100) Dark Deity (2021)

First conceptualized while developers Chip Moore and Dylan Takeyama were in college, the pair set out to match the gameplay style of older tactical RPGs, such as Fire Emblem and Shining Force, with a modern look. Created in GameMaker, the game saw a successful Kickstarter campaign before being surprise released on Steam and later ported to the NIntendo Switch.

The story follows a group of military academy students who get swept up in a questionable war before finding themselves at the center of a much larger plot. We play as Irving, who comes to learn of his family's secrets while also becoming the face of a revolutionary group. While a story of political intrigue has plenty of potential, almost all of that is cast aside in favor of focusing on magical artifacts known as Eternal Aspects. These are rare items that can be equipped to any party member for a variety of effects and are deeply tied to the larger narrative. Again, while this has a lot of potential, the game instead seems content to treat them as little more than poorly explained macguffins, convenient for advancing the plot and raising the stakes.

I don't actively hate the story, but it is rather bland and predictable. The bigger draw is on the large roster of characters you pick up along the way. They join for a confusing array of reasons, some out of a sense of duty or honor, some for political or ideological reasons, and at least one who was just found in a barrel. While there are certainly more than a few characters that I liked, the sheer number of them made it hard to focus on more than a handful, and it meant that the majority of them feel less fleshed out. The game borrows the support conversations seen in Fire Emblem, giving a bit more depth while allowing for some fun interactions, but as these are almost entirely optional, they rarely provide more than simple window dressing for the mostly one note characters.

Each character does feature gorgeous artwork along with a small amount of voice acting. While mostly foley, there are a handful of lines that are wonderfully performed. That said, each character only has a handful of quotes that you hear in battle, usually reserved for when they score a critical hit. Some characters do this often enough that I grew weary of hearing how rude it was to stare, but that's honestly a small complaint. In combat, each character's sprite is simply a modified version of a generic sprite for their class, but the animations are so fluid and impressive that it's easy to overlook. The battle screen is my favorite bit of UI, providing some beautiful flavor to the action and always impressing.

While the gameplay has some depth to it, and the freedom it allows in how you grow your units is fun, there are times that the game design seems at odds with itself. As it features a large cast of recruitable characters and is heavily inspired by classic Fire Emblem games, one would expect the traditional permadeath system to be in place. This would allow for dramatic moments, encourage the use of a wider array of units, and make each playthrough feel unique and personal. The game forgoes this feature, instead having fallen units receive and injury that will permanently alter their stats. While this is certainly a welcome change for modern audiences, the lack of an option to change it is an odd choice, and while the stat penalties are relatively minor, all things considered, they have a snowball effect that can render early characters harder to use as you progress, easily being outclassed by new recruits.

In an attempt to offset the difficulty that the lack of permadeath creates, the game over corrects by often times overwhelming the map with enemies. Most of the maps are rather bland, so filling them with enemies in this way makes certain chapters an absolute slog to get through. There are a handful of fun, memorable maps that feature fun and creative gimmicks, but these are few and far between.

Dark Deity is an odd mix of classic tactical gameplay combined with modern design choices that put the game at odds with itself at times. The story, while not bad, is bland and forgettable with only a handful of characters truly standing out. The saving grace for combat is the gorgeous battle animations, but that only goes so far when most chapters feel like slogging through a bland map and having only one or two characters carry you through. While I enjoyed my time with the game, it's hard to imagine going back any time soon, though I am eager to see what Sword & Axe LLC do going forward.