Published by Square Enix and developed with assistance from Lancarse, The DioField Chronicle looks and feels like most tactical RPGs out on the Switch in many ways, but with everything just slightly tweaked. The characters are all undeniably stylised, but never quite as much as Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The politics are front and centre throughout the game’s story, but don’t feel as overt as classics like Final Fantasy Tactics. The game’s take on war feels more reminiscent of Valkyria Chronicles than anything else. The DioField Chronicle borrows liberally from other gems of the genre without feeling like a carbon copy.
The game follows the story of a rising empire in the east that threatens to overtake the rest of the continent. As a response, the remaining nations banded together, creating a conflict between the Empire and the Alliance that provides the backdrop to everything else that unfolds in the story. Most of the story takes place in the nation of Alletain on the island of DioField, which is rich in the mineral that powers magic in this setting and therefore is a prize both sides of the conflict covet. Most of this backstory is delivered in a shotgun blast of information that hits the player in an opening crawl. As we mentioned above, the setup feels very similar to 2008’s Valkyria Chronicles, though with a focus on magic rather than technology. It isn’t complicated, but it doesn’t need to be to get the point across.
The story might not be the most unique, but the art direction of the game is gorgeous. The DioField Chronicle is beautiful, from the opening cutscene that evokes the opening to Game of Thrones to the reveal of the various bosses your party fights. From the almost watercolour aesthetic of the character portraits to the fluid way they move in cutscenes, there is so much style on display in this game. The characters look like they’ve been pulled out of a Final Fantasy XIV cutscene, complete with the overly smooth skin textures and giant armour builds. And the setting is primarily medieval fantasy, though there is the occasional top hat on a character’s head, sometimes very small and sat at a jaunty angle, to remind us of the game’s steampunk influences.
The DioField Chronicle takes the usual tactical RPG format and gives it a slight twist. Gone are the squares or hexes to show how far characters can move, as battles take place largely in real-time, with the action only stopping when players issue commands to their units. Once they are in place, they will continue to attack enemies that get within their range until they are told to do something else. It is a satisfying twist on the usual micromanagement that usually happens in tactical RPGs, making the battles feel more chaotic than most games in the genre. It isn’t a complete overhaul of what has worked before, but it is a fun wrinkle that means players need to keep a close eye on character health and position as the battles rage on.
Characters come in four classes, though different equipment and builds can influence how they behave in battle. Soldiers can use daggers to be more like rogues, axes to inflict heavy damage and statuses on enemies, or a sword and shield to serve as tanks. There are similar builds for each class, but it never becomes so overwhelming that you can’t manage your resources or tactics. It is scaled back in some ways but just robust enough to keep from being boring.
Combat gives players the chance to unleash some fun spells and there are moments where taking advantage of the terrain can deal some bonus damage, but the game largely relies on positioning your units correctly and letting them fight it out in melee. Many of the most powerful spells, including summoning Bahamut in a visually satisfying explosion of fire, aren’t enough to finish off most enemies. You’ll need to send in your melee units to mop up for you. It undermines the awesome visuals of these attacks when they fail to kill even a single archer.
The biggest issue with combat, though, is the way things scale so quickly. Having even one character lower than the recommended level for a mission can result in a complete wipe, meaning that you’ll have to spend quite a bit of time grinding to keep everyone at the same pace as your main party. The cost of items and equipment also means that you’ll spend time grinding for money if you want to deck your team out in the best gear.
The characters of The DioField Chronicle have some charm to them, but most of them lack enough depth to keep you interested past their initial reveal. The gritty nature of the story Square Enix is trying to tell means that there are too many stoic, brooding types in the cast. Those who don’t fit into that category are sadly very one-note. The cast doesn't develop much across the course of the game, despite some fun late-game reveals and twists. No one is completely abrasive and no one really shines, making it all just a bit bland.
There is also a bit of a quirk controlling the game on Switch. The DioField Chronicle feels like it was made with mouse and keyboard controls in mind. You have to move a cursor across the screen to select options rather than pushing the joystick rightward to select the next item. It is a small thing but it makes things like shopping and levelling feel like they take longer than they do. Otherwise, the Switch version of the game plays fine, with fast load times and beautiful graphics.
For all of The DioField Chronicle’s flaws, it is an ambitious attempt to try something different with the tactical RPG genre, so we can forgive its shortcomings. If Square Enix wants to develop this game into a series, there is the potential there to do so. More work on the story elements of the game would make it one of the best in an increasingly competitive genre.
