Buy Telepath Tactics

I will recommend this game because it is very much in line with games like Fire Emblem, a style of gameplay that I feel is very underserved. It is very clear that this game was made by a group of people who had a very low budget. The gameplay itself is enjoyable, but the visuals look like they came from windows paint, the story line is alright but the dialogue is horrible, and the characters are underwhelming and lack much depth. I don't think there could be anymore female characters in this game, even if it was an all female society, there would still be less women than this game currently features. Overall. Its worth 5-10 bucks. If games like this were more common, I'd pass on it.

My Playthrough

Youtube Playlist

The Review

This is the first turn-based tactics game that I have ever played. So I'm not that familiar with the genre but I very much enjoyed this game. The game has a lot of charm and the story is OK. The only cons I have is that the game could have benefited from a longer campaign but with how moddable this game is I'm sure that someone can make a very huge campaign. But for what it is this is a great game especially when you take into account that this game was developer by one person named Craig Stern.

Short version of this review, get this game, it's well worth the purchase.

The reasoning behind my review? First off, if you like fire emblem-esque games this is the closest thing you'll find to them, it's incredibly similar, but not in the inspired-by sort of way, and not the complete-copy way. This game takes the best elements of fire emblem that made it unique and incredible, and adds to those with its own unique style.

I'll go through the list here:

Graphics, the game uses a pretty standard set of 2D graphics that most RPG, medieval-style games use, nothing new there, in great contrast to literally everything else in this game.

Map design, similar to fire emblem maps are very nicely spaced, with some being far bigger than others. I applaud the map design, it's incredibly well done. With chests, and various secrets hidden throughout most, if not all, levels. Breakable terrain is implemented perfectly, adding to the strategy element flawlessly. With treasures and various items to gather, as well as the ability to build and destroy terrain in many levels, the maps elevate the level of strategy required to be victorious over your enemy. I could go on for hours just on the map design!

Story, one of Fire Emblem's shining points was the backstory, character development, and overarching story of it all. Telepath Tactics does all three very well, with funny, interesting, and relatable characters that you get to know and love. Everyone has their own personality, and interactions with each other, which leads to a really nice atmosphere and feel. You can tell very easily how much time and effort was put into the writing, and it paid off.

Music, something that really makes or breaks any great game is the music. Telepath Tactics has fun and atmospheric music that is both exciting and appropriate for the scene. Its choice of music helps to create a truly wonderful atmosphere to play in.

Finally, Telepath Tactics absolute best point, combat. Unique and astounding are about the only words for this game's combat system. The turn-based combat combined with unique skills and an amazing map design leads to nearly infinite ways to be victorious, and some incredibly funny, and entertaining battles.

For example, I was on one level, where I was being crushed, I'd lost the level probably eight or so times already, I was just getting killed instantly by this one guy, that I couldn't kill fast enough. So, I got my healer to go rush the guy and telepathically push him into the center of a lake, using both the heroes to allow her to act three times in a turn. I was able to strand the guy in the middle of a lake while I dealt with the others, and then pull him back across the lake to kill him with my fighters.

What else can I say? I've never played a game with so many options and such a unique skill set available, the gameplay is interesting and fun, and there's always another way to approach something. No two people will ever beat the game the same way, something it far surpasses its predecessor, Fire Emblem, on. A big difference between Fire Emblem and Telepath Tactics is the ability to win in many ways, with many different people, unlike Fire Emblem, there is no superior set of characters, everyone is unique in their own way and can be used to devastating effectiveness.

Moddable. Telepath Tactics is incredible as is, but not only can you mod it, modding is supported, and surprisingly easy to figure out. I managed to learn and make a simple mod of my own in only a few hours.

The only thing I don't endlessly love is the inventory management system, which is a little clunky and difficult/annoying to use. There's no easy way to equip/unequip lots of things at once, there's no easy way to remove or manage items on everyone, and the only way to see the durability of an item is to go to the character's inventory and mouse over the item, which gets a little tedious. However, there are mods that remedy this that are very easy to install.

I should note too, that I'm not sure when, where, or what some of the people writing these reviews were playing when they ran into bugs, glitches, and issues with the game's engine, but I can assure you it wasn't Telepath Tactics. Having played through the campaign entirely myself, and having several friends who've played through the campaign entirely none of us have run into any issues with the game engine, or bugs of any kind. Of the eleven playthroughs from people I know not a single one has had any issues/bugs/glitches, other than one character's weapon randomly being unequipped at the start of a battle, once.

Overall, it's an amazing game, with a unique and entertaining combat system, flawlessly designed maps, and friendly, funny, and personable characters that you'll get to know and love. Flawless map design, music, and storytelling leads to a unique and enjoyable atmosphere. I highly recommend Telepath Tactics to everyone who likes strategy games, Fire Emblem games, or just plain great games. 10/10

Game engine is still broken and dev appears to have given up on it. Avoid.

its a rip off of fire emblem, im not mad tho

Great game. Lots of hours spent trying to beat each map without losses. Hoping he makes another.

A clever and complex little combat game. I wasn't wild about the very linear campaign and the respawn-heavy final battles, but these were only minor issues for me.

Gameplay may be good, but i don't get far enough to judge it, because the engine is technically underbaked, making it rather unpleasant to look at and play. Further, the dev has ignored even the most simple of requests to alleviate the situation despite getting detailed feedback and explanations.

This ignoring can be reread and judged here, so you don't need to take my word on it: http://sinisterdesign.net/forum/index.php?topic=1406.0

In short, the primary issues are:

- game runs at 45 fps default, when animating (intended by dev to be 3x the rate of the ingame sprite animations)
- fps will vary wildly between single digits and 60, depending on what and how many things are animated
- mouse is rendered in-engine, causing the following things:
- mouse movement fluidity changes with game fps
- mouse movement is delayed by a noticable amount of milliseconds by going through the game render engine

If you can handle unstable FPS and unpleasant and clumsy mouse controls, give this one a try. Otherwise i recommend giving it a miss.

I'd have loved for this to be a recommendation, and i had even helped kickstart the game. If Craig ever makes it possible to have the mouse cursor rendered by the OS instead, unlocking it from the game fps, i will review again to see if the gameplay holds up. But as it is, this where it stands.

A Fire emblem like game thats quite fun to play, with the possibility to recruit enemy heroes and friendly NPC's in the fight. I suggest trying it, well worth the money if you like Shining Force, Fire Emblem and similar games.

Pushed a man off a cliff 300 style, Killed him instantly. 10/10 would be a Spartan again.

But in all seriousness this game is amazing. As a Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and X-Com Veteran, the strategy aspect was pretty easy to grasp and you'll soon learn to Abuse Use the Pull and Shove commands, Alot. Though some enemies may use that same tactic against you in later levels and it will turn bad when your units get pushed off the aformentioned cliff. Now while Telepath Tactics might not bring much new to the table, besides the push/pull commands, it still hits all the right notes and if you're dissapointed with the story, YOU can create your OWN campaign. Everything is here too: swords, lances, axes, bows, Magic is here too, pyrokinesis is fire magic, cryokinesis is ice magic, etc. There are classes and class changes upon reaching "Level 21" (leveling up after level 20 promotes you to your next class type)

To sum it up: Telepath Tactics is a pretty solid Tactical RPG with an interesting and very fun to use mechanic.