Spaceland (Switch) Review
Release Date: October 30, 2019
Publisher/Developer: Ellada Games/Tortuga Team
Platform: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), Steam, Apple Arcade
Price: $14.99 (or an Apple Arcade subscription)
Ever since my first turn on Final Fantasy Tactics, I’ve been in love with the strategy RPG genre. However, the genre doesn’t really lend itself to quick spurts of gameplay. I’ve picked up FFT for my iOS device. While I ran through the game several times back on the OG PlayStation I’ve barely scratched the surface in my phone. Whether it’s the deep storylines or intense battles, any session of a strategy game simply isn’t going to squeeze itself into a bus ride or between meetings. Spaceland attempts to bring the strategy of the genre to a mobile-style speed, with each battle lasting about 10-15 minutes.
Spaceland is somewhere between homage and cookie-cutter in it’s presentation. Landing on a mysterious planet, you explore, kill hostile aliens, and upgrade weapons and abilities across an isoemetric battlefield. What it lacks in originality it makes up for in quality, though. My first praise of Spaceland comes from the interface. Many Switch games either force you to choose between touchscreen or button controls, or perhaps at the least the labeling of said controls is set up to show one or the other. Any time I played Spaceland in handheld mode, a tap on a button would pop up the button interface, which would then sink back down any time I tried to interact with the touch function. Your squad is small but versatile. You will unlock about seven or so characters over the course of the game to comprise your smaller battle team. Luckily, death isn’t the end for any of these characters, which fits well with the quick battle styles. It’s less thinking and strategizing and more blasting aliens. Even if your whole party is wiped, you are only out ten or so minutes max unlike my unlucky moments in Fire Emblem where I might lose an hour’s work if I want to rectify an error. There’s also boss battles included, which mix up the gameplay and add some truly epic battles.
Perhaps this is where reviews of Spaceland will be divisive. Those tiny battles don’t require a lot of tactics to prep for. Characters have a growth system, but it’s pretty simplistic and straightforward. A hardcore Strategic RPG player would find this simplistic in presentation, but I personally see these kind of design choices much more positively. Gamers who need that “fix” of SRPG in a short burst can get a few rounds in when they have some time to kill rather than having to schedule an entire gaming session to play one, maybe two battles. Spaceland also has a budget price, giving small cost to these small battles.
There is a fluidity to movement in Spaceland I wish more SRPGs would engage in. Instead of being forced to “move” and “attack” all at once, each character has a set amount of moves/energy they can do in any order. Standing still, a character may get off two shots, when moving they may only get one. You might even move a maximum distance but sacrifice your attack. You can even choose to inch up your characters bit by bit to strategize and decide what to do next. Each character has ammunition required to fire even their most basic weapon, and you can and will run out of ammo mid level. There are chances to restock, but a few levels have you aim for an objective and have just enough ammo to get there, leading to a mad dash to the exit with aliens hot on your tail.
Spaceland offers a bite-sized taste of classic SRPG action themed with an homage to early games in the genre as well as classic science fiction. There seem to be a few errors in translation here and there (nothing much, just made me have to re-read a panel or two to understand exactly what they’re trying to say), and most of the story is told through static pictures and text, but this budget title offers more than I originally expected for the price. If you love SRPGs but can’t seem to find the time to fit one into your busy life these days, Spaceland might be just what you’re looking for.
Pros:
-Bite-sized SRPG : quick battles, basic upgrade tree, and simple storyline
-Wonderfully created interface on Switch allows ease in swapping between buttons and touchscreen
-Ingenious flexible turn-based system allows dynamic tweaking of your attack plan
Cons:
-SRPG hardcore fans may find it too simplistic
-A few translation errors here and there
-I can’t seem to find a zoom in/out function
Special thanks to Ellada Games/Tortuga Team for providing a code for review!