Analysis of the Chronicles of Diofield

Strategic combat comes to Xbox thanks to DioField Chronicle

Little by little we see a greater number of Japanese proposals on our console. From musical games, visual novels, J-RPGs, to strategy titles as particular as the one we are analyzing today. The scheme may be similar to other similar proposals such as A company of heroesbut this time we will trade tanks for heroes with different abilities who will give everything to save their country. Or rather, his island. Get ready to know in depth what we think The Diofield Chronicle.

Use your head to save the kingdom

From the hand of Square-Enix This particular proposal comes to us where we will have to manage the fights that take place on the battlefield. Although in practice we are faced with a title of fights without turns, the truth is that most of the time we will pause the action looking for the best position for our warriors and choose the right attack for that exact moment. Come on, what the study catalogs as RTTB (Real Time Tactical Battle). This means that beyond moving troops one way or another, we constantly have to think about other factors both on and off the playing field.

The island that resists the invader

History places us in the context of three factions at odds with each other. Since we belong to an island, we are somewhat on the fringes of the global conflict, although this peace will not last long. Magic, monsters and enemy controlled troops will make us interfere in these war conflicts. To do this, we will be elite mercenaries who make up the so-called blue fox who will carry out the tasks that the duke and the notables of the region entrust to us.

At this point we must point out The great flaw of The DioField Chronicle: its lack of translation.

It’s true that I’m a player who raises my hand to the lack of translation, according to the title and its narration. Well, this proposal depends a lot on the texts to know the framework, the betrayals and script twists that we will find. And I tell you that the English used is not easy, which makes it difficult to understand the dialogues and the story. Can you benefit from the experience? Sure. But if you don’t know English, you will miss an interesting part of the game.

Highlights within Blue Fox

Having said the negative aspect, we will move on to the virtues, which are not uncommon. The Chronicle of DioField can be divided into two very different parts: the management/preparation in our base and the battles that we will play. Although at the beginning of the adventure we will only have three heroes, as we advance in history more and more followers will join our cause. Each of these new warriors will have an attack style, weapons and category. There will be mounted lancers, assassins, magicians, archers and squires. All with their specific role in combat, so we will have to find a good balance in our team if we want to succeed in each mission.

One for all and all for one

When facing enemies, several factors must be taken into account. To start, We can put these heroes together in teams of two to join forces, or leave separately. There will be a time when, due to an excess of protagonists, we will have to join them, so we will have to choose the teams well. Each of these heroes will have several special attacks, although using them will cost EP (or mana, to understand each other better). Using and managing it in a balanced way will be the key to not dying trying. Although if we are in a hurry, we can draw invocations (very Final Fantasy moments, it must be said), with which to perform powerful attacks or heal ourselves, depending on our particular conditions.

Master in Topography

It does not end there, since the position on the ground will be essential. We will be able to move our troops at the same time, although the ideal (especially against endgame enemies) will be strategically distribute our troops according to their role. While Lancers and Shieldbearers are good at luring the enemy in and facing them head-on, Assassins will be very useful from behind, dealing critical damage. Of course, the archers will do damage from a distance and the magicians, in addition to attacking, will be able to heal us and give us bonuses of different kinds.

It’s true that they sometimes lack a bit of “common sense”. It hasn’t happened to me once or twice that after performing a special attack, the duty hero stands in front of the enemy and does nothing. That lack of battlefield instinct is lacking, but thankfully that doesn’t happen often either.

It may be that over the hours we already have a particular fighting style and we execute everything the same way. However, at no point was The DioField Chronicle repetitive for me. There is always a different objective in mind, a new character to try, an attack to evolve or materials to collect to improve our attributes. And with the latter, we move on to the second block of the game, which is its management in our operations center.

Welcome to the DioField Chronicle Operations Center

It can be scary at first. And describing everything we can do on our base is hard to describe gibberish. But basically, outside the battle we will control Andrias, the main character of the adventure. We can move freely in the mansion, entering the different rooms enabled for a specific use. From the room where we will choose the next mission, to the store, a laboratory, another leisure space with a game codex… This interaction with the rooms will be our moment of contemplation and preparation for the dangers that we will encounter later.

skin is skin

And even if we can buy new weapons, accessories, improve our combat techniques or even bring passive skills to our summons, everything has a price. A very high price, specifying a little more. We are not faced with the typical role-playing game where in a few hours we will be the richest heroes in the kingdom and equip ourselves with the best weapons. It doesn’t work that way here. Equipment for the whole troop is expensive, and We won’t always be able to buy the best weapons or upgrade our favorite skills.

We will have to make sacrifices and choose those who adapt to our style of play. And if you push me, even if it means disavowing certain warriors to improve the most important warriors.

That’s not a bad thing, far from it. I loved being limited to both silver, crystals and bullion. This lack of resources forces you to focus on the upgrades you invest in.not to waste and also to get the extras that are in each mission. For example, if no one falls on the battlefield, we will get an upgrade for our special attack, or if we complete the phase in less time than expected, we will get extra money.

As if they were models of war

Visually, The DioField Chronicle has light and dark. The character and enemy design looks decent to me. The artistry of the heroes (with that medieval appreciation that only the Japanese can infuse into their projects), the operations center and the scenarios are also polished. But the textures, especially in our base management, creak a bit due to their flat designs. I’m also shocked at our size on the battlefield compared to the whole. We will be like giants compared to adjacent houses, but then the enemy’s bridges and walls will be on our scale. All a bit odd, though thankfully it doesn’t influence the playable mechanics.

Conclusion of the DioField Chronicle

Square Enix brings us a very particular playable proposal that mixes the management of our operations center with the strategy on the battlefield. We will have to equip our heroes well, complete the assigned missions and improve their skills so that they can perform well against the enemy. Although it is not a turn-based combat, we can pause the action to choose special actions or to redistribute the group to do more damage. It is not an extremely demanding or challenging title if we know how to adapt to the way it plays, although we will have to be careful with the few resources we will have. Although the experience is somewhat clouded by the lack of translation into our language, it has several very fun premises with which we will live exciting fights.