In the year 781, a war breaks out between six divided nations on the continent of Runersia. The conflict is sparked by the unexplained death of the Norzaleo Kingdom's monarch, followed by an invasion from the Holy Gustava Empire, which itself is in the midst of civil unrest. The Republic of Guimoule's president also disappears mysteriously as a religious revolution takes hold in the Mana Saleesia Theocracy, a nation of a rival faith. At the same time, the Shinobi Tribe declares independence and the United Islands of Mirelva seize the opportunity provided by the chaos to plunder the mainland.
Conquer a continent and fell a god.
The player selects from one of six nations to control, each with its own storyline and reason for conquest; some like the Shinobi Tribe desire freedom from the influence of other nations, while the Gustava Empire wants to prove their worth as the only nation without a "Brigandine" (powerful relic). The goal is to systematically eliminate each nation until yours is the last one standing. Each country has a unique color and emblem used to highlight their territory and occupied bases on the map. The player will have to deal with different advantages and disadvantages depending on the nation chosen:
Norzaleo Kingdom: Brigandine of Justice
The kingdom was established on a large island by Adessa, an ancient hero who washed ashore on its beaches. The nation values hard work and is in a feud with the Holy Gustava Empire over a past incident. The territory is easy to defend and branch out from. Beginner-friendly.
Republic of Guimoule: Brigandine of Glory
A presidential-monarchy established by Mohana Carradine on the mainland, it is the self-proclaimed birthplace of Rune Knights. Guimoule's faith in the Rune God is known as the 'Mohana Sect'. They have been at war with the Mana Saleesia Theocracy’s 'Zai Sect' for 30 years. They are well-balanced with various classes, but its large size means that there are more frontline bases to protect.
Shinobi Tribe: Brigandine of Freedom
Occupying the deep forest fortress of the former Hazam Nation, the tribe is self-ruled by women who exiled all the men. They sustained themselves on work as spies and mercenaries for the other nations prior to declaring independence. Their territory is small but guarded by an army built for defense. They get a huge home-field advantage from the terrain.
Mana Saleesia Theocracy: Brigandine of Sanctity
Ruled by a Holy Sovereign, it is the dominant country of the continent, said to be the "Mana Spring" that birthed the five 'Brigandine Mana Stones'. Self-proclaimed true followers of the Rune God, they are in an ongoing holy war with the Republic of Guimoule. They are the largest country with strong units, but also the greatest number of frontline bases to guard. Challenging.
United Islands of Mirelva: Brigandine of Ego
An alliance of seven small islands ruled by pirate scions. The chairperson of the alliance is selected from among the island's leaders. Decisive and opportunistic, they never ignore a chance to plunder. The string of islands is easily guarded by an army built for offense.
Holy Gustava Empire: N/A
A desolate nation formed by displaced wanderers from other countries, they are governed by emperors of the Gustav clan. As the only nation without a Brigandine they unified through strong family ties and a spirit of rebellion. They have a large territory guarded by fewer knights than the other nations, and their frontline bases are connected to multiple enemy bases. Intermediate challenge.
Each round (season) is split into two phases: "Organization" and "Action". During the organization phase you can move troops between bases, assign monsters, change gear/class, or send units out on quests to gain items and experience. It's a balancing act between keeping your troops strong and the base defended. If all your troops are off leveling on quests, they won't be around to protect the castle, and a base without any available troops to defend it will be taken without a fight.
In the attack phase, up to three units that are not wounded or occupied with other tasks can invade adjacent bases. The power of enemy forces, coupled with the position of their base relative to others, is a major deciding factor in who you assault and when. It is usually a safe bet to take forts guarded by natural barriers, such as ocean or mountains, with only one frontline to guard. By that same logic, it is risky to take a fort that puts the nation in conflict with several others, especially if it is short on troops to defend it. Battles against higher level enemies can still be won, but likely at the cost of monsters that you'd rather keep alive for future encounters.
Battles play out on hexagonal grids with up to three units, comprised of 1 human leader and 6 monsters (max), from each side. Players are encouraged to build complementary teams by the diverse functions the different monster types serve. Weak but magically gifted units, like unicorns and imps, are good support for offensive units like dragons. Characters all have different movement ranges dictated by their type and class. Tanky golems and mages have some of the shortest ranges, while flying units have the largest mobility range of any unit. Monsters are also strongest when they are near their leader's side, as indicated by a colored field on the playing field. Moving monsters outside this field will inflict stat penalties, as will placing them on improper terrain. Sea serpents wont fare as well on land as they will in water for example. Flying units are unique in that they have no preferred terrain, thus receiving no benefits or hindrances to stats regardless of where they are placed. There are also elemental effects to take into consideration, and some attacks cannot be used if the character recently moved.
The battles themselves aren't especially enthralling. The first few rounds are used to move troops closer to the enemy and victory generally comes down to positioning more than anything. Even then, elemental effects and terrain advantages were never as effective as taking out the enemy leaders. When a leader falls in battle, or retreats, their monsters leave with them, and if a nation's ruler is on the battlefield, taking them out will cause all enemy units to retreat, granting the player an instant win.
Once units starts leveling up, their skills will grow immensely in power. That's especially true for class upgrades, which often branch out into elemental variants. It is possible for Rune Knights to be injured in battle, requiring a rest period, but they'll never die, unlike monsters. Monsters fallen in battle or captured by enemy forces are gone forever. It is possible to revive a few of them with their levels intact if you have a special item, but it's pretty rare. There is also a one-hundred monster limit for each nation, so there is no way to fully deck out each team. Limiting the number of storable monsters seems to serve little purpose other than to have some Rune Knights ill equipped to participate in battles.
Legend of Runersia is quite simple to play despite its overwhelming appearance, and provides some great tutorials for new comers. There is a good balance of interesting features without a lot of micromanagement, and watching your strength grow as new areas are overtaken is exciting, powerful feeling even, but the repetitive nature of combat quickly becomes a grind. The story provides a base motive for conquest but does not offer any diplomatic options. Most new recruits have a decent introductory story, but not much else is fleshed out beyond the recruitment pitch.
The visuals use a gorgeous watercolor aesthetic with fine line-work that easily catches the eye. This unique style allows Legend of Runersia to stand apart from its competitors. However, many of the female outfit designs are questionable at best, with most of them looking like they just got off of work at the strip club. The male characters have nice looking armor designs, but more than half of the female characters have not-safe-for-work clothing; anything from breasts about to pop-out of a tight fitting outfit, to fully nude women with just a few rags and scraps of cloth to hide their lady bits. I don't know how these designs got approved for a game that isn't "adult-oriented" or rated "Mature", but you may want to be careful about playing this one with the family around.
First posted to videogamegeek.com on November 29, 2020.
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