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Berwick Saga: Lazberia chronicle chapter 174
Introduction
The Berwick Alliance, housed in
the centre of the Kingdom of Veria,
clashed with the Raze Empire at the country's borders. Veria's King
Mordias
IV fought against the imperial forces, but died heroically in battle.
The Verian forces, defeated by the superior imperial soldiers,
retreated to the Narvia region, along with their surviving Prince and
Princess.
Each passing day, the lands before Narvia fall to the Empire and a
resistance force begins to grow at Narvia. Meanwhile, Reese, the young
Lord
of the poor Sinon region, heads to Narvia to assist the new King and
the story begins.
About the game
The game's full name is TearRing
Saga series: Berwick Saga:
Lazberia
Chronicle Chapter 174. Despite being in the same series, it has
no direct connection to the first TearRing
Saga.
By its own merits, this game was surprisingly good and a
refreshingly different type of strategy RPG. Unlike the previous game,
there
were much less
similarities to Fire Emblem,
although they both still share the same genre and setting. While it
was released on the Playstation 2, the visuals are fairly basic and,
unlike Path of Radiance,
completely 2D. However what really matters is the gameplay, which is
solid and rewardingly complex.
Features or changes
Hex-based maps
Battle maps are comprised of hexagonal
tiles instead of square-based tiles. This setup makes it easier for
units to travel diagonally, but
also makes it harder to protect character, as they can be attacked from
two more sides than usual.
Alternating turn-based control
Each turn, the control of units continuously alternates between the
player and the
computer. The
more units a side has, the more units they can move before
control swaps. Sometimes control feels a little random, but it adds to
the challenge and helps to make the gameplay more fast-paced and
involved.
Revised Skills system
There are a total of 80 Skills in this game, with less based on
existing Fire Emblem ones.
In particular, there are less Skills that rely on activation rates and,
instead, more command-based or always-active ones. Also, some
command-based Skills can only be used during specific turn intervals.
Changes to weapons
As well as traditional swords, lances and axes, there are a variety of
new weapon types, including Knives, Blades, Maces, Forks
and
Crossbows. Fire, Thunder and Wind magic remain. However, the new Holy
magic category encompasses both healing and
offensive light-based magic, while Dark magic now includes both
status-afflicting and offensive dark-based magic. Unlike the other
games, there is no weapon triangle.
Turn-limited Saves
Permanent Saves during battle can be made, but only once every five
turns. When the time to save comes, players are prompted
to save at the beginning of that turn.
Horses
The horses that some characters ride have their own HP and die if they
take too much damage. Players can buy or sell horses, and there are
several types of horses, with some breeds granting statistical bonuses
to their rider.
Chapter system
The game is split into 15 chapters, which are further divided into one
compulsory story-based mission and usually two optional missions.
City system
This feature is a bit similar to the Castle system in Genealogy of the Holy War. Outside
of battles, players can choose to visit specific locations in the city
of Narvia, including an armoury, church and cantine. Many
events, such as to recruit mercenaries, can be triggered around the
city as well. Naturally, players are also able to manage their
characters
and items here.
Mercenaries
In each chapter, players can recruit mercenary characters to fight
for them for the chapter's duration. All mercenaries can potentially be
permanently recruited, with most requiring a certain amount of
affection points before joining, while others require following a
series of events.
Food
Characters can eat food at the city's cantine to temporarily raise
their stats or
add
Skills. Eating food also raises a character's affection points, with
different characters favouring or disliking certain dishes.