Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Covenant of
Solitude is an RPG released by Kemco. Originally released in 2013 as an
android/iOS title, it is now available on the PS5! While maybe a little
graphically aged and somewhat standard JRPG fare compared to some of KEMCO’s
other titles, Covenant of Solitude is rather fun and more engaging than you may
initially expect.
Covenant of
Solitude stars a young man named Fort, who has the power to talk to monsters.
Living a rough life in a small village, Fort has his world burnt down when the
Empire invades his village and slaughters the inhabitants. Fort must then find
his place in the world and what he wants to do with himself and the people in
it. Using his power that not only allows him to speak to but also to command
monsters in battle, the power of a genie, Fort tries to carve out a place for
himself.
By and
large the plot of Covenant of Solitude isn’t anything particularly outstanding,
nor are the characters really. While there are some interesting dialogue
moments between Fort and the demon Wicca who signs a contract with him, most
characters are either cartoonishly evil, extremely predictable, or kind of dumb.
As an example, Fort seems to have the frustrating disability to be skeptical of
anybody. He basically says at one point “why would somebody be nice to me if
they weren’t a good person?”, which I almost threw something after reading.
That being said, the writing isn’t bad, just pretty cliché or unsurprising.
The
gameplay is very traditional JRPG style that is very reminiscent to me of the
first Final Fantasy game. You will explore a world map, get into random fights,
explore dungeons, find treasure chests, and do the occasional side quest as you
go. In Covenant of Solitude there is a bit more to it. You can recruit
different species of monsters to your party and give them different jobs. A
monster’s species will affect their general stat distribution, for example the
beast type characters have higher speed, while the job chosen determines growth
path and skills. A fighter class will learn physical attacking skills and have
a more attack focused stat distribution.
You will be
able to change jobs by using a certain item, although new jobs are set at level
1. You may also be able to find special items that allow you to change to an
advanced job class. However, if you do change jobs, you will get to keep previously
learned skills.
Once you’re
set to go with your party of Fort and up to three monsters, you’re ready to
tackle the world. This means a decent amount of fighting, by the way. In combat
is very traditional fare: select command, attack in turns until all commands
are complete, repeat. You can attack, use a skill, defend, use an item, etc.
and certain weapons have different effects, such as hitting back rows for full
damage or hitting in a pattern. Spells can also hit rows or columns and there
is an elemental alignment chart. Upon victory you are awarded with experience
and money to fund your vicarious lifestyle.
Dungeons
are an interesting experience. They certainly aren’t the worst designed areas I’ve
seen, and the minimap certainly helps you navigate, although they do tend to be
either needlessly roundabout or uninspiring. There are a few dungeons with gimmicks or traits that make them interesting, such as a fire and ice dungeon. In here the ice you slide on and the fire you take damage when walking over, yet they are somewhat few and far between.
Sidequests
are a little weird as well. While there aren’t many, it would be interesting to
note that a fair amount require a certain monster at a certain level, such as a
vampire at level 30 in order to complete an objective. A rather unique way of
doing things, but since units not in the party don’t directly earn exp,
leveling one if you aren’t actively using them could be a hassle.
There is an
in-game store where you can buy items basically at any time you have free
movement, so running out of healing or revive items isn’t really an issue.
There is also a store where you can buy special items for points you earn from
killing enemies, which are usually game-breaking items or super good equipment.
Interestingly enough, you don’t earn points super fast, so it would still take
some work to afford these items.
Graphically
and musically Covenant of Solitude isn’t really that great. I wouldn’t say it’s
bad, but it’s definitely not beating the “2013 phone game” allegations even
when ported to console. A bit of an update would have done it really well, even
if it was just replacing some environment textures to add more variance or
giving some better looking character portraits. As I said earlier, not the
worst, but certainly could be better.
Overall I
don’t really know how to feel about Covenant of Solitude. It isn’t spectacular
by any means, but it isn’t bad. I definitely had more fun playing than I
expected, but I can’t really say why? Perhaps it just has a sort of nostalgic
charm that draws you in. Nothing over the top or super fancy, no gimmicks, just
traditional JRPG mechanics and storyline, but that isn’t bad every now and
then.
Ultimately, Covenant of Solitude is a perfectly average experience. While it doesn’t do anything new or exciting, or even really put it’s own spin on things, it also doesn’t lack in the backbone that made older JRPGs so entertaining. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. If you’re looking for something to play in the background, or to do while waiting for something else to release, this might be a neat little tide over until something else comes along, but I certainly wouldn’t claim it as a “big name RPG”. Give it a look to see if this is something right for you.
Score: 7 / 10
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