Summary
Sword of Convallaria has a strong strategy RPG foundation and is a great mobile game. But for PC, there are other games that are better value. The game doesn’t bring anything new to the table with its gameplay. Fortunately, the experience is free and if you are patient, you can unlock several benefits and have fun. However, this is a mobile gacha game at its core and spending money is the only method for quick enhancement. You might aswell save money just buying another strategy RPG outright.
Developer – XD Entertainment Pte Ltd, XD Inc.
Publisher – XD Entertainment Pte Ltd, XD Inc.
Platforms – PC (reviewed), Android, iOS
Review copy given by publisher
What if you could change the events of the past and prevent tragedies from occurring? Sword of Convallaria investigates that premise after the main character learns of a tool that can change the past. After a tragedy impacts the lives of several individuals, they do everything they can to change the past. Fighting against supernatural forces and learning more about the past, they understand what they are changing and what events led to this point.
Sword of Convallaria is a free-to-play game that lets you experience a decent strategy RPG. You command several units and fight against powerful armies. Uprisings, supernatural beings, and criminals are just some of the opponents you face. Deciding what units are more effective and using the environment to your advantage are important considerations. Understanding your skills and options is crucial to winning.
You can customize your units with equipment and level them up as you win battles. Sometimes you may wish to spread out your levels or focus on certain classes. Different battles call for different strategies and you can choose your army before combat. If you are in a pinch, take a look at your environment and how your skills might bail you out. There’s a lot to keep track of, but it’s a solid strategy experience.
The stories also have multiple endings and decent replay value. You play through a story as it initially ends but rewind time to change certain situations. The option of different endings increases replayability and makes you want to re-experience the story. This also means different scenarios for characters to shine and more opportunities to rotate your cast.
The biggest problem for PC is that the game plays similarly to a mobile RPG. It is still playable on PC but you drag and drop frequently. Movement is particularly annoying since it’s easy to click on a location, but the game won’t recognize the full distance. This often results in improper placements and characters suffer the consequences. It’s not necessarily a guaranteed loss but it’s frustrating to lose characters because the game didn’t recognize your inputs.
There’s lots of content to pursue and work your way up. But unlike a full strategy RPG like Tactics Ogre, that experience takes days to build up. You can’t speed through the story and fight battles as often as you like. You expend energy on every scenario you play and you must wait several hours to get it back. Most players won’t speed through every story but it is difficult to enjoy several stories when you know you can’t continue.
Free players also don’t get a lot of content at first, slowly unlocking it over time. But there will be a point where you want those resources now and may spend real money on the game. This isn’t a play-to-win game but it’s clear that several resources are designed to make you pay. Whether it’s better equipment or the chance to go through a battle another time, there is a cost if you want to keep playing. It is possible to wait and accumulate everything slowly, but it’s a punishing wait.
The worst part is that there’s a certain point where you are probably better off buying a strategy RPG like Tactics Ogre. Sword of Convallaria takes their story to a level that most games can’t reach. However, it takes a long time to get to those stories unless you pay money. At a certain financial investment, you probably could buy a full-fledged game instead of getting more valuables.
As nice as the branching stories are, Sword of Convallaria doesn’t bring anything new to the strategy RPG scene. You can configure equipment, analyze opponents, chain moves together, but none of that is new. Unless you have never played a strategy RPG before, Sword of Convallaria won’t stand out from the crowd. However, being free and having lots of replay value is a strong value proposition.
Even the pixel art and soundtrack don’t stand out much. While both are done well, it’s not like other games haven’t got their own. The real draw of Sword of Convallaria is the story content and possible mobile game events. Everything else would probably not work as well on a PC or is already done by other games on the market. This game truly shines in the mobile market, but the PC market has too many options to compete with.
If you often find yourself on the road and not in front of a gaming computer, Sword of Convallaria is good. The mechanics are solid, there’s lots of replay value, and you get rewards like many mobile games. However, other strategy RPGs push the envelope further and have stories that are easier to access. For players who want something free and a decent strategy RPG to sink their teeth into, Sword of Convallaria is the game for you. But for players who game more frequently and have more powerful hardware, there’s better games on the market.
