KEMCO has released many games per year for over a decade now and while not all of them have been the best, some have managed to stand out in a good way. The new release, Eldgear, is one of these and takes a break from the usual throwback style of JRPG and instead goes for a Strategy RPG approach. This is not the first time that KEMCO has published a strategy RPG, but this one stands out as a bit different than before.
The game has a good narrative about a land on the brink of change, and change brings conflict with it. Taking control of agents of the land of Eldia, you must explore ruins and collect relics, while others are also trying to get their hands on the relics. It sounds generic, but the actual game works well.
Eldgear feels like a great throwback to classic strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, and its Game Boy Advance aesthetic clearly calls to mind Final Fantasy Tactics Advance among others. The visuals do a great job making this game stand out, and the actual movements and combat in each turn look fantastic This is a grid-based landscape and it is never unclear where you need to go, because the layout is very easy to understand.
Eldgear has a great combat system that requires you to think things through carefully and position your troops right. There is a good challenge here and if you are not preparing right, you will get defeated easily due to how the difficulty works in the game. Combat and gameplay are easy to figure out though, and different abilities you can use to change the tide of battle.
Some of these abilities and attacks include the EMA (embedded attacks) and EXA (expanding abilities), which if used right can utterly change the way the battle is going. Eldgear also encourages you to use status effect abilities to make it through tough fights but lets you figure out the details as you go on. There is no tutorial here, so Eldgear expects you to figure a lot of this out yourself, which can be a bit frustrating because you will get your rear end handed to you multiple times before you figure out the various tricks and techniques that will help you get through, and discover how deep the combat system actually is.
The levelling system is handled well in Eldgear, being based around not just learning new skills but also upgrading your equipment for your teams. Levelling up does require gold and you cannot level up if you do not have enough, so figuring out when and where to use your funds is important. You can also increase your character stats through training to have a better attack, more health and so on, but again you need to prioritize which areas to focus on. This does help make each playthrough feel unique though, as you can go for a different build each time.
Music in Eldgear is good, with sounds that again call to mind many of the classics of the genre. There are also several Japanese voiceovers during the fighting sections, and a good array of battle sounds during these fights to keep things feeling right. The more incidental music does stand out more to me, probably because I was not expecting it to sound so good.
So what is the final verdict on Eldgear? Well, it is very different from the usual KEMCO titles and definitely stands out in a good way. There is a good story and a great challenge as well as excellent visuals and music, and overall the game feels more realized than many that KEMCO has released in the past. This is a title I can easily recommend to fans of Strategy RPGs, especially those who love the classics, and it is a game that seems tailor-made to appeal to those types of fans. I had a good time with Eldgear and I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. This is one I expect to come back to repeatedly.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
