Record of Agarest War (Switch) Review
Release Date: March 9, 2023
Publisher/Developer: Aksys Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $39.99
Released originally two generations ago on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Record of Agarest War has been rereleased on the Switch as a full package with all the previously released DLC, along with add-on dungeons, upscaled art, new music, and full HD movies. This tactical RPG’s twist is how the story spans generations: You start with a main character who meets three female party members. Eventually you develop a relationship with one of them and sire the next generation’s main character. The strength of the bond with your mate helps determine the stats and abilities of the next generation. Therefore, the game has a multitude of paths to take if you truly want to see everything it has to offer.
RoAW is a blend of tactical role playing game and visual novel. Honestly, it can be overwhelming at the start: several walls of text describe a battle of the gods that happened ages ago that, at first, feel like they have nothing to do with your characters or what you are fighting for. As I played, I saw a bevy of dials and meters that didn’t seem to change at first because a mechanic hadn’t been introduced yet.
As I proceeded, I got into the actual battles and felt they were just as daunting. You begin a battle and choose your movement. After that, everyone moves at once. It goes against my normal Tactical RPG logic as the enemy moves at the same time, which can change your plans. Also, placing your team in certain patterns can allow them to chain into each other. While this means proper placement can let a character on the other side of the battlefield land a satisfactory killing blow, I feel that placement is so specific and poorly labeled that I have a hard time placing, especially when directions make a difference. It seems easier to set my characters in a decent pattern at the starting zone, save action points by not moving, and waiting for the enemies to come to me. Also, each character still gets their active turn, so while you may get the benefit of someone chaining and getting their turn early, when you get to them they still get their turn, but they may be out of Ability Points. I struggled with this because I just found it frustrating to have to complete the cycle with every character. You also get bonus points for overkilling someone, encouraging the chaining, but for me I just felt like “these are attacks that could be killing someone else.” Certain combinations of attacks do turn into more powerful attacks, so part of the fun in grinding is learning what those combos are so you can use them in the story-based battles. It does seem though that each different battlefield is merely a skin, as all the fields seem to be flat planes.
I feel that there are a lot of mechanics under the hood of Record of Agarest War. I understand that the next generation pushes the story forward, but I also struggle with the idea that I put work into characters for it to roll to another generation, and enemies don’t get a chance to be truly evil. True tactical RPG fans are going to find plenty to drool over, and visual novel fans are going to enjoy the storyline and multiple paths. It may feel daunting at first, and there are many times I wondered about the purpose of a mechanic, but despite all this it rolls into an overall enjoyable experience. Finding the right combos and maxing out damage on enemies is a lot of fun, and honestly the disjointed battle style and grinding mechanics fit much better on a portable system like the Switch as opposed to the systems the game originally came out on. The addition of updated graphics, cinematics, and addition of all the previous DLC means that this is the ultimate way to play Record of Agarest War.
Pros:
-Full package, updated with modern graphics and details
-Unique multigenerational storyline
Cons:
-So many systems I struggled to integrate them all
-Everyone simultaneously moves, can mess with strategies
Special thanks to Aksys Games for providing a code for review!