REVIEW

Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory Review

by Jake Stewart, September 12th, 2018

Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is a combination of two other Fallen Legion titles that were previously available on PS4 and Vita. Two storylines that take place in the same world, Sins of an Empire and Flames of Rebellion, now conveniently packaged together to be enjoyed side by side as they should be.

The two campaigns follow either the newly appointed Empress of Fenumia struggling to keep control of her empire, or the defected general who has chosen to appose the empire in an attempt to be a more suitable ruler. These paths create an interesting contrast between both characters, as you learn both of their personalities, the lines between moral and immoral are blurred. Both characters only want what is best for their empire, and only see each other as the obstacles in their way.

The world-building in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is one of the better aspects of the game as a whole. It truly feels as if this world had been carefully planned out, and the interesting plotlines bring a nice accentuation to how well the world was established. On occasions, the writing can feel somewhat basic, but my own personal interest in Fenumia managed to help me ignore the occasional mediocrity in the dialogue bits.

In between the story bits comes the combat system. In both campaigns, you will be given control of three party members at any given time, and can be controlled with the Y, B, and A buttons. The combat takes the form of a pseudo-turn based system where each character has an action meter that must recharge between each attack. Allowing the action bar to fully charge opens the opportunity to unleash a more powerful attack, but leaves your party susceptible to more attacks while it charges. Luckily, a blocking system is in place that rewards the player for accurate timing, creating perfect blocks and even returning damage to the attacker.

The combat is truly where the game shines, as it feels like a standard turn-based combat but much, much quicker. At all times there will be characters moving on both sides of the battlefield, creating a visual spectacle that would seem more comparable to a real-time combat system.

Overall, the formula of the game is rather simple. Your party moves in a mostly linear path across a map, and begins a series of battles within the level, some story development afterwards, rinse and repeat. Calling Fallen Legion an RPG would be quite a stretch, but it still manages to invoke quite a bit of fun within the combat itself. By the end of the experience, you may start to feel burned out on the simple formula, but that shouldn’t diminish the enjoyment had up until that point.

The only mixup thrown into the formula is a choice system that is implemented within battles inside a singular level. A certain dillema will be brought to your leader, in which you’ll have to make a decision that both impacts your parties’ current stats, as well as opening up small bits of dialogue or the occasional side mission depending on the decision that you made. While a nice addition, these can be considered somewhat as padding, as they do not have an impact on the ending of the campaign.

Visually, the game is rather simple but effective. The HUD is easy enough to navigate and understand, and the artwork can range from decent to the occasional beautiful spectacle when executing attacks. I wouldn’t call the visuals unique, but they certainly serve their purpose and are varied enough to stay fresh.

Ultimately, Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is an above average experience with a solid combat system and interesting world that could definitely make for a nice side game to play throughout the week. There isn’t quite as much depth to the character development as I would’ve liked, but overall is a very pleasant and decently paced experience.

Fallen Legion offers an exciting combat system, interesting world, and a compelling plot. The development may be on the lighter side, and the rinse and repeat formula of the mission system may run thin after awhile, but overall is a solid enough experience to be worthy of playing at least one of the campaigns.