Fantasy General 2 — Feel of the Game
2nd of The Magnificent 7 and The Feel of the Game Series
Whether you feel like a general or just a grunt, sometimes you just need a little fantasy in your life. Based on the successful Panzer General mechanics and originally published in 1996 by the “strategy game giant” SSI when screens were still somewhat pixelated this Fantasy General remake is not just a worthy successor, it’s simply fantastic.
There are days when all I want is a good old strategy, preferably turn-based so it feels more like chess where the setup is transparent and it’s all about the planning rather than an ongoing struggle and feeling of “omg I can’t be everywhere at the same time to keep track of things” which just makes me jittery and stressed. There are some fine examples of pausable real-time strategies that I’ll talk about in the “Magnificent 7 Strategy Games” series but sometimes I just want to sit back and strategize at leisure, and not have to worry about any kind of clock or things that are happening out of view. This game is one of the finest examples of such a pleasure. It’s a fantasy come true. Kudos to Slitherine for doing it right, but then they are the new “kings of wargaming” so I expect nothing less.
For the longest time strategy games did many things well but rarely looked pretty. This changed a while ago, and many come now with a fair amount of eye candy. The new iteration of Fantasy General is on many levels aesthetically pleasing. The unit icon graphics are gorgeous and so is the strategic map where scenario progression is showcased. It’s a piece of art and it’s almost a shame one doesn’t get to interact with it more other than selecting the next scenario. It provides a nice backdrop to the story-driven campaign as all the major clans and factions are displayed and every location has a lore tool-tip adding depth to the overall setting.
The tactical maps are great too. There are fortification walls, impassable mountains, forests, bogs full of magical auras, monsters, dragons, harpies, centaurs, and every creature you could typically except in a high fantasy setting. There is a lot of variety and detail in them and finding those caves and ruins with essential loot that allow you to equip or evolve your units can sometimes be quite tricky to spot providing a refreshing “adventure” aspect of the game.
Exploring the map while engaging the main opponent is essential to make ensure your army continues evolving and is up to the task as the campaign progresses. You have the option to turn off unit scaling if you want to feel that “power” of eventually having an overwhelming and experienced force at your command.
The region wealth meter and turn counter promotes scouting and risk taking as the rewards for winning a scenario diminish with time. As you assault the cities scouting parties have to be sent out at all times to discover and loot the goods as quickly as possible.
The story is also solid and you quickly start to identify with the characters and have to make some tough decisions pretty early on which, depending on your choices will offer a different set of scenario options. This RPG element adds immensely to the experience which would otherwise be a pure military slog out.
Ultimately the combat mechanics is where the game shines the most. Utilizing proper tactics really pays off here. Your missile troops have the ability to support any units adjacent to them, so placing a row of 3 archers in support of your heavily armored infantry in the front can make your army a really hard nut to crack. Add a Frost Giant, some magic missile Acolytes or two and some flying Pegasi and you got yourself an assault force that no foe can stand to. Your heroes and magic troops can cast a variety of spells that can make or break a campaign. You can choose what kind of spells your Heroes should learn first. It’s all very well-balanced and just an endless joy to toy with.
The units you have under your disposal carry through their equipment and experience as you progress through the scenarios and the unit upgrades are varied and offer you a lot of ways to customize your army. You can turn your units into superbly armored tanks or give them that hard-to-stop magic missile ability. Accrued experience will provide your veteran units with additional health points and damage. It all makes an impact, and it’s these little details that make this title simply superb.
This is one of those titles where the music is great but it can get under your skin after a while. It’s a good score, but it is intense and after 220 hours it can disrupt the strategizing so at some point you may want to mute it and putting some ambient electronica in the background to clear the horizon.
The Barbarian Invasions campaign was great, and I couldn’t wait to get started with the Empire and its undead minions. For any Fantasy and turn-based tactical gaming fans out there this is a must-have title. It’s very well balanced, and I really hope they make even more scenarios for it, as it’s one of those games that you just keep coming back to.
When in need of a no-pressure, rewarding, and well-polished mind plushie, turn yourself into a Fantasy General and throw those Trolls back to where they came from, or take them with you and show those skeletons the perils of calcium deficiency.
This is the second of the Magnificent 7 Strategy Games worth playing that will be featured in this series.
It’s all about the feeling and I will be showcasing more Feel of the Game in an ongoing series.
