Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire is an interesting game. A tactical strategy game with the story of an RPG and a unique artstyle, it's a game that clearly aimed a little bit higher than it could deliver. Not that there isn't quality in what's there, however; overall, it actually plays very well, with fun abilities and above all great encounter design. The game has a tendency to always give you a new problem to chew on, and that makes it fill out its 10 hour run time nicely.
So, with all of that, what's the problem? Why is it so unknown and (at time of writing) badly reviewed? Well, there is one big and one small reason, I think. Let's start with the small one: The non-combat sequences. While the story sequences are quite good, the moments where you're running around talking to people is too bare and empty. The game clearly takes inspiration from Banner Saga in its combat (which I'm fine with, it's a good system) and I wish they would have snatched its approach to dialogue as well. Having an entire WASD-based movement system in a mouse-driven tactics game, just to walk up to people and press Space for at most a handful of lines is pretty poor. I can't help but feel like the effort would have been better spent elsewhere.
Now for the big one: the ending. I actually liked Tahiras story a lot, even for what's there. I was a fan of an author named David Gemmel when I grew up, and Tahira reminded me a lot of his writing. There is something down-to-earth to it, a real sense of characters getting swept up in the flood of history, just trying to stay afloat and do the next right thing. On top of that, it's hyper-focused on one specific trek, one fortress being defended, and I think that's pretty cool. If the game had an ending that wrapped up the story in some sense, even if only through a few lines of text, I would've been happy with this story.
As it is, sadly, they went with a cliffhanger. The game just suddenly... stops. In the middle of the climax, to boot. It's as if you passed out right as you hit a homerun, never seeing the ball actually hit the stands. So, you're left with the inevitable feeling of, "That's it?". Which is never a good feeling to end a story with.
With that said, I still think Tahira has a lot of good qualities to it. I'm sad that it didn't sell better, as we'll probably never get a sequel, but what is there can still very much be enjoyed. If you've played Banner Saga and want some more, then just turn off the tutorial and go for it, I say. For the rest, it's still a pretty solid game. If you go into it with open eyes, ready for the disappointing ending, then I think you might find something good here.
