great games, strategic.

Innovation requires boldness. Any creative mind who seeks to evolve a genre must be unafraid of ill consequences or criticism that could result from such an endeavor. In that respect, I appreciate the turn-based strategy game Natural Doctrine .

You probably haven't had a challenge like this before. Think you're a good strategist? Put that claim to the test in NAtURAL DOCtRINE ! Developed by Kadokawa Games and published by NIS America, NAtURAL DOCtRINE is a tactical turn-based strategy game where players get to explore to their heart's...

The menu screen for a game is a lot like a first date. Ok, not a lot, but it's a little like a first date. It gives an idea of what is to come. A bad menu screen, title screen or opening cut scene is always a warning sign for a reviewer. Potential heartache, pain and disappointment will follow.

So you can get a lot out of this game with 40 hours you'll have it completed and done a fair chunk of side questing so I'm saying the campaign is about 30 hours, but it's good, odd but intuitive, slightly frustrating at times gameplay but if you give over to it and enjoy it for what it is, it's a...

If patience is the cardinal virtue shared by all role players, then Natural Doctrine will be the game that turns a lot of saints into profanity-slinging, rage-quitting sinners. To some extent, this is what developer Kadokawa Games wants.

Unique; complex; and satisfying battle system; Well-implemented skill trees

Artificially inflated difficulty; Story is disposable and unavoidable; Interface and animations make battle more arduous than necessary; Too often devolves into frustrating trial and error

I'm the kind of critic who can forgive general roughness, sub-par graphics, and bizarre idiosyncrasies if a game's core concept is a solid one. As such, Natural Doctrine is the sort of thing I would ordinarily champion, happily looking past minor problems in celebration of the things it does right.

The zone system and linking are great concepts

Moving one character three pixels too far over means annihilation

So they finally created a game with challenge, minus boring intro cut scenes, and a fresh idea to combat interface... It comes down to this, upon playing, it's not for many of the modern gamers, the generation of "we're all winners" and "gimme a trophy".

Very rewarding game after you get used to the battle system.

Back in the late '90s, strategy or tactical RPGs were all the rage. On the original PlayStation alone there were hits like Final Fantasy Tactics , Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure , Vandal Hearts and Tactics Ogre - games that introduced the more methodical and placement conscious aspects of battle.