers posting a brief update video. According to them, Valve deemed the game to be “too spicy”. The same announcement did say that Ledgerbound was ready to go, but we don’t know how the version that is set to go live will differ from the one we played, or when the game will launch. It might be live by the time you read this, but if it isn’t, keep an eye on developer OmniSuperMegaCorp’s social media channels. As you’ll find though, there are more issues with the game than just the game being “spicy.”
A satirical take on both high fantasy tropes and modern- satirical take on both high fantasy tropes and modern-day corporate mindsets, Ledgerbound follows Rayna Ashvale, a claims adjuster for insurance company Heroes United Life Group. Rayna’s primary role is to find loopholes to deny insurance claims submitted by defeated adventurers. The company’s future becomes at risk when the most prestigious hero team in the Queendom is killed in action. Approving their life insurance payout would bankrupt HULF and anger its divine shareholders. To avert financial ruin, Rayna sets out into the field alongside her boss and HULF’s head of HR. Their goal is simple: investigate the scene, prove negligence and deny the claim. What starts out as a high-stakes but still routine job takes a turn when Ayna becomes bound to both a powerful relic and a prophecy.
Ayna’s next course of action is to assemble her own motley crew of oddball heroes, including a sentient hat rack, a feline prince, a magical robot, and a nightmare entity, in order to fulfill her newly appointed destiny. Alongside dealing with the prophecy, she also has to manage workplace bureaucracy, employee training, and corporate overlords. A hallmark of good satire is that it doesn’t just make you laugh but that it also holds up a mirror, and Ledgerbound certainly delivers in this regard. The game’s depiction of power dynamics and workplace harassment is painfully on the nose. The writing is good for the most part, with engaging character interactions, although we did feel that the dialogue sometimes went a bit too lowbrow, veering into outright vulgarity at times. Our early build of the game also indicated that some text consisted of placeholders, but hopefully those have been replaced by the time you read this.
Graphics
There are two distinct visual styles in Ledgerbound, although they share the same aesthetic. The game’s narrative is presented in a lovingly hand-drawn visual novel style, with character portraits that ooze personality. Conversely, the turn-based combat graphics lack that same visual flair, oversimplifying those character designs and opting for at-a-glance readability instead. We understand this design choice from a gameplay perspective, but the simplistic battle animations and forgettable backgrounds don’t really carry a sense of urgency.
Sound
The standout element of Ledgerbound is the game’s voice acting. Given that the cast consists of prominent actors including the likes of Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham and Stephanie Kerbis, this isn’t exactly a surprise. Their performances do elevate the already comedic script, and fans of Critical Role in particular will love what Ledgerbound has to offer. The other parts of Ledgerbound’s soundscape pale in comparison, with music being generally pleasant but also forgettable, and ambience functional but nothing special either. We did run into some issues with the game’s audio balancing, with sudden volume fluctuations though these are supposedly set to be fixed with the game’s launch day update.
Gameplay
As we already hinted at in the introduction to this review, Ledgerbound alternates between a visual novel narrative and grid-based tactical combat encounters inspired by Fire Emblem. The similarities to Intelligent System’s flagship series don’t end with the combat either, as interlude periods, known as Resterludes, see you manage relationships, equipment and training. The game also incorporates mechanics that fit in with its insurance company narrative. A ‘liability’ mechanic lets you equip abilities balanced against an insurance limit, and battles feature optional side objectives that yield tickets for gear or increasing shareholder value. Any side objectives you miss can be replayed via the in-game battle board. When it comes to combat, Ledgerbound doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, and genre aficionados will feel right at home here. Familiar elements like environmental hazards and tile-based stat modifiers make an appearance here, alongside an elemental triangle comparable to Fire Emblem’s weapon triangle. It’s a robust yet accessible system, and with three available difficulty levels, most players should be able to find their footing here, regardless of skill or experience. That said, our time with the game wasn’t entirely bug-free, and we even experienced the occasional crash. We’re once again hopefully looking at that Day One patch to iron out any kinks, especially since Ledgerbound lacks manual saving, with the game relying on a single-slot autosave system instead. Once those technical rough edges are ironed out, we can think of worse ways to spend 20 hours.
Conclusion
Our score reflects the game as it was when we played it for this review. If this had been an Early Access preview instead, Ledgerbound would be an easy recommendation, as it would be easy to overlook the rough state that the game was in. Right now our recommendation of Ledgerbound hinges on the promise of a launch day update. As niche as its satire and as by-the-book as its combat are, we still really enjoyed this diamond in the rough, though we do recommend keeping an eye on post-launch reactions before signing a contract with HULF.
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