Divided Reigns

I won't say it has one of the best combat in JRPG, but it has one of the best turn-based combat systems with more traditional and simplistic mechanics. The lack of convoluted mechanics does not restrict the fun, as there is good progression design and great tactical depth. Most battles (including mob battles) feel unique, surprising, and continuously challenging, but not unnecessarily daunting or annoying. The story is not a masterpiece, but it successfully keeps me engrossed and interested for most of the time. There is a good balance between foreseeable events and unpredictable twists in the story, hence the story flows naturally and feels rewarding to where it goes. There are certain moments that will remind you this is not your childhood JRPG story, such as a generally more mature theme, or the inclusion of LGBT content that is more common in western games nowadays but rarely seen in the Japanese's ones, and it is understandable and could be a pros for some players. I would rate this game 8.0 as an overall impression. 8.0 for the story, 9.0 for the combat.

A full featured RPG game with emphasis on tactical variance. Extremely well balanced in hard mode. If you've never played before, expect 100 to 400 hours of game play depending on how much you grind and explore. This game has an excellent online walkthrough, but I recommend not using it until after mid-game to collect what you may have missed. Divided Reigns is a hidden gem that will stay relevant for decades.

I feel young again. God i missed a world map on a rpg. This game is the reason i buy them in the first place. I'm so immersed in the feeling of old gaming days i only play this game on my 4k screen. Just like old time with a console. This game was clearly made by inspired players who went through the same gaming pattern i did in my days and possess many, many easter eggs of old snes games. The main character, a knight top commander of the armed forces of his kingdom, disgraced and exiled with a trusted friend by the king in a castle that is a copy/paste of Baron. ( Hello Cecil from FF4 ) The shunned race of Abeyans, the only ones to be able to cast magic, getting erased from the world for their magic power with a shady past of looking down on humans as feeble and weak. ( Espers from FF6 ) Just to name these two but i have noticed much more. The world map, airships, sailing ship, hidden spots on the map without any hint they exist, fantastic musics the vintage looking UI with the lightning speed of modern game just make this perfect.

Step 1: Chase the macguffin Step 2: Get betrayed, have trust issues Step 3: Party member gets kidnapped Step 4: Save party member Step 5: Repeat from step 1 about 6 more times until game finishes. Oh and dont forget, meaningless choices and scripted losses, Oh did you minmax the hell out of your character and take the time to grind out levels? Too bad, because despite you nuking a baddie to near half in one turn and blowing up all his minons and tanking his attacks with a net 0 dmg done to yourself, you still just lose, Why? For the same reason there are no choices, there shall be 0 deviation. I mean cmon, you could at LEAST let players play the fight out and if they win? Toss them a cool item or an achivement, you can still railroad the story but give me some reason to actually engage with your game and grind levels and such.

This game hits all the nostalgic fun you'll find in a SNES or Genesis RPG but finds away to stand out on it's own. The characters are very good, the story is great and the combat system really makes this game unique. Very good game. Would recommend.

Played from start to finish on Very Hard (minus the Choicemaker dungeons). Despite being made in RPG Maker, the game still has a high quality to it. The story had me engaged from start to finish, and had a very satisfying ending to cap it all off. The combat and systems are great in that there are party/item synergies that you need to think of, you can't just mash attack even in normal encounters. It ultimately reminded me of JRPGs that demanded party synergy and proper specialization, like Etrian Odyssey and Labyrinth of Touhou 2. Though, like most RPGs, there are builds that shine in the early game but fall off in the late game and vice versa. Balance is likely good enough on Normal and Hard, but on Very Hard there are some cracks here and there especially with Physical vs Magical damage and Evasion vs Defense tanking where both of the formers are way, way better after a bit of time. Encounter design is also great and challenging (though people can find them a bit "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥"). Some encounters have ways to mitigate your tricks and you'll be forced to adapt. Overall, highly recommended!

This game scratches that itch for a solid, story rich old-school JRPG. I was raised on FF, Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest), Vandal Hearts etc. No kidding, the Divided Reigns story is Really good! Normal difficulty is just tough enough to not let you progress too quickly, but also to not require 20 hours of grinding.

This has been one of my favorites of the genre. Nice story, fun characters, and a battle system that keeps things from being to repetitive.

Just finished the game on Hard. What a feast. My ingame clock reads like 170 hours but my Steam timer shows a lot less. I played some on Gabbin's Big Deck so maybe that's why? I would say my playthrough was 80 hours and I'm putting the game down here with the Postgame dungeon unfinished because I'm off to play Octopath Traveller 2. Like I said, it's a feast: -It has a long and wandering plot with a lot of highs and lows that is, ultimately, I think pretty well done and well payed off in the end. The plot isn't a strong as some recent RPG highlights like Chained Echoes perhaps but it's a mature, interesting story with a really long run time and ever increasing stakes. -It has a SUPER DEEP combat system that really rewards learning it and digging in. You get 9 characters who are almost all specialists in specific things and who you will use when those things are called for (except Naomi whose invaluable in basically all fights). There are are probably 300 unique interacting abilities you could use between Attack types, skills, magic and items. If that sounds daunting and annoying I would recommend a lower difficulty and I bet you could largely get away with using only a small part of your abilities. If, however, that sounds like fun and you like these kinds of games, play this on Hard and have fun continuing to find new ways to kill enemies 70 hours into the game. -If you like JRPG optimization, this is a banger in that department. The itemization is superb. You will get HUNDREDS of interesting upgrades, sidegrades and pieces of equipment that are good in specific situations. This is really where a lot of optimizing happens. The characters themselves don't have skill trees or stat allocation but they do learn abilities both individually and as part of the deep "Attacks" list in combat. -The Characters are good to great all around. I didn't like all the story beats for each one because that's how art works but I mean I finished the game so clearly I was enjoying my time with them. And the two developers managed to make a huge ensemble RPG with really no characters that were total misses or fanservice nonsense. So big props here too. I haven't played the developers previous game but I'm adding it to my backlog now. I can't wait to see what these guys do next! Bravo and congrats on making an incredible game!

I don't appreciate the political content deep in the game. Gross and uncalled for.