Developer: Adglobe
Publisher: Binary Haze Interactive
Platform: PS4, PS5, Switch, PC
Tested on: PS5
Redemption Reapers (PS5) – Review
Tactical RPG games have always had a devoted fanbase, especially since the revival of its two most popular franchises, Fire Emblem and XCOM. The bright Anime inspired medieval drama of the first stands in big contrast to the serious and dark tone of the latter’s alien invasions. Now Redemption Reapers tries to deliver the perfect point in the middle with a dark and serious medieval tale.
Story
Redemption Reapers tells the story of Sarah and her squad of misfits that fight back against the hordes of evil. The world has been destroyed by an army of monsters known as the Morts and The Ashen Hawk Brigade, the bigger band of mercenaries that Sarah and her companions are a part of, are man’s last hope.
For most people, this will sound like your run-of-the-mill fantasy story, and that’s exactly what it is. The conflict between the Mort and the Ashen Hawk Brigade never gets much deeper than this, even when there is clearly a mysterious past between the two that you uncover throughout the story. The same goes for the characters. The five main fighters that you’ll have control over each fall into their clear stereotype and never develop in an interesting way. This is more than can be said about the enemies, as these fall in your classic Lord of the Rings orcs template with zero personality. While all of this might sound disappointing to someone looking for a deep and character-driven narrative, the story does just enough to deliver some downtime moments between the gameplay encounters that the game focuses more on.
Graphics
The graphics of Redemption Reapers are hit or miss in different parts of the game. The cutscenes look nice and crisp, making the experience feel like the next-gen indie title it is. The gameplay however can seem more like a remastered PS3 game at times, making the game not the worst thing to look at but also not something very memorable.
The unmemorable effect the visuals have also come from the design choices. The character and world design fits the unoriginality of the story perfectly. All the characters wear the same brown/grey outfits, the levels are mostly ruined cities or forests, and the only way to distinguish the different types of enemies is by looking at the weapons they carry. These bland graphics wouldn’t be such a problem if the game was at least a dozen hours shorter.
Sound
The sound design might be one of the best parts of this game. The story features almost fully voiced dialogues with a bunch of great performances, giving a little personality to the bland characters. The soundtrack fits the tone of the game as well, delivering songs full of desperation, struggle, and a pinch of hope. While this doesn’t fix the problems of the blandness of the game’s presentation, it does help steer it in the right direction.
Gameplay
Redemption Reapers is a tactical RPG, set in a dark medieval world. You take control of five characters with their own set of skills and specialties, which you will use to drive back the Mort army to save the last remnants of humanity.
Each battle you take part in is set on a grid-like battlefield, mostly set in a city or woodland area. Each of your characters has a set amount of steps it can move to engage enemies or support the other fighters. When you are adjacent to an enemy, or it is within reach of ranged attacks, you can start a battle. Your character will land the first hit, followed by the monster’s counter. Positioning your other fighters is a crucial part of this since they can aid with a follow-up attack if they are within reach of the enemy combatant. When all your soldiers have taken their turn, the enemy does the same, repeating this process till one of the two parties is wiped out.
This is the basic concept of the game, but a lot of tactics and variety are added by the different skills each character can use. This is where Redemption Reapers gets interesting. Because of the fact that each fighter has a unique class with its own skills, they are all unique to use and command a different playstyle. This is what makes the first few hours fun and engaging as you learn all the best ways to play the characters. This would make for a good experience if the game was a lot shorter than it currently is. The fact that there are at least a dozen er two hours in the campaign hurts the experience since there isn’t enough variety to keep the gameplay loop interesting.
Between battles, you have the option to level up characters, unlock new skills, and move around your gear. All of this is important to beat the frequent difficulty spikes the game throws at you. Luckily there is the option to play older stages over and over again to gain extra experience points. This does however offer the risk to encounter the lack of variety the game offers, making it feel like a mindless grind. A few unfortunate design choices, like breakable weapons and no way to grind for money outside the main chapters to replace them, crank up the difficulty.
Conclusion
Redemption Reapers offers a bland story with fun gameplay at its core. The lack of variety in said gameplay, however, can make the journey overstay its welcome. This makes it a good experience for people who are looking to kill some time on a basic experience, but gamers that are looking for a fulfilling story or dozens of hours of unique gameplay should look towards some other titles in the genre. As a whole, the game offers a few hours of fun before it ultimately loses its edge.
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