Royal Capital Knight Incident Tales (Free SRPG) Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

I played "The Royal Knight's Case," the first game in the "Case Tales Series," which is known as a short SRPG.
It features a manageable length for casual play and a fast-paced storyline.
It's like a one-hour TV drama, with a cohesive and engaging storyline, so you can play through it all in one go without getting bored, which I think is a great thing about it.
My completion time was about 1.5 hours (on hard mode).

Game Overview

"The Royal Knights' Incident" is a short SRPG consisting of six maps.
This is the story of young knight Leia, who investigates and strives to resolve incidents that occur both inside and outside the royal capital.

The story is well-structured and fast-paced, much like a one-hour TV drama.
Irrelevant explanations and other unnecessary details have been boldly cut to avoid redundancy.

The game system is simple, aside from the support effects between units, and there is no weapon triangle system.
However, this also means that the difficulty level is well-balanced, making it easy to play.
There are three difficulty levels to choose from, and character loss is possible in Normal and Hard modes.
I played on hard difficulty, but my impression is that it's about average difficulty, so I think players who are used to SRPGs should have no problem with hard.

Review (no spoilers)

I was so engrossed in the story and map progression that I was able to play through it all in one go.
Knowing that Chapter 6 is the last chapter makes me want to play it all the way to completion, since I'm almost there.

I feel that SRPGs generally tend to be long-form games.
However, longer games take a long time to complete.
Furthermore, there are many things to consider, such as the difficulty of redoing things if you miss something, or the possibility of having units that you can't raise.
Of course, these are the flip side of what makes the game fun, but they can also make it difficult to get started.

However, if it's a short game, the time it takes to complete is short, so you can play it at your own pace.
This game has relatively few stages (only six), and there's less variation in unit development, so I think the difficulty balance is quite stable.
Furthermore, the fact that there are few units to control and each turn takes relatively short also contributes to the low stress level.
Since you don't need to choose which units to raise, you can focus on clearing the stages.

If a game incorporates various systems, a short main story can feel unsatisfying, while a long story with a simple system can become boring.
Although this game has a simple system, I felt it ended at just the right length.
This is a game I would recommend to people who want to play without any pressure and with a light heart.

Strategy Notes - Hard Mode (Contains Spoilers)

Chapter 1: Knights of the Royal Capital

We'll intercept the first enemies that come towards us at the bridge.
The most important thing is to deal with each person individually.
You might be tempted to wait up in the woods, but if that's within the attack range of both enemies, it's better to stay on flat ground and deal with them one by one.

Chapter 2: The Unknown Magical Beast

A mysterious young man appears on the second turn.
If you don't position yourself towards the right side of the map beforehand, you'll charge straight into the enemy, so make sure you're in a position to start a conversation immediately.
You can easily defeat the dragon by attacking it with a wind bow.

Chapter 3: Information Gathering

The objective is to visit six houses.
If you don't buy a short sword for Leia, you might run out of weapons.
Also, since there won't be any shops open for a while, let's buy an emergency kit just in case.

The enemy reinforcements are coming in thick and fast, so talk to Dreas as soon as possible and recruit him to your party.
Staying still in one place is dangerous as you could be surrounded from two directions. So, move to the side with fewer enemies, fight your way through, and visit the houses along the way.
After a certain number of turns, reinforcements will stop appearing, so when that happens, defeat the boss and obtain the weapon.
Having a handy hammer will be helpful in opening doors in the next chapter (you can also purchase one at the shop on the next map's preparation screen).

Chapter 4 Exploration

Choose a route that is directly below the starting point and free of enemies, and use your hammer to break down any doors along the way.
You'll likely be overtaken by cavalry near the bottom of the map, but use the narrow, one-square-wide path to hold them off with Thors or similar units.
Let's have Leia and James talk, and also have Leia talk to John, who is closing in on them.

After a while, reinforcements of cavalry soldiers begin to appear along the route John has taken.
Have John collect the treasure chest (money and flash talisman) while Leia heads to the destination, and the other members intercept in the corridor.
Engaging the enemy in a T-shaped passage allows for indirect attacks from two people, making the battle easier.

Chapter 5 Truth

With the goal of defeating Dreas in mind, we will advance along the lower route, heading towards Dreas in the lower right.
You should proceed without worrying too much about the pursuers from behind, and engage them when they catch up.
When fighting a group of mages, be careful not to get caught in a concentrated attack, and position John and Ars, who can perform indirect attacks, so that they can counterattack during the enemy's turn.

The treasure chest contains the Demon-Slaying Blessing (the owner's magic defense +10).
If a unit facing the boss in the next map has this item, it can significantly reduce the damage they take.

Chapter 6: The Red Dragon

Ars and Marina are among the characters best suited to inflicting significant damage on dragons.
Since physical attacks won't deal much damage, have the other units focus on clearing the way.
Enemy soldiers wielding axes are surprisingly powerful and dangerous.

You can stop the dragon's movement with the "Staff of Restraint".
However, by your sixth turn, a large number of friendly reinforcements will appear on the bridge, so there's no need to rush to catch up.
If you want to clear the stage quickly, try to stop them in their tracks and defeat them.
Marina has high magic defense and takes almost no damage from the dragon's breath, so stick close to her and keep attacking.

Character impressions (spoiler alert)

Leia
Speed and technique are slightly above average, resulting in well-balanced abilities overall.
It's easy to attack twice, making it the central focus of combat.

Ars
Since you can perform indirect attacks, it becomes easier to fight by using Ars to whittle down the enemy's health and then finishing them off with Leia.
Thanks to the "Hawk's Eye" skill, my accuracy is also high.
When it becomes the True Wind Bow, its range increases significantly and it becomes much more powerful.
I want to attack the red dragon, but I also want to eliminate the surrounding enemies, so I'm torn about which one to attack.

Elly
I made full use of the first-aid kit, and it proved very useful.
In the final map, using the Restraining Staff to disable enemies' actions will be useful.

Thors
This unit is slow, but strong and can inflict significant damage with a single hit.
It has decent defensive capabilities, making it suitable as the rear guard in maps where you are being chased.
Its strength allows it to deal effective damage even against red dragons, but be careful as its magic defense is very weak.

James
Since it can use magic, which is effective both at close range and close range, it's easy to inflict damage and is very user-friendly.
Since its defensive capabilities are not high, it's best to focus on fighting opponents that won't retaliate or against magicians.

John
Assassins have a reputation for being weak, but they're about as tough as Leia.
The throwing dagger is a versatile weapon that can be used both at close range and at close range, and it's easy to land two attacks or critical hits, making it a reasonably effective combatant.

Marina
They become allies in the final episode.
Its magic defense is extremely high, making it perfect for fighting red dragons.
It's best to have Marina focus on offense and leave healing to another character.

Freesia
The interesting thing is that despite being called a medic, he's a swordsman character.
However, its low speed makes it unlikely to attack twice, so it's best to focus on healing.