Conclusion
Despite its shortcomings, The DioField Chronicle is still a solid tactical RPG experience with enough JRPG tropes to interest fans of both genres. The unique gameplay provides plenty of challenge, though it can require a lot of grinding to keep pace with the difficulty curve. The art style is beautiful both in and out of combat but the characters and plot fail to live up to the same standard. In this case, its ambition outstretched its means and it fell just short of where it wanted to be.
Comments 48
I was on the fence for this one, and after this review, I think I'm still on the fence! 🤣
I preordered this already. I'm interested in trying it out, it seems like an interesting take on the tactics RPG
The Switch has so many awesome RPG's that just came out or are coming out so this is a wait for me, will try to squeeze it in sometime though but most likely I'll pick it up on sale as I am waiting already
@WreckitRyan Try the demo.
I tried the demo and thought the same thing about the controls. Such a horrible choice to have to use your cursor like a mouse. Really dampened my enjoyment of the game.
I'm going to have to try the demo for this. It looked like a game I'd thoroughly enjoy, but after reading the review I'm not so sure anymore.
It wsn't my cup of tea. I realized it right after playing the demo.
This is the kind of game that you either enjoy or not. It doesn't play out like other tactical RPGs but does get better if you make it til the end.
I was unsure as to whether to keep my preorder for this one or not but after glancing all the other review it's gotten, I opted to give it a chance. Looks like something I'll enjoy. My only real concern is finding the time to play it as I'm a little overwhelmed with how much I have to play at the moment.
Played the demo of this and I loved the combat but was instantly out when the story was.. basically nothing. I get that folks like mechanics these days, but my gosh, what has happened to the writers? These games are all so poorly written and the story they setup from the beginning are all so dull. I just Beat Xenoblade 3 and WHAT a story that was! But... these last few SquareEnix games are just.. very boring.
And yes I'm talking about Triangle Strategy, Octopath Traveler, and even the demo of Harvestella. They want us to invest 60 dollars and spend 50+ hours but.. where is the story? I can't support games that just have "cool battles" anymore.
Diofield seems better suited to PC. In my experience of the demo, which I tried on Switch and PS5, I thought the gameplay was surprisingly deep, but the story was really dry, which made it hard for me to keep interest. The Fire Emblem Three Houses comparisons are apt, but it’s more apt in noticing that Three Houses emphasized the color of the game where Diofield sits in a musty grey. A 7/10 seems very fair from my experience thus far. I’m a bit torn on whether to get it or not, as I did enjoy the gameplay, but then there’s a part of me that flags this desire as more of a collector’s item than a plaything.
@Serpenterror To me, the story is a make or break for me. I'm 36 now and if I'm to spend 50+ hours on a game, I need it to be a journey where the story is at least half interesting.
This demo presented us with being a mercenary and you should do this stuff because you're asked to. The story intro was very short, like? I'm just wishing games gave us a better story is all. Feeling let down lately especially from SMT V.
I'm hoping this game is on discount in time for the holidays. My sister loves tactics games, so this may be up her alley.
Damn. Shame this one is a disaster, actually liked the look of it.
Do we know what the run time is for this game? I.e hltb
Still think it’s well worth a go, though I got the impression the characters are not as interesting as your fire emblem etc
Already have it preordered and downloaded so no choice at this point lol
As long as the tactics are good and it felt like they were on the demo, I am good.
Loved the demo and especially its difficulty
Not sure what ‘story feels simple by today’s standards’ given many triple A games lack a compelling story and some of the finest stories in video game history happened pre 2000s.
Still, it’s good to read a review that isn’t scored by a fangirl and isn’t biased.
I don´t care about story...character development...I don´t read any text...i only care about the strategy gameplay...and i´ll see some videos before put it in my wishlist!
@Impoh This has been exactly my feelings lately with MOST JRPGs. Omori and Xenoblade 3 have been the only ones this year that actually made me crave to know more about what was happening. Triangle Strategy, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default II, DioField(demo), and Harvestella(demo) have all left me feeling like I was baited into the game due to combat and continued to play just because I didn't want to lose my 60 dollars(Triangle/Octopath).
What happened to the folks that wrote Final Fantasy 7/8/9/10??
Why can't SquareEnix pull together some creative writers?
@Rykdrew If I'm skipping the text in a game that's a clear sign that I'm probably done playing it. The story has got to be somewhat there for me to care anymore. Interesting that some folks don't need any story.
