110) Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement (2010)

As the third and final game in the Vandal Hearts series, Flames of Judgement actually serves as a prequel to the original game. Released as part of Xbox Live Arcade, which focused on smaller, cheaper games, the scope is significantly smaller than previous entries in the series. This was right around the time that Konami started to shift focus away from traditional video game development in order to focus on much more profitable mobile and casino style gaming. While the shift would be gradual, there's no doubt in my mind that this was among the earliest signs of the direction the studio would eventually choose to follow.

Our story follows Tobias, a priest in training who was orphaned in the great war that only ended due to a catastrophic event that decimated both sides. His simple, peaceful life is shattered when the academy in which he lives as well as a nearby town are brought under attack. In an effort to survive, Tobias and his friends team up with a girl from the once opposing nation as well as a couple of well intentioned soldiers. Together, they discover that the attack on the town was orchestrated by a high ranking and well respected military general of their own nation, hoping to use a false flag act of aggression to rekindle the flames of war. Thus, it is up to our ragtag team to uncover the truth, shine a light on the conspiracy, and ultimately prevent yet another devastating war.

The story is mostly fine, if a bit convoluted. The motives at play seem understandable on the surface, but quickly fall apart under scrutiny. While the idea of a military general seeing war as the only solution to any given problem is sadly a fairly realistic view, it quickly becomes idiotic as the general seemingly makes no effort to conceal his intention. Early on, we see him openly communicating with the people he paid to perform the attack, and when confronted in front of the king, he rather quickly resorts to ordering regicide instead of trying to explain away the evidence against him. This is further compounded when we see the completely unnecessary lengths he's willing to go to that, even if he truly believes war is the only option, do little to paint him in a sympathetic light.

Luckily, where the plot fails, the gameplay more than makes up for it. The majority of the game is spent participating in grid based tactical combat. In lieu of traditional levels, your characters instead become more adept at actions by performing them. Combined with the ability to replay maps indefinitely, and you can theoretically grow your party in any way you see fit. This is a really fun way to encourage experimentation and to reward the player for consistency, though it does come with the inherent drawback of making it hard to gauge whether you're properly prepared for the next encounter. There were a few times I'd advance to the next mission, only to find that the enemies were far to strong for me to handle. Thus, I'd retreat back to grind a skill or two and hope it was enough. I'm sure someone more adept at strategy could likely handle the game with ease, but I've never claimed to be smart or good at games.

At certain points in the story, we're presented with a handful of choices that seemingly have no bearing on the overall plot. In truth, they functionally don't as the story features no branching paths and the choices seem to only serve to provide the illusion of choice. The only practical difference is in determining which of the two endings you get, and even then it's relegated to only a few different lines and images before the credits roll. Still, it provides a modicum of incentive to replay, so I'll give it credit for that.

Flames of Judgement is ultimately a fun and beginner friendly entry point into the strategy RPG genre. While it does nothing to truly innovate or push the genre forward, its forgiving nature, small cast of characters, and shorter run time make it an ideal gateway into an otherwise intimidating genre. The biggest downside is that this is both the final entry in the Vandal Hearts series and the only one still remotely available on modern consoles. I would love to experience the original and its sequel, and I can only hope that Konami's recent endeavor in bringing back Suikoden and Suikoden 2 mean that we may see the series revisited. Only time will tell.