As a seasoned RPG enthusiast with decades of gaming under my belt, I must say that “Sword of Convallaria” has certainly piqued my interest. The game’s unique blend of strategy and narrative, coupled with its stunning visuals, has made for an engaging experience.
Despite not typically focusing on live service games, a new title has caught my interest: Sword of Convallaria. Developed by XD Inc., known for mobile-centric spinoffs of popular IPs such as Ragnarok Online, I initially thought this game wouldn’t hold my attention. However, upon exploring it thoroughly and exhausting all its content, I felt compelled to share my thoughts. Since live service games are constantly evolving, predicting how Sword of Convallaria will perform in the future is challenging.
The tale commences as your character’s avatar stirs in a confined cell, stricken by amnesia. Upon breaking free, you find yourself in the tumultuous kingdom of Iria, which has been thrown into disarray due to a violent uprising. In this rebellion, your persona meets an untimely end and is transported to a realm reminiscent of purgatory called Elysium. Here, you embark on a quest to unveil the enigmas of Elysium by locating Tarot cards, crucial components in the Fool’s Journey game scenario. With the wisdom and might amassed in Elysium, you can reshape destiny, revisiting Iria to influence the trajectory of events in the Spiral of Destiny gameplay mode.
Fundamentally, Sword of Convallaria revolves around strategic gameplay set on a grid map. The speed of units is fixed and non-adjustable. Typically, heavy tank units take the lead, followed by ranged units. A weapon triangle system is in place: red (Breakers) overcome green (Defenders), while blue (Seekers) have an edge over red. Terrain factors significantly, offering strategic benefits based on unit placement. Although it doesn’t reach the tactical depth of games like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, its end-game challenges necessitate careful planning and strategy.
In this game mode called The Fool’s Journey, you’ll find most of the live service features. This mode revolves around accumulating resources to enhance your characters, which can be acquired through a gacha system. While not excessively restrictive, it’s also not extremely generous. One point of confusion is the game’s pity system. Initially, it might seem less generous than other gacha games, but there are actually three distinct pity systems in operation. Firstly, there’s a general pity system that kicks in after 180 rolls, which is quite high. The drop rates are 2%, not great but not terrible either. However, the limited currency gain makes it feel slow. Secondly, each banner has its unique pity system, independent of the 180-roll threshold, and if you draw the featured unit, your 180-roll counter resets. Lastly, there’s a lesser-known hidden pity system under a 2% rate that guarantees an SSR unit on the next pull if your pull rate is below 2%. Another disadvantage is the banners are released more frequently to match the Chinese base version’s pace.
In this game, the character called ‘Sword of Convallaria’ can be defeated using lower-rarity units, which are essential in late-game player versus environment (PvE) content. However, higher-rarity characters tend to be stronger, even though they may not have all the specialized tools found in their lower-rarity counterparts. Having multiple copies of a character provides memory shards for leveling up, a system reminiscent of those in games like ‘Langrisser Mobile’ and ‘Princess Connect Re: Dive’. Unlike Hoyoverse’s Eidolon and Constellation mechanics, here, you can farm shards to upgrade characters, making it more feasible for free-to-play players.
However, character progression has its drawbacks. At certain ranks, you are forced to choose between two skills, and unlocking the alternate skill requires an extremely rare resource called Castalia. Castalia is difficult to acquire without spending money. Moreover, progression is heavily gated by a slow stamina recharge system, and resources for upgrading characters can run dry quickly. In the end-game, the costs to upgrade weapons and characters rise sharply, further slowing progress. To make matters worse, some of the recharge currencies are time-limited, which creates a FOMO effect for players.
In The Fool’s Journey, there’s a distinct subplot that deviates from the main storyline and isn’t as captivating. This secondary narrative revolves around gathering objects akin to Tarot cards, known as MacGuffins, while evading spectral beings called the Calamity. Every now and then, you catch glimpses of characters who later appear in Spiral of Destiny, providing extra background information. Unfortunately, this game mode’s storyline is the least captivating aspect of the game.
Instead of the “Spiral of Destiny,” one could refer to it as the main narrative’s highlight. It operates similarly to a roguelike game. Although you can bring three characters from the main game, their stats aren’t crucial because of the power level adjustments in this mode. Every week, you train your characters and accomplish quests, both of which deplete stamina. When it runs out, they need to recuperate. As the plot unfolds, the choices you make during quests influence the path you follow, based on the alliances you forge. Future updates are planned to introduce more factions, thereby broadening the mode’s scope.
In the game Spiral of Destiny, the storyline stands out as a key highlight, offering an immersive experience over many hours thanks to its thoughtfully constructed plot. The political turmoil and internal conflicts within Iria are particularly captivating. However, this mode demands a considerable time commitment, especially if you aim to explore all possible endings and fully grasp the storyline. A drawback is the checkpoint system, which allows for restart only at Beacon points (checkpoints per chapter), making it potentially hours before you can revisit crucial decision-making moments. Nevertheless, the narrative’s complexity and multiple factions influencing the outcome make it a rewarding endeavor. Unfortunately, the protagonist falls short in terms of character development and engaging dialogue choices.
Regarding its visual appeal, the game Sword of Convallaria truly shines. It employs contemporary 2D sprites akin to timeless classics such as Final Fantasy Tactics, boasting a level of detail similar to Triangle Strategy. The scenes are viewed from an isometric angle, but the fixed camera may cause annoyance in densely populated areas. An interesting design decision is that characters must face the direction they’re moving, making them susceptible to attacks from the side or back. Nevertheless, the gameplay feels fluid and reactive. The Steam version offers a choice between console and mobile UI, although the user interface could benefit from refinement, especially when it comes to displaying buffs and debuffs, which can be challenging to spot. Manually verifying enemy buffs can be tedious, making it hard to absorb all relevant information during battle. As for its audio, Hitoshi Sakimoto’s soundtrack offers an impressive score that showcases his unique talent.
All in all, I had a great experience playing Sword of Convallaria, but I’m uncertain if it will be able to keep its player community engaged for an extended period. The content can quickly become depleted, leading to a lot of grinding. Although the Spiral of Destiny mode presents a captivating narrative, replaying it is challenging because it requires significant time investment to revisit crucial events, particularly if one wishes to witness all potential conclusions. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic and eagerly anticipate future updates for the game.
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2024-09-13 06:26