I'm asking a legitimate question.
Does it not feel like you're placed into a world without knowing what's happening when you skip? Because when I skip I always feel like I'm just going through the motions and it makes me even more likely to not play. I at least have to have some kind of reason to fight/play.
@Sequel Is a 7/10 a disaster?
@phartsy Triangle Strat was focussed on telling the story in multiple different ways and scenarios. What it lacked in a masterpiece of a story definitely added replayability, ways of unlocking new characters and made NG+ really viable as enemies scaled.
I loved Octopath but again, instead of focussing on a narrative overall it went for the Live a Live approach which was also good.
Even FF7 has its flaws. In terms of story it’s nowhere near some of the other FF games imo. But it does make up for it in other ways. It just had good timing with its release. Still a great game.
Not XC3 yet as I’m playing lots of others first but those games are always made to a super high standard.
Good review. Seem like a decent Switch game even with it issues. Guess i'll give it a shot seeing as its not super expensive.
I tried the demo of it on steam, was not impressed. Limiting your party to 4 units max undermines the entire combat system in my opinion and even the strategic aspects of picking your units aren't there when you're not even given the option to preview the map. Music and story didn't do anything for me either. I do enjoy the art and general vibe though, wish Fire Emblem was a bit more akin to this.
@Indielink I had play RPGs that were 5/10 (like Nostalgia and Drakkhen) and enjoy em but then there are other RPGs that are 8/10 (like Ys 1 & 2) which I don't enjoy, it all came down to preference, battle mechanics, and story. Ys 1 & 2 had good story but the gameplay mechanic of ramming through enemies just isn't for me whereas Nostalgia and Drakkhen had little to no development in story but had enjoyable gameplay and a strong sense of exploration which I love.
I thought the demo was pretty terrible, doesn't seem like I'll be missing out on a masterpiece.
The demo was okay, but when I didn't feel the need to go as far as I could with it, I knew this was at least a 'wait for sale' title, if not an all-out skip. Never was a big fan of real time strategy games and this hasn't really changed it. The game has some nice ideas, but lots of RPGs are coming out and this one can wait.
@phartsy hey pal, off topic question, since you just beat XC3! I'm thinking the game very easy (at least where I'm right now).. I just finished the second hero quest (the one of Valdi..). will the game be harder at some point? should I change to hard mode? I don't think I'm leveling too much..
@Serpenterror I recently got around to finally playing Legends of Ys Books 1 I & II a few months ago, and just last week I finally had to have a pep talk with myself and admit it's time to abandon and move on. I could live with the ramming into enemies, but the story (granted I didn't get much further than finishing the second dungeon) didn't grip me at all and clearly had its roots in 80s/90s archaic design and storytelling.
No character in the game gives you any reason to attach to or even remember them, and if a game requires me to have a guide on hand at all times to figure out where to go and what to do outside of dungeons, then I'm probably not having any fun.
@Serpenterror And that's totally cool! I have more than a handful of games that I truly love that sit at a five or six on Metacritic. And there are plenty of ten out of ten games I think are as dull as watching paint dry.
I just don't see how the other dude read this review and came to the conclusion that it's a disaster when overall the text was very positive.
"Requires grinding to keep up with the difficulty curve"
Seems to be a constant across Octopath Traveller, Triangle Strategy and I suspect most RPGs published by Square Enix, and the main reason why I lose interest in them way before beating them.
Is that part of the old-school touch they are going for? JRPGs from other publishers (like Xenoblade Chronicles) seem to suffer from the exact opposite issue where doing too much side-questing makes the main quest so trivially easy it's hard to keep invested in the story.
@Sebos
I can confirm that you most definitely do not need to grind in Triangle Strategy, at least on the normal difficulty.
I didn't know Ronnie made video games too. I guess I'm The Last in Line!
Sounds good to me. Strategy RPGs are my jam and after playing Triangle Strategy and cooling off with Shining Force, that new tactical itch is coming back.
Sounds interesting but a couple things have me worried. Only four classes feels like not enough for a game like this. I mean compare it to how many Fire Emblem had and 4 seems like nothing. Also having to grind parts isn’t something I like in a strategy game. Usually if you play smart you shouldn’t have to grind but wiping your party like described in the review seems like a big mistake. Maybe I’ll try on sale or if it comes to gamepass.
@rex_rex The game doesn’t get hard honestly. If you want a challenge then hard mode is your best bet. I was over level for the entirety of the game and breezed by most opponent. Even the final boss is level 75 and I was 80 and had no issues at all.
