King of Tin and Brown Bears (Free SRPG) - Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

I played "The King of Tin and Brown Bears," a game made with SRPG Studio.
This is a hardcore SRPG based on Shakespeare's four great tragedies.
It consists of 20 stages in total, and the complete version is scheduled to be released in 2023 as a paid product.
(October 2022 Update: The complete version has been released as a paid product.)
This work concludes as the prologue to an epic story, so the game itself is complete.

The completion time was approximately 7 hours.

Game Overview (No Spoilers)

The protagonist is Othello, a warrior from a faraway desert country who has been forced to fight as a slave soldier.
The early part of the story involves fighting against the Ogham tribe under General Polonius of the Fafnirian Kingdom, achieving victories in many battles and gaining recognition.

Because it is based on Shakespeare's four great tragedies, it features characters you may have heard of, such as Hamlet, King of Fafnir, and Macbeth, the legendary knight.
The game unfolds in a historical drama style, and the characters' dialogue, reminiscent of theatrical lines, feels very cool.

As a game, it's a title that strongly emphasizes effectively utilizing predetermined forces to clear stages.
Even when a unit levels up, only its morale (which is equivalent to HP) increases, so the growth from leveling up is minimal.
However, units that reach a certain level can become stronger by using an item to change their class.
Depending on the job class you change to, the weapons you can use may change, which can broaden the range of ways you can use them.

I think a unit's strength depends largely on its equipment.
Furthermore, named units, such as the main character Othello, possess many unique skills and are generally stronger than generic, unnamed soldier units.

As the game progresses, the scale of military operations increases, and the number of allied forces also grows.
Rather than trying to conquer the enemy's territory alone, it's crucial to work in coordination with allied forces and fulfill your role as part of a larger army.

By the way, as per the game's specifications, you cannot save mid-stage.
Since you can't save your progress while the game is in progress, it's best to play when you have enough time to sit down and play for an extended period.
Also, since there is no character loss, it is perfectly fine to use allied units as sacrificial pawns to buy time.

Review (no spoilers)

I was able to clear all 20 stages.
My impression of the difficulty level was that it was somewhat difficult.

I only know the titles of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, but since various characters appear from each work, it gave me the impression of a star-studded cast.
After researching the summaries of each tragedy, I felt that they indeed seemed to connect to the story at the end of Chapter 20 of this work.
Although it is a work of fiction, the detailed and realistic portrayal of the setting and relationships made me feel that it was a serious and thoughtful piece.
If you're someone who enjoys fantasy SRPGs where handsome men and beautiful women dominate everything, this might not be for you.
I apologize for using another work as an example, but the same SRPG Studio work, "Eumenides"or"ErinyesThe atmosphere and gameplay felt similar to that of the other game.

As a game, I found the aspect of gradually strengthening your own army to be enjoyable.
It's fun to watch the squads that are in your army from the beginning gradually get stronger through class changes, even if it's not a dramatic transformation.
In the early stages of the game, you'll have limited funds, so you can only buy cheap, low-performance equipment.
However, in the latter half of the game, I was able to acquire better quality equipment, and it was satisfying to see how much my combat power improved as a result, as it made me feel like my funds had increased.
また、オセローを強敵にぶつけてると、専用スキルにより能力値以上に有利に戦えるというのが、ストーリーとシステムが融合している部分で燃えました。

On the other hand, one point I found difficult was the inability to save mid-stage.
The stages in the second half are fairly long, but since you can't save mid-game, you can't easily restart.
However, luckily I never got a game over, so the game balance might be just right (although I did have to restart a few times in the early stages of the game).

Another point of concern is that you can't save on the sortie preparation screen, so if you restart a playthrough after organizing your items or shopping, you have to do the same organizing again, which is a bit of a hassle.
Also, I think the game would have been easier to play if the specific details of the bonuses from the command skills that each unit possesses were clearer.
In this game, enemy strength changes quite a bit depending on the support effects, so I think it would be easier to play if that aspect were easier to understand.

In any case, it's a hard-boiled story centered around men, with challenging stages, making it a worthwhile game to play.
If you're a fan of SRPGs and confident in your skills, why not give it a try?

Strategy Notes (Spoiler Warning)

Here are some general tips for playing the game.

・Utilize terrain effects
Waiting in the forest not only increases your evasion rate but also your defense.
This game's design emphasizes the significant impact of a single point increase in attack or defense, so keep that in mind.

Maintain formation

In this game, the damage dealt in a single battle is low, so engagements tend to be prolonged.
Since even a slight deviation would result in concentrated enemy fire, it seemed that the most stable strategy was to hold back the enemy in a straight line while the second line attacked indirectly.
Therefore, it is recommended to convert all of your light infantry into archers, as this will make your attacks more powerful.
In that case, equipping your front-line allies with shields that increase their defense will increase their durability.