Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Alphadia
III is the third instalment in the Alphadia series. Set as a prequel to
Alphadia I, Alphadia III tells a story about war and how an energi clone named
Alfonso looks for a future that isn’t as a weapon to be wielded.
If you
haven’t played any other Alphadia titles no worries, you’ll be told everything
you need to understand what’s going on as you play. You gather a caste of
eclectic characters, headed by Alfonso, an energi clone, who has started
wanting a life not as a tool for war but as his own person. So he sets out with
the local anti-war movement to try and find a place in the world. You will end
up journeying with others, a clash of unique personalities, and a lot of
adventure awaits.
As for the
gameplay system, it’s kind of like the midway point between Spirit Valor and
Astrune Academy. If you haven’t played either or read my reviews for those, no
worries I’ll outline it here. Alphadia III is a retro-style RPG similar to
old-school Final Fantasy at its core. You will have pixel characters exploring
a world map, dungeons, and towns, with random encounters in the first two.
While exploring dungeons you can find chests, puzzles, and a handy enemy
encounter adjustment device and a warp point to take you to other warp points
you’ve activated in that dungeon. In towns you can buy equipment, accept and
complete requests for citizens, and maybe even take part in some arena bouts.
The world isn't just a safe place to explore as enemies and monsters abound. You will
either get into a fight randomly, as a scripted event, or by summoning enemies
via the device I previously mentioned. Combat is turn-based with a turn-order
indicated at the top of your screen where a characters agility will determine
how often they attack. When one of your turns come around, you have your
traditional commands such as: attack, defend, and item. You can also use Energi
Skills, which is the in-universe equivalent of what mana is in most other
games. Your SP skills, which are powerful moves that build a charge gauge as you
take action, as well as formation and array commands.
While most
of this is pretty standard for many turn-based RPGs, whether in parts or in
whole, Alphadia III adds a little bit of a personal spin to it. Not only do you
have the Energi skills and SP attacks instead of just one or the other, but
Alphadia III actually has you playing with a six member party, something not
often done. If you adjust your formation to meet certain pre-set layouts, you
can activate an array which will give an effect to the party. For instance, one
array may increase both damage output and damage taken, or one may increase
agility at the cost of reduced energi attack damage. It’s a cool feature that
may help you out if you use it properly.
Another
interesting route the developers decided to go is how your energi and SP skills
level. While your main characters level through exp from defeating enemies, to
a ridiculously high 999, your energi element is what determines your energi
skill and the number of times you use SP skills determines your SP skill level.
Basically, more fights and your characters’ innate element levels up, more SP
skill usage and your overall SP skill level goes up. As for the energi skills, your
character is restricted to their natural element, one for each six of the party
members. But have no fear, you can equip rings that allow you to use other
element types, although those must also be leveled when a ring is equipped.
Unequip the ring and you lose access to those skills.
The main
way to get rings is by trading energi fragments with characters in the item
shop for rings. Energi fragments are mostly obtained through chucking unwanted
items in the Energi Crock. Every one-hundred points worth of items nets you a
fragment.
Now for
those of you somewhat familiar with Kemco games, yes the “sort of cheat shop”
is in Alphadia III. For those unaware, as you win battles, occasionally you
will get ten of a “premium currency”. You can go to the shop tab in the
main menu use that “premium currency” to purchase random items (that get
removed from the item pool when pulled), exchange for specific items (like a
key to a storage house), or you can purchase game modifiers like exp increases
or increased drop rate. Unlike Astrune Academy which pretty much shovelled
these in your face, Alphadia III is much more withholding of the premium
currency. Sure, if you really wanted you could grind out low level enemies for
them, but it really depends on how you want to play the game.
You do have
different tiered missions as well, a sort of in-game bonus for meeting certain
requirements such as obtaining a certain number of fragments from the energi
crock or using a certain number of SP skills. These missions can reward that
premium currency or other items like consumables or upgrade materials. I’m not
sure it’s particularly spelled out for you all that well, but there is a tab in
your item menu called “upgrade” where permanent stat boosting items can be
found. These are dropped occasionally after a fight and will usually raise your
stats by a minor amount.
Alphadia
III, much like some of the other Kemco titles out there, gives you a lot of ways
to make your team somewhat overpowered. Whether it’s from getting a bunch of
the “store” currency and buying exp/damage increase upgrades or pulling a gacha
for equipment. Unlike some of its contemporaries however, Alphadia III doesn’t
just shove the store currency in your face. I think it strikes a good balance
between “available if you want to turn this into a casual experience” and “I
want a challenge” where you can choose how easy to make the game but don’t feel
almost pushed into it if you’re given a lot of store currency.
The
graphics and soundtrack are good for what they are, but probably won’t hold much
space in your memory. While the spritework is good, including different weapon
styles, the still portraits seen during talking scenes sometimes don’t mesh
properly with the background. Although it is rather faint, a minor issue, all
things considered. What is distinctly more annoying, however, is that there are
a few menus where hitting “back” means you need to completely exit out of the
submenu, instead of reverting to a choice. An example of this is the scenario
menu. Normally you can go here to read up on what has happened and where you
should go, but you also go here to turn in sidequests. Unfortunately if you
have a few to turn in, you need to turn in one, leave the scenario menu, then
go back into it to turn in another. Also a minor issue but pretty annoying.
With a cast of interesting characters, some neat combat mechanics, and the wonderful ability to fast travel anywhere you’ve been before, Alphadia III is definitely a pleasing retro RPG style title. There are a few kinks here and there, but it’s a rather smooth experience that was enjoyable to witness. While it may not stand up to some other major games out there, it’s definitely a delightful experience.
Score: 8 / 10
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