Yeah, I would swap to hard if you want a proper challenge.
@phartsy I don´t like adventure games. I play competitive games like fighting games, shmups, and "chess games" against humans or AI...(advance wars, disgaea, wargroove, fire emblem, Civilization, XCOM, etc...).
Because these kind of game is pure gameplay skill, reflex, or logic.
I skip the story in games because they are parts where nothing happens. I jump to the fun part, which is the pure gameplay.
Devil May cry is a game, for example that I finished on Dante Must Die difficulty, because of the challenge and skill needed to win. But I, to this day, have no idea why Dante is fighting...and I don't even care. He could fight with a lollipop as a weapon, dressed as a duck in the enchanted kingdom..., if it kept the same level of challenge and gameplay, I would be playing the same way.
I'm from the era of Pong, Atari, Coleco, Odyssey... the story didn't matter. Just the challenge.
Your motivation in playing is to wrap up a good storyline.
Mine is to overcome the challenges that the game imposes... and these challenges are created with good artificial intelligence, or competitive mode against humans. So for me, the background doesn't matter.
And me and you have fun
It does the SRPG and tactical genres a disservice to lump The DioField Chronicle into them. Having a maximum of four characters on the map (being able to have a secondary character slot for each is just an insufficient way of attempting to offer depth) instantly disqualifies any comparisons to the likes of Fire Emblem or FF Tactics, and its bland, perpetually distant presentation doesn't come close to Valkyria Chronicles' amazing hybrid engine. Basically you just move your characters around the map, single out an enemy or group, kill them, pick up energy or items, rinse, and repeat ad nauseam. That isn't "tactics" where I'm personally concerned.
Having played the demo I enjoyed it somewhat, but nowhere nearly enough to purchase The Diofield Chronicle at full price. There's nothing here that hasn't been done far better elsewhere. It feels like a "B" (maybe even "C") project that SquareEnix gave to one of their lesser studios to help pad their 4th quarter catalog.
@Expa0 maybe I'm very bad at this game or maybe I missed something, but I'm fairly sure I was always a few levels short going from one chapter to the next and regularly had to grind mock battles to close the gap 🤷
This and the game excessive verbosity eventually wore on my patience. I won't argue the many merits of the game, I guess it just wasn't for me.
Who in the industry decided to be super lazy and make menus with a mouse on consoles? Destiny does it, Assassin's Creed does it, and so do several others I've played in recent years. It is a terrible and slow UI design that needs to die
@phartsy How did you get the game so early it hasn't been released- I know the Switch isn't released yet. As to why controls are they are maybe that worked for thier programming controls. So we live with it and some games allow for custom controls but then they decide not you since you don't write or development test for them. These games come from JPRPG games so why change something that works. I had no problem learning and using the controls in the demo.
For what it's worth, I absolutely loved the demo (and the control scheme). It all just clicked, and it also just looks really solid (literally); I really liked the graphics/design, etc. Maybe it doesn't hold up at game-length, but the demo was a blast.
Played some of the demo. Thought that the battle field graphics were good, but the building interior graphics were very basic.
The combat became tedious to me during the first mission, and the dialog just seemed like typical JRPG amateur hour. Pass.
@Mando44646 comin in hot with the hard truths!
That menu/UI style can go play in a blender lol
I tried the demo and it was... Ok. I didn't feel drawn in, and I didn't bother to complete the demo. If there was hardly anything else to play on Switch, I'd be all over this, but it can wait for a sale or something.
@phartsy tks a lot mate! ill give it a look on the hard so.. but since I imagine I'll do many many hero and secondary quests, I don't wanna transform a 150 hours game into 200 or 300!! so, I'll at least feel how hard is.. thanks again!
With regards to the reviewer's comments about the difficulty and things scaling too quickly; I never grinded, playing on highest difficulty, with non optimal equipment because I didn't want to waste scarce resources such as gold since I wasn't grinding, on suboptimal equipment and still had no issues with the combat difficulty. In fact the developers appear to recognize that, as they're introducing 2 higher difficulty on top with the free March 2023 update that also introduces an additional arc for Waltaquin.
That said, I do completely agree that the story was kind of lackluster, and the vast majority of the characters are too one dimensional. The controls took a bit to get used to, like having to move the cursor with a joystick but it is a change of pace from the usual grid based system.
The game isn't a 10/10, but has been an enjoyable experience so far.
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