Kriegsfront Tactics Prologue is the vertical slice demo of Toge Productions‘ tactical mecha strategy RPG, reminiscent of the Front Mission series of games from Square Enix. The demo goes live on July 18, but we had the opportunity to check it out early to give our thoughts on it.
Kriegsfront Tactics is set in an alternate 1970’s in South East Asia. After the great war in the Pacific, the empire of Yamato surrendered, bringing the end to the great war. The country of Nusanesia seeing an opportunity to use the decommissioned Krieg-Mechs to fight for their sovereignty over their mining resources, engages the United Overseas Company in guerilla warfare.
In this Prologue build, you take the role of Aaron Bekker and his motley crew of soldiers as they rendezvous with their home base in Avalon. In this quick 3-4 hour prologue, you’re able to explore a map while engaging with guerilla scouts. You’ll engage in a few skirmishes and learn more about the world of Kriegsfront Tactics.
KriegsFront Tactics Mission
Kriegsfront Tactics is reminiscent of the Front Mission, from its aesthetic to its gameplay. Having played Front Mission 2 and 3 on Playstation One, I had to look twice to tell the difference. The similarities are uncanny.
The biggest difference is how it’s set up like an isometric CRPG. However, it’s still very much a Front Mission-style checkerboard strategy RPG versus something like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim or XCom where movement is limited to set blocks.
All movements and actions in Kriegsfront Tactics are divided into Action Points (AP). You can move, attack, or use other commands with enough AP to power those actions. Movement to green blocks allows you to use some of your actions still before your turn ends. Moving to yellow blocks allows you to extend your movement at the cost of future actions. Ending your turn gives you a choice of your field of vision.
Attacking depends on what you have equipped, and your command choices will depend on your arsenal. The regular machine gun will allow you to attack, aimed shot, or set an area for overwatch. Artillery or missiles will allow you to attack at an area of effect, which destroys all the targets in the surrounding area. Sniper rifles can attack an enemy from afar, while melee attacks allow you close-quarters combat.
You’re able to damage mech parts, which allow for strategic combat scenarios. Destroying the arms will affect the offensive or defensive function of your mechs. Destroying the legs will limit the mech’s movement. And obviously, destroying the body will completely obliterate the mech altogether.
Just like Front Mission.
Guerilla Warfare
Once you complete the 30-minute tutorial mission, the map opens up so you’re able to explore the world to complete your story mission to rendezvous with Avalon. There are optional areas that you can explore, while there are some areas that you’re forced to explore as some ruins will block the way to the area that you wish to explore.
While exploring, there are some enemy scouts that are patrolling the area that will attack your units when provoked. These battles are optional because, at this point, much of the enemy damage to your units will be permanent. The bad news is when you lose your allied units in battle, their death is also permanent. While losing out on dialogue options, you also lose out on your combat prowess with limited troops.
Exploring areas on the map can either trigger a battle or a story point. You have the option to enter it or pass an area altogether. For example, there was a village that you have an option to explore it or move on. Assessing the risks of exploring the village will involve getting into a battle that could potentially weaken your troops or you can win the battle and come through with precious items to get you through the level.
Battles on the map will involve wiping the areas of the rebel scouts. Just like you, their mechs are also battle-worn from constant attacks and they may not be as optimized as when you started out with your mechs. Just the same, enemy AI is pretty advanced as they will fight tooth and nail to take you down with them.
Another mechanic to be conscious of is that due to the rebel guerilla tactics, you will need to find the enemies hiding in the vicinity. Unless pointed out, they will remain hidden.
Positioning is also important in Kriegsfront Tactics similar to most strategy RPGs. Attacking from the enemy mech’s blind spot will be more effective as attacking head-on causes them to defend, evade, or their overwatch gets activated. Also, you or the enemy will be given a chance to counterattack, changing the tide of battle. So come prepared!
One other thing to consider is to play the game on an actual keyboard and mouse setup on PC rather than on the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck, while convenient, also hasn’t been optimized to emulate the keyboard and mouse function. Plus, the small text can be inconvenient on the small screen.
There’s a lot of potential in Kriegsfront Tactics Prologue, and we can’t wait for the full game to come out in the future!
Vincent Ternida loves reviewing story-driven indie titles, and unique but accessible game design. He spends his days working on manuscripts, checking out new titles, and wondering why he isn't the main character of a Haruki Murakami novel anymore.
