There are a lot of layers to combat - positioning is especially important, boosting your attack damage when you hit an enemy from behind. While things play out in real-time, you can pause the action to issue commands to your units, or use abilities. You take a four-person party into each battle and move characters around the map in a sort of isometric style, similar to XCOM. Square EnixĬombat in Diofield Chronicle uses a real-time system that feels similar to a real-time strategy game. It was only after a few hours that it felt like the story was finally starting to move forward, which is exactly how the combat and gameplay felt as well.ĭiofield’s visual style feels like a stilted diorama, but the 2D art and voice acting hit a high mark.

The roughly three-to-four-hour demo spends a lot of time on worldbuilding and detailing the political situation within Diofield. The core cast of characters works for a mercenary group within Alletain, called the Blue Foxes. Apart from these warring countries is the Kingdom of Alletain, which rules over the resource-rich island of Diofield. It takes place world locked in a conflict between two massive nations, the Trovelt-Schoevian Empire and Rowetale Alliance. The setup of Diofield Chronicle feels very reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics. But I’m worried all the elements might not come together. It’s a game that’s clearly going to be a slow burn and shows a lot promise. As a brand new strategy title, from Square Enix, it’s easy to see how expectations could be high, but the lengthy demo for Diofield Chronicle makes a bit of a mixed impression.

It’s been a year of smaller, more unique titles and the next step in that is The Diofield Chronicle. Square Enix has had an incredible year so far, full of surprise hits like Triangle Strategy, Stranger of Paradise, and The Centennial Case.

Can we see an xcom 2 demo