Topic: Redemption Reapers (Fire Emblem-like)

It's high time we get a forum going for this game, as it releases on Switch February 23rd, 2023.

For those that don't know, Redemption Reapers is a grid based srpg designed in the spirit of Fire Emblem. But it's a little more than that. The director of Fire Emblem Path of Radiance is making this game, 2 of the 5 main characters are voiced by Dorothea and Jeralt from Three Houses, Rei Kondoh (who helped make the OST for Fates and Three Houses) is doing the soundtrack, and the gameplay is very similar, even down to battle forecast window and limited weapon uses.

Apparently, this game also takes a page out of Path of Radiance's playback and stacks XP until the end of a chapter, and let's you divy it up to your team as you see fit (similar to the bonus XP mechanic of PoR). There are also skill points accrued which can be allotted after a battle.

Unlike Fire Emblem, however, there are only 5 characters with predetermined roles. As you progress you buy and unlock skills to expand their abilities. The game features a follow-up attack mechanic where allies in range of an enemy can follow up with an attack (similar to how the Backup sub-class works in Fire Emblem Engage), but the game utilizes a QTE prompt for the follow up attack, which I find a nice touch of reaction based skill in a strategy game.

The game works as Fire Emblem does, with all your units moving, then all enemy units. However, you can move before and after attacks, and in this game you have action points. Each move requires a certain number, and you recover 5 per turn. Character with 10 could spend all 10 on a heavier skill, but would need to wait 2 turns to be back at full AP.

Also like Fire Emblem, enemies can counter-attack, as can you. There are certain skills for specific characters that can negate counterattacks, and similar to Fire Emblem Engage's Qi Adept sub-class, some characters can "guard" another character to reduce the damage they receive when attacked.

Game seems structured similar to FE, as you are a member of a band of mercs who travel from village to village in early game chapters dealing with smaller threats. I imagine as the game progresses the larger plot will unfold.

There are no support convos I'm aware of, nor any class progression system. So there are some distinguishing traits that differentiate this game from FE (above and beyond the dark, bleak, gritty aesthetic). And that's OK, because it's not Fire Emblem. So it should dare to change some things up and experiment in a bold new direction when it comes to certain aspects we take for granted in the FE series.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Heck, as long as the story isn't atrocious I think this will be a good game for Fire Emblem fans. If the story is actually decent or, dare I say good... even better!

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Um... ya, it looks good, and I was gonna grab it on Deck, but I heard it doesn't run that great on Deck, so I put it off until that gets sorted. Might just wait and see how the Switch version is when that drops.

I dunno about this one, not gonna lie. Really don't care for turn based games that add in random real time elements for no reason, I hope this is something you can turn off like you could do in Like a Dragon. I also think visually it is so bland, I swear so many smaller games come out like this that look exactly like this does, maybe they all get their assets from one place. I also hope to Goodness it includes a Japanese language track.

But all of that aside, I do enjoy Fire Emblemlikes, so I do appreciate having this on my radar and will for sure keep an eye on it.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
I figured that much, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter why, all that matters is the end result.

I can't play games that aren't at least handheld (prefer hybrid but will settle for handheld only, while console only is a no-go). If the Switch version is as good as XCOM2 I'll grab it on Switch. If it's a disaster I'll just wait for a Steam sale and hopefully it'll work better on Deck by then.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
I actually hope it’s not Panic Button. Imo they’ve done some of the worst ports, and only got credit because ppl were impressed big games were running. All their games have horrible resolution. Whereas the studio that did XCOM2 and Final Fantasy X (Virtuos) and many others, always seems to nail it. I think that’s why studios stopped contracting Panic Button for Switch ports a few years ago, after better studios bubbled up to the top.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Ya, once you see Sniper Elite 4 and Zombie Army 4 from Rebellion running on Switch pr Nier Automata from Virtuos, suddenly your perspective shifts of what constitutes an impressive port.

@EaglyTheKawaiiShika
Best game to compare to is XCOM 2, since it was developed by the same studio who did Midnight Suns. And it very well may be the same porting studio bringing it over- Virtuos. Which if that's the case, it'll be decent enough. XCOM 2 didn't look as good as the ones shared above, but it was higher resolution than Doom, that's for sure.

I’m drowning in SRPGs and will likely take a break after Engage and my last two 3houses runs but I will wait on reviews for this.

@Ryu_Niiyama
It's crazy that, just with srpg's alone, on Switch alone, there are more games than one can keep up with.

This one will be a little tricky, as while normally I use reviews as a barometer, I have a feeling they won't be trustworthy fir this title. After many reviews criticized Engage for things I perceive as assets and boons, and then hearing IGN's preview remarks about this game also criticizing things I don't see as a negative, I think I've realized for FE-like games, it's best to trust gameplay and gameplay only. And word of mouth from trusted sources who are fans of the genre.

If some of the YT channels I've been following for FE say this game isn't worth your time, I'll skip it. But I don't suspect that'll happen, just based on what I've seen.

Since Redemption Reapers has been out for a while now, I was curious if anybody could comment about how well the game runs and how the graphics look during gameplay. Currently trying to decide between purchasing it on Switch or PS4 when a good sale pops up.