Battle Chasers: Nightwar

Battle Chasers: Nightwar for PC, SWITCH and etc. is a turn-based jRPG set in the universe featured in the popular comic book series called Battle Chasers, created by Joe Madureira and published between 1998-2001 by WildStorm and Image Comics. The game described herein has been developed by the independent Airship Syndicate, established by the former employees of Vigil Games who have worked on the Darksiders series - Ryan Stefanelli and Joe Madureira himself, who decided to start a career in the video game industry. What is worth mentioning, the developers were able to create the game thanks to an extremely successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

Plot

The story of Battle Chasers: Nightwar is set in the arcanepunk universe featured in the comic book series. In this universe, science and magic coexist with one another. The game tells an entirely new story, thus one does not have to be familiar with the comic books. During the game, a player assumes control over a party of three, comprising characters known from the comic book original, including a legendary warrior Garrison, a nine-year-old Gully, a golem Calibretto, Kholan the sorcerer, and Red Monika - a bounty hunter.

Mechanics

It was developers' intention for the game to pay homage to classic jRPG productions such as Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Chrono Trigger, and Phantasy Star. Gameplay is set across two separate plains - the first one being the exploration of the in-game world players get to observe from the top-down perspective. This world is mostly composed of randomly generated dungeons filled with various events, monsters, and challenging bosses. This gameplay aspect is also full of typical action elements. The team a player gets to control has to avoid different traps, and each member exhibits a unique set of skills that are useful when traversing the dungeons, e.g. destroying walls and healing companions. All throughout the numerous recesses, one can find vendors selling rare items, magic shrines, and even powerful artifacts.

The other gameplay element mentioned above focuses on turn-based combat set in separate 2.5D arenas, similarly to other classic jRPGs. Each controlled character exhibits a unique set of skills that can be developed as one earns experience points. The combat system utilizes the initiative mechanics, which determines the order of actions for all the characters on the battlefield. Moreover, during a battle one has to manage his team's energy and can mount powerful special attacks, which can turn the tide of more than one battle. Each visited dungeon can be revisited on a higher difficulty level.

Technical aspects

In terms of the technical aspects, the PC, SWITCH and etc. release of Battle Chasers: Nightwar delivers comic-book-like visuals, co-developed by the author of the original series - Joe Madureira. In the game, players get to observe the action from the top-down perspective (typical for many 2.5D iconic RPGs). Also worth mentioning is the fact the for the most part of the campaign a player gets to familiarize himself with the story, not through the animated cutscenes, but consecutive progress.

Last updated on 01 June 2017