Hasn’t Kickstarter been great for the world? Everyday idiots can beg strangers for money to fund their hair-brained schemes and for every 100 or so terrible ideas there will be 1 gem. Battle Chasers: Nightwar is one of those gems! Funded almost entirely off the back of generous donations, Battle Chasers is a labor of love from Airship Syndicate and you can see how much the community has influenced production. With entire game features being added based on the total sum donated. It’s great to see gamers getting behind an idea so strongly and the results are incredible.
Now its no secret that I’m a big fan of fantasy games and a good dungeon crawler will always get my attention. Battle Chasers Follows the usual fantasy tropes with your leading lady Gully starting her journey in the town of Harm’s Way (amazing town name!) set in a desolate world full of monsters dungeons and a swathe of randomly generated NPCs! Oh yes more of less every aspect of this game is totally random with dungeons and characters being built on the fly to make sure that every player has a different experience. The core game is the same for everyone however with some wonderfully designed heroes in your party from the young Gully to the old wizard Knolan and of course the usual fantasy sword wielding meathead Garrison!
The gameplay is the usual fair for the genre seeing you explore around some gorgeous environments looting everything that isn’t nailed down and exploring every nook and cranny before you’re dropped into a battle where you’re suddenly using the classic turn based combat style we all know and love. The combat is fun and exciting with the character and enemy designs being the main selling point. Unlike most games where I would get tired of fighting and try my best to run away from a fight just to save myself the time i actually found myself looking for a battle just to see what the baddies would look and behave like! It takes a little bit of time to learn what style suits you and which hero you’ll rely on though all of your team will win you over and you’ll find yourself wanting to experiment with them all just for the fun of it!
Ill be honest here and say I can’t remember a lot about the storyline. I know that sounds pretty bad but come on now! It’s a fantasy dungeon crawler how much was I supposed to remember! Yadda yadda revenge yadda yadda magic. Just remember the main jist is monsters are bad. Blue magic is good. Save the world I when you get a spare moment would you? Besides you’ll be far too distracted with exploring the beautifully crafted world you’re in to really be focusing too much on any story matters. Isn’t that a positive? I mean if you play a game that is so fun that you don’t even mind that a usually key component is missing that’s a pretty good sign that you’re on to a winner! Bungie should ask these guys how to handle Destiny 3 (I assure you that was a sick burn).
Overall Battle Chasers: Nightwar is an exciting and gorgeous romp through a lovingly crafted world that will never be the same twice. I honestly think every fantasy fan should give it a go and just see where your adventure takes you!
I’m giving Battle Chasers: Nightwar 8/10