Developer Lancarse, Square Enix
Publisher Square Enix
Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Origin Japan
Release September 22
Beyond its tabletop RPG-inspired style, the most immediately striking thing about The DioField Chronicle is character names. The initial trio of mercenaries under your command are royal bodyguard Andrias Rhondarson, cavalier Fredret Lester, and the unimprovably named shield-wielder Izelair Wigan. Not long after you're joined by expert bowman Iscarion Colchester, followed by noblewoman and healer Waltaquin Redditch. (We're very much looking forward to adding Beauregard Knutsford and Euphegenia Dewsbury to our ranks later on.)
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/9501242626.jpg]
Those striking handles fit a game set in what co-director Takahiro Kumagai calls "a northern European kind of fantasy world", with nods to the Industrial Revolution. But it draws influence from Japanese history, too. "The shinsengumi were basically a group of warriors who came together at the end of the shogunate period in the 1860s," Kumagai begins. "Pressure from outside forces was being exerted on the country, and this group of warriors stood up against that." In this case, the external forces are two rival factions at war on the continent of Rowetale. DioField. Island, where the kingdom of Alletain is enjoying a period of peace and prosperity, is just a short hop across the water - and soon both sides of the conflict become aware of the island's supply of jade (which powers the more scientifically rooted 'modern magic' used by spellcasters in this world). Cue the sellswords.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/6955015504.jpg]
Their tactics, however, might be a little different from what you'd expect. "Starting at the initial planning stages of the game, we basically looked at the situation in the genre," producer Shigeyuki Hirata begins. "Recently there seemed to be quite a lot of these kinds of games that use grids or squares or turn-based [tactics] - we thought doing another one of those might not really be that interesting or exciting, so we set out to create a completely new and fresh kind of SRPG."
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/5146541564.jpg]
As such, The DioField Chronicle offers free movement in realtime, only pausing when you select a unit to decide its next course of action, whether that's plotting a path around an enemy's visibility circle or venturing into it to lure it into an ambush. Switch to another unit from your party of four and you can pull off flanking manoeuvres, attacking from behind for extra damage. Special skills can stun or disrupt opponents, or let you launch a flurry of attacks, while defeating enemies fills a TP meter that can be used for specials: when a horde of undead rises from the ground, you can summon Bahamut to unleash carnage over a wide area. Kumagai says the development team thought carefully about the balance between more grounded action and fantastical elements. "It's not just, 'OK, we want to include dragons, so we'll include dragons' we're actually thinking about the environment and the habitats and the way that the biosphere of the world works, and what would and wouldn't ...
Publisher Square Enix
Format PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Origin Japan
Release September 22
Beyond its tabletop RPG-inspired style, the most immediately striking thing about The DioField Chronicle is character names. The initial trio of mercenaries under your command are royal bodyguard Andrias Rhondarson, cavalier Fredret Lester, and the unimprovably named shield-wielder Izelair Wigan. Not long after you're joined by expert bowman Iscarion Colchester, followed by noblewoman and healer Waltaquin Redditch. (We're very much looking forward to adding Beauregard Knutsford and Euphegenia Dewsbury to our ranks later on.)
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/9501242626.jpg]
Those striking handles fit a game set in what co-director Takahiro Kumagai calls "a northern European kind of fantasy world", with nods to the Industrial Revolution. But it draws influence from Japanese history, too. "The shinsengumi were basically a group of warriors who came together at the end of the shogunate period in the 1860s," Kumagai begins. "Pressure from outside forces was being exerted on the country, and this group of warriors stood up against that." In this case, the external forces are two rival factions at war on the continent of Rowetale. DioField. Island, where the kingdom of Alletain is enjoying a period of peace and prosperity, is just a short hop across the water - and soon both sides of the conflict become aware of the island's supply of jade (which powers the more scientifically rooted 'modern magic' used by spellcasters in this world). Cue the sellswords.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/6955015504.jpg]
Their tactics, however, might be a little different from what you'd expect. "Starting at the initial planning stages of the game, we basically looked at the situation in the genre," producer Shigeyuki Hirata begins. "Recently there seemed to be quite a lot of these kinds of games that use grids or squares or turn-based [tactics] - we thought doing another one of those might not really be that interesting or exciting, so we set out to create a completely new and fresh kind of SRPG."
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/kl_Se2Afq1662988940081/5146541564.jpg]
As such, The DioField Chronicle offers free movement in realtime, only pausing when you select a unit to decide its next course of action, whether that's plotting a path around an enemy's visibility circle or venturing into it to lure it into an ambush. Switch to another unit from your party of four and you can pull off flanking manoeuvres, attacking from behind for extra damage. Special skills can stun or disrupt opponents, or let you launch a flurry of attacks, while defeating enemies fills a TP meter that can be used for specials: when a horde of undead rises from the ground, you can summon Bahamut to unleash carnage over a wide area. Kumagai says the development team thought carefully about the balance between more grounded action and fantastical elements. "It's not just, 'OK, we want to include dragons, so we'll include dragons' we're actually thinking about the environment and the habitats and the way that the biosphere of the world works, and what would and wouldn't ...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2022