Review for Dark Crystal: The Resistance - Tactics. Game for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 31/12/2019
Apart from very rare exceptions - like The Witcher to name one - it is very difficult to transpose a title and its history from one medium to another. In general, the recipient always loses some thickness, heart and soul if we want. We could do dozens of examples starting with the Simpsons, passing through Warcraft and ending with John Wick: when you transport a content from a TV series or a movie to create a video game (or vice versa), the work in the end almost always leaves a sense of bitterness in the mouth.
This unfortunately also applies to Dark Crystal, which now arrives on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Steam with its Tactical / Strategic / RPG video game called Dark Crystal: The resistance - Tactics.
But let's not put the cart before the horse and contextualize the story of Dark Crystal: The Resistance - Tactics. We find ourselves in a living and pulsating world of magic and spirituality called Thra, whose vital essence is enclosed in an artifact, the Crystal of Truth. The creatures that populate Thra are peaceful and live in harmony with each other and with the nature that surrounds them but an alien threat has triggered a magical process of splitting giving life to mystical creatures made of light and purity such as the UrRu and dark and evil creatures that they take the name of Skeksis.
Among the mystics we find Aughra, a guardian placed to protect the vital essence of Thra; unfortunately, the crystal is tempting to the Skeksis who distract the guardian by offering her the possibility of probing the depths of the universe by projecting her vital essence inside a planetarium. Aughra begins her journey in stasis in the depths of the universe and unconsciously entrusts the Crystal of Truth to the Skeksis, effectively delivering the fate of the planet and its inhabitants to the greedy jaws of evil.
Fortunately, three Gelfling brothers fortuitously learn of the Skeksis' plans, thus triggering the series of events that will lead them to embark on an epic journey in order to rebel and save Thra and its inhabitants.
From the purely playful side Dark Crystal: Resistance - Tactics is, as the title itself says, a tactical / strategic game with an RPG footprint.. Within the game layout we will find a grid on which to move and a series of enemies to face. By selecting the characters we will be able to read their characteristics and statistics, while selecting the hero of the moment we will be able to move him and make him attack. The turns will be decided by a timeline present at the top right of the screen and can vary according to the status or forced rest of the hero. There are also skills specific to each character's classes, to be used in battle. A skill growth tree, a minimum of wearable equipment and weapons, and a class variation that goes hand in hand with the growth of the hero complete the picture of the RPG component of Dark Crystal: The Resistance - Tactics.
In our opinion, however, in the context of a genre that makes depth of the game its vital fulcrum, everything is taken too lightly: we think that in a panorama like today's one, a tactical game that takes little or no account of weapons is not very enjoyable. , armor, classes, vulnerabilities and so on, especially in the face of much more complex and profound titles that even belong to previous generations or purely portable consoles, such as Fire Emblem Awakening to name one above all.
It must also be admitted that it is however possible to expand the concept of class by allowing one to have a primary and secondary profession (thus having different features available to use in battle) and to adapt the skills to these classes. Unfortunately, the end result comes down to one set of skills rather than others to use in combat.
The field of play, although it is considered in the battle phase, has a marginal effect on the fight. All this is limited to a percentage damage depending on the attack height (upwards in positive and downwards in negative), and to a bonus / malus depending on the terrain (if you find yourself in a toxic miasma pool you will be poisoned, for example). These underdeveloped features - together with a barely sketched RPG component and a too little varied, little vast and little inspired pattern map - deeply undermine the gaming experience.
Furthermore, this particular historical moment is pervaded by a style that recalls smartphone games where a central hub stands out that leads to fast missions scattered here and there: Dark Crystal: The resistance - Tactics approaches this standard considerably by proposing in fact a fragmented gameplay suitable for short and fast sessions but with little depth where instead there would be a need for a full-bodied and lively story and outline.
On the stylistic side it must be said that basically we start from sketchy and not very expressive characters being naturally modeled on puppets, (not that this is a justification given that series like the Muppets still manage to excite today, Ed) but the development team a our opinion could instill more character and expressiveness.
In the Nexflix counterpart, in fact, the world of Thra and the creatures that populate it are pulsating with life and color while in Dark Crystal: The resistance - Tactics everything appears flat and unexciting. The BonusXP guys have however created a title that is fun, fast and all in all enjoyable but which unfortunately does not prove to be up to the opponents.
Dark Crystal: The resistance - Tactics is the transposition of the homonymous Netflix series that has met with some success with the public. The realization of this tactical / strategic video game with RPG elements available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, while sinning in several respects, succeeds in reviving the history of this prequel. Basing our evaluation on the comparison with titles of the same genre, however, even if Dark Crystal: The resistance - Tactics proves to be a good pastime suitable for fast sessions, we do not feel like evaluating the overall gaming experience as a milestone of the genre. .
► Dark Crystal: The Resistance - Tactics is an RPG-Strategy-Turn-Based-Tactical Game developed by BonusXP and published by En Masse Entertainment for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 31/12/2019
