A decent turned-based game with a healthy dose of obsession.
Graphics: 8 (pretty for an indie game / adding shadows can cause the game to crash / great death animations though)
Sounds: 5 (seems like they used the same sounds over and over again / needs some voice acting)
Value: 8 ($10 for 20hrs of fun is always a good thing / game doesn't feel too repetitive)
Tilt: 8 (loved the in-party bickering)
Actual score: 7.4
Back in my younger days, I was a heavy player of those table-top RPG games. Yep, having the entire table filled with paper, pencils, manuals, fizzy drinks and pizzas galore. Heck, even Pizza Hut called us for orders – yes it was that serious. And the party we've created was mostly a miss-match bunch of heroes that continuously bag each other out about who rolled the most 20s, yet somehow still managed to band together when the going gets tough. Ah, yes those are the sweet days! So when I viewed some of the clips for Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes, it brought up a sense of déjà vu of those 'glory' days.
So when booted up this game, it starts out with the unlikely hero Drake, who failed a military exam by not killing a mushroom. Yes, you heard me right. So, considering he was the only one that failed his entire class successfully entered the military only to get slaughtered by the 'Dark Church'. Poet justice one might say however for Drake, depression kicks in thus trying to kill himself by placing head-first into a killer mushroom. However, his plans suddenly stopped by the appearance of the Semidivine One, known as the Holy Avatar.
So you can see where the game is coming from. It's a satire for role-playing games, taking the mickey out of Final Fantasy, Heroes of Might and Magic, Fire Emblem and many others. Drake, one of the main characters, is your typical light armoured fighter class and acts like an emo, and the semidivine Holy Avatar, the tank of the group. Throughout their adventures you'll get the opportunity to increase your party to ten, and that includes three scantily clad maidens!
The game play is essentially a turned-based strategy game. That is, exploring is done in real time whilst combat is turned based – that is the fastest person goes first and so forth. Considering most turned-based games focuses on tactics (think of chess), Grotesque Tactics falls short in many ways however it does have some unique features that kept the game fresh enough. Firstly, the keys customisation is extremely limited as there is no option to inverse the 'y' axis (I for one use this) and controlling the camera can only be done via the mouse. I prefer to use the keyboard for camera controls and the mouse for assigning commands. Of course everyone is different however the point made is that assigning keys are quite limited.
During exploration, you control Drake only therefore everyone else (max ten) will follow you. That's no a big deal during this phase however when entering combat, it will become a big deal as the slowest characters are always waaay back and the fastest up front. What makes this an unnecessary pain is that tank class (those with great defence and hit points) should be defending the party, but considering they are at the back of the party (in most instances) and your archers and healers up front, it can cause issues. So in many cases, I tend to play musical chairs before swinging my first attack. Thankfully though, Drake (your main character) is quite tough and fast therefore can take a bashing before the tanks move in.
Once the combat is in full swing (that is lining up the tanks, archers, healers etc) the game actually shines. Of course it feels like a traditional turned-based game however each character processes an obsession rating. What this does is once the bar is filled, triggers an 'elite' skill. This skill is a killer however can also be detrimental to your party. For example: Drake, being an emo, once he scores enough successful hits triggers a burst of energy. This energy also applies to all party members in close proximity that gives out a massive attack / damage bonus. The downside is that it only last three turns then poor ole Drake will become depressed (as shown with a lightning cloud above his head) meaning massive penalties for three turns. Yet this does not apply to the other party members.
Other examples are when the Divine One scores enough hits, triggers him telling his legendary tales therefore putting friends and foes to sleep (unless they resist for which is highly unlikely); or when the divine one takes too many hits, forces the maiden archers to go into a jealousy rage, thus protecting the Holy Avatar at all costs (as they are all in love with him). So what they do is shoot the closest person to the Divine One (friend or foe). Thankfully though, the three maidens has different 'jealousy' ratings therefore one will trigger a lot more than the others. Or when the healer Angelina takes too much damage (for which is not much at all) triggers her anger rage. This rage is extremely painful as she will attack the closest party member in a fury of hits – and trust me, the victim will be belted quite severely.
So this will place a great twist during combat as not only you need to monitor their health, you need to gauge their obsession rating therefore preparing yourself for the worse (or good). For me, I love this feature as it reminds me of those table-top RPG days, in-party bickering happens quite often. And seeing this in Grotesque Tactics where the goblin Ralkin takes too many hits, therefore forces him to hide behind the strongest character whilst blinding anyone around him (friend or foe), places a smile on my face – regardless of the outcome!
Visually, the game is quite pleasing to the eye as all the landscapes, characters and buildings are rendered quite well in vibrant colours. Comical, however not too overdone however weak PCs will suffer as frame rates can drop from time to time. Yet, I highly advise to turn off the shadow effects as this caused my game to crash many, many times when zooming very close or panning across the landscape. As you can imagine, crashing in the middle of combat is not my ideal cup-of-tea. However the death / miss animations are great to see. For example: when an axe wielding fiend misses, the animation represents the blade fell off the shaft, or when the 'wounded soldier' dies (that's his title by-the-way), his sword flings off his hand above his head, only to land onto his back causing more humiliation.
Sound wise are overall not all too shabby as the musical scores are decent enough, however, and sadly though, there's no voice acting. Considering the game is a parody of sorts and being developed by the Germans, I would love to hear their accents! Yet there are some that sounds quite odd (to say the least). For example, when the maiden's smack their a$$ (for which they do from time to time), this a$$ smacking sound reminds me of someone making that tongue 'clicking' sound. Or when you equip one of Drake's leather armour, this one sounds like someone let it rip.
As mentioned before, Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes is designed to be a parody of those famous turned based RPGs. Also, being an indie game, I didn't expect too much of a technical marvel as, like most indie games, money flow can be a problem. Yet, because I paid $10 via steam as it was on sale, I thought this was a decent price considering it took me close to 20hrs to complete and rarely felt repetitive. And because of the innovative 'obsession' feature (and observing my party suffer because of this) places a fresh tactical approach in spite of the game's obvious shortfalls.