In today’s deck we have Binary Haze Interactive’s Redemption Reapers. This tactical RPG has earned a T rating for teens, mainly due to its depiction of violence and gore. This might not be great for younger gamers, but the graphical gore is mostly limited to cutscenes that look far more realistic than the rest of the game.
Bloodshed aside, let’s see what this game has to offer.
Redemption Reapers opens with a mini movie powered by Unreal. It looks pretty good. Once you get into the game, the graphics aren’t as good, but they’re still good.The game can be played in handheld mode, but just barely. There’s a lot of text to read, but it’s small on the Switch screen. The resolution is good, so I have no problem using the TV as a display.
First, the game asks you to adjust the brightness so that a dark gray bird is faintly visible on a black background. The goal is to see what’s around you in-game, but it’s not always clearly visible. Redemption Reapers is generally very dark, both visually and thematically. There are additional cutscenes with additional segments using Unreal, so it’s not just small figures running around the movement grid in each level.
Navigating the aforementioned playing field is actually easy. When it’s the player’s turn, select a character with the Joy-Con stick, press the A button, and use the stick to select where to move that character. You’ll then be presented with a menu where you can choose an action such as attack or defense, drink a healing potion, or simply end your turn. Nothing fancy, amazing, or adding a cool factor. It’s a little simpler. Dark atmospheres and night settings are also pretty stocked. The game has taken a well-worn path, but it has done very well. Nothing looks extremely out of place, so it’s somewhat consistent with the look and feel of the game.
As you probably guessed, you need to win a few rounds of combat to gain experience points. This will give you skills to win more combat rounds. You also have to really work for in-game coins and other loot/resources. You can replay areas to try and level up a bit before delving deeper, giving you some grace if it takes longer.
There is a skill tree for each character and a pool of shared skill points, but it takes time to become really useful. This game isn’t very good at volunteering how or where to use this, so it’s a good idea to take some time to explore all the menus. Character survivability is improved and frustration is greatly reduced. Some early rounds can be brutal. Your character doesn’t have many skills or hit points, and you’re greatly outnumbered. Don’t forget, level replays are your best friend here. You may get better weapons and things to sell.
These are all standard fare for a turn-based RPG, and all fine in a small game world. Where the game seems to miss the mark is the story. Our heroines have some tragic backstories and there should be other stories for our heroes to tell. The main point of the game is to fight and defeat Mort soldiers and their leaders. That’s why some strategies and combat maneuvers do this.
However, the story doesn’t seem well-developed or engaging. I usually like to get to shooting and wait for the dust to settle, but in this game I’m a bit confused by the minimal story elements. You have to be ready to really tell a great story that you can get into. I have a story here, but I would like to develop it further and express it better.
The last thing on my mind is the soundtrack which is an absolute gem. The sound effects and voice work are good, but the star of this show is the music.
In summary, Redemption Reapers is a great turn-based RPG. The story is great (albeit lacking), the visuals are okay, and the music is very good. It’s frustrating at first, but you can set aside some replay time to boost your stats and make later levels more fun.
