The DioField Chronicle

Real-time tactics meets old-timey politics in The DioField Chronicle, a fast-paced JRPG where quick and fun combat are paired with a generic story and some awkward controls.

The Diofield Chronicle is a pedestrian real-time tactics game that suffers from a lack of imagination.

Its stunning real-time battles with tactical pause are packed with drama and visual flourishes, but The DioField Chronicle's convoluted story and deeply questionable cast hold it back from true greatness.

Where Octopath was fairly heavily promoted by Nintendo, however, it does feel like Diofield has been tossed into the ocean of the market to sink or swim. It’s the sort of game that probably doesn’t float very easily, either. It’s the sort of product that requires some marketing-shaped buoyancy aids. It was never going to cruise to success - and now I fear it never will. But it’s worth a look – and hopefully its ideas will go forward in other future projects. They’re certainly worth revisiting.

Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

All in all, The DioField Chronicle is a decent strategy RPG. Its characters certainly won't live long in the memory, and it can be a an unnecessary grind, but it's well crafted and fairly engaging on the battlefield.

Despite its shortcomings, The DioField Chronicle is still a solid tactical RPG experience with enough JRPG tropes to interest fans of both genres. The unique gameplay provides plenty of challenge, though it can require a lot of grinding to keep pace with the difficulty curve. The art style is beautiful both in and out of combat but the characters and plot fail to live up to the same standard. In this case, its ambition outstretched its means and it fell just short of where it wanted to be.

Despite its various shortcomings, The DioField Chronicle is a refreshing take on strategy RPGs with satisfying gameplay systems and bold narrative design.

If you're interested in a uniquely told story of macro and micro power struggles, you must be willing to wade through a lengthy series of repetitive battles to get through it.

The DioField Chronicle includes a lot of setup for potential sequels, but it does a solid job of laying down the proper foundation to make that work long-term.