Originating from Square Enix we have a brand new SRPG (Strategy Role Playing Game) in the form of: The Diofield Chronicle. One game showcases an all-new combat system, which honestly just feels like real-time battles with a pause. This game is brand new from Square Enix, but when I first dived into the game I had to summon Bahamut from the Final Fantasy franchise. So of course I googled and asked: The Diofield Chronicle have something to do with Final Fantasy and I got my answer NO. So I sat there scratching my head, and then I moved on.

STORY

The Diofield Chronicle takes place on an island called Diofield, where a battle rages between two opposing factions, the Trovelt-Schoevian Empire and the Rowetale Alliance. Once the battle ends with the Empire victorious, they turn their attention to the Kingdom of Alletain. You may be wondering why the wars? Resources, jade is the most important, the resource that creates magic.

You play and lead a group of mercenaries called the Blue Foxes, which consists of the following characters Andrias Rhondarson, A Soldier class, Fredret Lestera a Cavalier class, Iscarion Colchester Archer class and Waltaquin Redditch a Mage class. You may be thinking, will I get access to more playable characters, that answer is just yes, as you progress through the game you become more and more members of your team.

The Diofield Chronicle is filled with twists, political intrigue, great writing, along with good voice actors. Yes, you read that right, there is voice acting and it’s not like some of Bandai Namco’s games where they use voice acting to start a sentence then you have to read the rest, personally, for me that is kind of voice acting crappy, and it just feels lazy.

Characters, Lore and…

There is a lot to take in from start to finish, many characters, places, organizations and more. But you do have a library that you can use to better understand what’s happening, the character around you with biographies, and other things you’d expect to read in a library. Yes, there’s a lot to understand and things to go on, but don’t worry, this isn’t like Game of Thrones, where you had more WTF moments than I could put a stop to.

As I read character bios and got far into the game, I felt and cared about my team, the struggle, the war, their reasons for fighting, their fears and their ambitions, everything. In fact, I felt compelled to pick certain characters all the time because of the underlying story and good voice acting. It was hard for me to put a character that stands out because in a way they all did, and they all did a good job of bringing me into their world.

Building friendships and doing random tasks at your HQ or makeshift campsites free up some time and build on the story. Performing these short missions will give you the main currency of the game, GULD, which you can use to buy weapons, accessories, materials or upgrade Magilumic Orbs etc. More on Magilumic Orbs later.

BATTLE

I found the battles really inspiring, engaging, challenging and damn fun, always paying close attention to what’s happening with your team and the battlefield.

Your team will consist of 4 members, including Soldiers, Cavaliers, Sharpshooters and Magickers.

  • Soldiers are the tanks of the game, front and center, damage takers, the ones who will protect the group. Use Sword & Sheild, Daggers or even a lance.
  • Cavalier is quick on his feet, can move quickly and is great at controlling crowds with a horse or wyvern.
  • Snipers fight from afar to deal single or multiple damage to the enemy, using bows and arrows or guns.
  • Magickers are the mages/priests of the game, they can heal, deal damage or deal AOE damage

For me, I always had a healer on hand, because finding healing potions on the battlefield is hard to come by. I also had a tank, this is obvious and depending on the battle I would swap the cavalier for a marksman or vice versa, or just keep a varied group and see how it goes. But in the end you can choose who to fight with, you can take any soldiers or snipers with you, what makes the difference is how you approach a fight, the conditions, the skills you get used to and those quick on-the-fly decisions , you will make all the time on the battlefield.

Skills are the key to success as always, and as you level up you start to think about how best to improve your teammates, weapons are the key as it is the weapon you assign that controls access to those skills . Confusing yes, but you get to grips with it in time.

PLEASE REWARD ME

One thing I found in some games is lack of reward if you win a fight, a score, a bunch of stars, big cry please give me loot, The Diofield Chronicle have you sorted here.

If you win a battle while fulfilling the conditions, such as not having your party killed, or part of the party, etc., you will be rewarded with skill and agility points (nothing new), XP (obviously) resources to weapons, upgrade Magilumic Orbs that allow you to summon Gods, most of which I’m sure are from or inspired by Final Fantasy. I always took note of the terms of the battle and did my best to fulfill them because in my opinion this was the best way to experience the game.

TO CHECK OR NOT TO CHECK, THAT IS THE QUESTION.

Now you can go into any battle with all the weapons and let your team do what they want, this in turn will see you, DIE, end of. I did this to poop and giggle, but not recommended.

You can control the whole party or control individuals, always look at the battlefield and then decide, use a sniper and draw the enemy’s attention from afar, approach the enemy from behind and deal more damage or grab your whole group and pretend to be are William Wallace and shout FREEDOM and run to the group and hope for the best. Remember that all classes have different skills, along with group setups.

Just remember this, watch your enemy, learn their patterns, watch and use status effects whenever and wherever you can, and be mindful of bosses as they will surprise you.

IMPRESSIVE, BUT FINAL FANTASY, REALLY?

The most impressive part of a battle is the summoning, the FIRST SUMMON is Bahamut. You do this by filling up your TP meter and unleashing the tides of war, well, a giant beast to kick an enemy ass, heal you and more. These subpoenas are damn awesome and can be improved by leveling up. Summons include the following, Bahamut, Goldhorne, Fenrir, Salamander and Coeurl.

Graphics, Sound and General

I was very impressed with the visuals in the game right from the start, okay, the mouth movements to voice acting were a bit odd, but that didn’t stop me from watching the cutscenes and fights in any way. As I mentioned above, the most visually impressive scenes are the summoning of the gods (yes, that’s what I call them).

I was never bored and I never wanted to turn down the volume of the game, even when the battles were long and I seemed to be using the same skills over and over. The voice actors were also excellent, they dragged me into their lives, I wanted to like them, choose them and help them. This was also done thanks to the great plot and story, which is well written and executed.

There is so much to do, learn, improve, understand and fall in love with when it comes to The Diofield Chronicle even if it seems like there is no real change in the battlefields, or if you seem to be fighting the same enemies over and over. This game is a must for me.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

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