First,I want to take a second to just say thank you to the people at Idea Factory for tossing me a copy of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord to review. It’s always appreciated working with someone new.
Usually the Fairy Fencer games are turned based but this one the decision was made to take it into a slightly different direction. Refrain Chord is a turned based Tactical RPG, much like Final fantasy tactics or Tactics Ogre.
The battles take place in the usual grid based alternating people style. There is as usual a bar on top of the screen to show you the upcoming order of the troops.
The battles themselves are pretty standard, if you want a challenge tossing the game on hard will have its moments. Easy is the epitome of just wanting to be able to see the story with very little difficulty,which is truly how it should be.
Speaking of the story I have always felt any RPG that wasn’t based around a solid story was defeating the purpose of even existing. Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord revolves around Fang and his company from past games such as Fairy Fencer F :Advent Dark Force. You don’t need to play the other games to understand it,any back story is explained pretty well or isn’t even necessary to have.
The story for this game revolves around trying to collect Furys before an evil corporation. You want them so you can summon the Goddess for world peace. The corporation wants them to summon the Vile God for unlimited power. The details I will leave for you to discover because getting to know this almost goofy cast of characters through the various interactions at the Inn or during missions is probably the best part of the game itself.
From the very beginning with Fang being busted out of jail because of his dine and dash antics and being caught talking to cockroaches or him and Galdo being obsessed with nudie magazines while the female characters make fun of Fang for being childish there really isn’t a time the characters aren’t interesting to get to know.
The game of course isn’t perfect,for example you will spend a lot of time reading because the vocals are only in their native language. Most battles also come down to how much you leveled up,not if you are actually good with any sort of strategy. Most of the Furys you come across are also pointless to have outside of the side quest to stab the ground and discover treasure and hidden locations.
This is one of those games I enjoyed playing,and I actually think fans of strategy RPGs will also enjoy playing. It isn’t the best one on the market, but it is absolutely enjoyable. 7/10, loved my time with it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 