Grand Kingdom is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Monochrome Corporation that graphically resembles a game from the Tales series. The game supports single-player and online multiplayer modes. Grand Kingdom was first released back in 2015 in Japan and is now making its way to PS4 and PS Vita in Europe and North America.
Grand Kingdom is set within a medieval fantasy world that’s raging full of war with four powerful “Great Nations” fighting for dominance over the continent. The story is set one hundred years after the fall of the Uldein Empire where times have changed. Gone are the days when Royal Knights fight for their Empire. Now wars are fought and won with mercenary groups all fighting for various reasons, some fight for wealth but for most it’s a way of life, whilst others simply just try to make a big name for themselves.
Grand Kingdom isn’t quite on the same level as other more superior tactical RPGs such as Final Fantasy Tactics and the long-running beloved Fire Emblem series when it comes to story-telling, character development, and tactical fun gameplay. Instead, Grand Kingdom has other qualities that make it a fun alternative which has a few good ideas and a lot more depth than what first meets the eye. It took me quite a while to get into Grand Kingdom. There’s a lot of information you are required to read so you can get an understanding for the gameplay mechanics. Then the game tutorials will teach you the rest, including the combat system. It’s daunting having to learn so much early on, but it’s worth learning as there’s a lot of meat to this game.
The story begins with you as the leader of your very own mercenary squad. After your first mission, you decide to join the “Guild”, a very famous mercenary company with a strong reputation. You become the newest mercenary squad member to join which means you will have to complete various quests and story missions specifically for the Guild. You will also be able to undertake special tasks from each of the four Great Nations, and doing so you will encounter each of the four nation leaders. Learn all about their motivations, hidden agendas, and history of each nation and become sucked into a conflict that threatens the entire realm leaving you and your group of merry men and women to fight and put an end to things to stop the continent from falling into the wrong hands.
The two biggest strengths in Grand Kingdom are the deep combat system that grants you freedom to come up with your own tactics, let you customise and build the characters the way you want, and secondly, the vast amount of content the game offers when compared to other tactical RPGs. There’s a considerable number of different classes to choose from, with 17 in total that play very differently from each other all having unique skills and magic. The 17 classes are divided into four types: Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Specialist.
Melee units have very high attack and defence and specialize in close quarters combat. They also have the ability to guard which negates a lot of incoming damage. Ranged units dominate from long distance and can attack from anywhere on the battlefield, although it’s advised to keep them at the back out of harm’s way because of their low defence. Magic units can attack multiple enemies at the same time and possess some of the most powerful skills in the game. The only drawback to that is some of their skills need to be charged beforehand which results in that character becoming very vulnerable to damage at times. Lastly, the Specialist unit is there for extra support. It’s not as important as the other 3 classes, but having one in your squad will increase your chances of survival thanks to the added benefits of having someone to treat injuries and negative ailments or cause havoc and disrupt the enemy. Each unit type has its advantages and disadvantages, so pick your squad of 4 with consideration.
Now back to the other huge strength of the game, which is the content. Grand Kingdom supports an online multiplayer mode called ‘War’. In this game mode, you will need to pledge your allegiance to one for the 4 Great Nations by signing a contract then choosing the duration of how long you will fight for them lasting anywhere from 1 to 5 wars. The longer the duration, the more rewards you will receive. Not only that, you will be waging war against other players that have been contracted to fight for other nations. This is a mode that will take a little while to get used to, but it’s a great way to test your mercenary squad against tougher opposition. If testing your abilities online isn’t for you, there are 48 story chapters that revolve around the ‘Guild’ and each Great Nation where you will discover more of the lore and be introduced to a variety of characters with all kinds of personalities.
The combat system is turn-based, meaning you take turns fighting and positioning yourself to get the upper hand over your opponent. Fights are played out on a battle zone grid. The battlefields are very small and narrow consisting of three lanes in which your characters can move between, fight, use magic, and place traps or obstacles. The whole idea is for battles to become fast and fluid as you unleash deadly spells and timed combos to quickly dispatch your enemies. For all the good points that Grand Kingdom has, the game is far from perfect. The chessboard styled battlefield didn’t work for me. There is no tension, and you never feel at danger when moving your squad across the field. Repetition sets in quite early on as quest missions are all similar with slightly different objectives. The story isn’t that engaging nor interesting, so in the end you don’t feel compelled to care about any of the nations as you won’t feel attached to them, except maybe a handful of the characters. In the end, Grand Kingdom brings some great new additions to the genre and has the potential to become the beginning of a long running series that can give Fire Emblem a run for its money.
Developer: Monochrome Corporation
Publisher: NIS America
Platforms: PS4, PS Vita
Release Date: 17th June 2016