Prime of Flames is an roguelike strategy game that seamlessly blends elements of turn-based strategy and party role-playing elements, creating a captivating gameplay experience. Developed by Indie devs Rayka Studio, this title offers a plethora of engaging features, diverse character choices, and waifu characters. Surprisingly, it’s not a gacha game!
The core gameplay mechanics of Prime of Flames revolve around turn-based tactics, where players strategically place and maneuver their characters in a grid-based map to overcome various enemies. The combat system is very well designed, and is very intuitive in how it works. Different characters will have different attack types, ranges, and mannerisms. For example, Guard characters can protect their teammates, suddenly swapping places with their allies taking damage on their behalf, Some warriors can go berserk, granted with increased damage at the cost of being uncommandable, while Hunter or Priest characters can attack from a varying degrees of long ranges.
The absence of individual character leveling and itemization is an interesting design choice. Instead, party experience levels determine the maximum number of characters in the party. However, you cannot bring everyone into battles, which will mostly have you select a few only, usually 4 more or less. Items are equipped by the party and shared, which completely removes tedious character gear-ups and focuses on the growth and progression of the entire party rather than individual characters.
Character progression is handled through the party's overall experience level, which unlocks random skills and upgrades for each character from their class. This system introduces an exciting sense of roguelike unpredictability and variety, keeping players engaged as they choose new abilities and upgrades.
The campaign structure of Prime of Flames follows a branching node system, offering players choices and non-linear progression. The ability to backtrack and revisit previous nodes instead of being constrained to a linear path enhances the freedom and player agency. This design choice allows for exploration and encourages players to fully immerse themselves in the game's rich world.
While Prime of Flames delivers a fantastic gameplay experience mechanically, it is worth noting that the English text translation occasionally suffers from inconsistencies and spotty translations. This can result in moments of confusion and affect the understanding of certain mechanics. However, the captivating gameplay mechanics and engaging encounters overshadow any minor translation issues, players just have to experiment more and try.