Strategy games have progressively improved in scope, graphic quality and grandeur. It wasn't too long ago when a strategy game meant that you moved a tank icon from point A to point B and then either attacked or defended. Two options and little else when you entered into a theatre of conflict. The new generation of strategy-fantasy scenarios fulfills not only the active imagination of its intended audience but the wanderlust of the adventurer in us all. They provide hack and slash, diplomacy, a detailed story to follow and beautiful graphics. Travel and encounters in distant towns are usually thrown in for good measure. Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre and Front Mission all served to bump up game quality and gave us great stories to go along with the action. Those games served console owners well while Warcraft 2, Masters of Orion and Dune helped to shore up PC strategy gamers.
Terra Phantastica is no exception to this esteemed stable and it represents the best of what the genre has to offer at this point in its development. You are the heroine Diene who has been charged with the duty of leading the troops of your country, Meiss, into war to fend off intruding armies who are trying to invade the country. As the game progresses, you have to help Diene regain her lost memory with cues and encounters throughout the game. The battle system in Terra Phantastica is an elaborate one with pioneering features such as visible range, effective command areas and elan which is the morale of your troops. Morale is an important factor in TP and it will affect the outcome of the battles you engage in. Low troop morale will mean that their slashes will fall with less vigor and their usual defensive measures will not be in place when the slashes fall against them.
Low elan is a two edged sword that will terminate your armies if you don't take action to improve it. Elan also has another purpose in the world of TP, it determines the amount of command points that you have at your disposal after the movement phase of your turn. In battle, your units are given a certain range of movement points that you can use to close in on the opposing force. Command points determine the actions that you can execute after the movement phase and these include magical attacks, tactical offensive measures, using diplomacy and defending your armies against impending magical or massive ogre attacks. The battles take place in 3-D isometric view fields that are derivative of Tactics Ogre but they lack the different levels in the terrain. Character graphics are well defined with sharp lines and vibrant colors that animate smoothly when engaged in the close-up battles and exploration scenes..
Field effects include clouds, fog, fire and hazy smoke that enhance the different locales that you will find yourself in. The game looks very appealing and should give the strategy fan an addicting experience. In addition to the many battles that you will engage in, you must tend to the country's domestic affairs, deal with neighboring countries and make sure that the young ruler's development is headed in the right direction. There are many individuals to interact with as you move towards the end game and throughout the diplomatic encounters in the country. The characters have been designed by Akihiro Yamada whose work may remind some of of the fantasy artist Moebius.

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