Story:
The story revolves around a boy named Bastion and his part-taking in a Holy War.Bastion and his friends are rebels and fight to end the war,they fight for good and justice.Their enemy?General Faulkner,the epitome of evil.He is at the helm of the Junaris Empire.Faulkner oppresses the people and kills without just cause.Bastion and his friends fight to end this mans terror.
Although there are three different story lines(Kingdom Branch,Empire Branch,Ruin Branch)the story line always centers on Bastion and his fight to end the war between the Pharastia Kingdom and the Junaris Empire.
The game has many plot twists and different events may occur depending on your choosing.To really comprehend the deep and involving story you must play through the game three times,on each of the three main branches.
The story is a wonderfully done with a great translation(thanks to Working Designs).Although,unlinke the Lunar translation,Vanguard Bandits has more of a serious tone in the text rather then a humours one.Either way,translation is perfect when it's done by Working Designs.
game play:
This is the reason why Vanguard Bandits is a pure joy to play...The gameplay is addictive and requires you to think out your next moves.You must learn to position your characters correctly and attack at the right moment.The core of the gameplay is the battle system.
You always battle in your ATAC(Giant humaniod mechs).ATAC's may learn different techniques depending on which stone or amulet you give them or how you level up character stats.In the battle system there are two gauges:AP and FP.
AP determines how far you can walk or what skills you can do(skills differ from techniques or attacks because they usually temporarily boost a characters stats or even heal them).When your AP gauge is empty,it usually means that it is time to end your turn.
FP,on the other hand plays an important part in the battles.When you are attacked,your FP gauge fills depending on what actions you take(You can either attack,defend,avoid or counterattack.)For instance,avoiding costs less FP then attacking.
When your FP gauge fills to one hundred,your character will become frozen and will be unable to do anything on the next turn.Also,when you are frozen,you become very vulnerable to enemy attacks.However,you can freeze enemies,making them very easy to destroy.
Also,on the battlefield,you must use the landscaping to your advantage...If you learn to position yourself using the landscaping you can either protect yourself from enemies or surround them.Positioning is very important.For example,a damages character may want to turn his/her back against a bush to prevent any back attacks.
Overall,I was very satisfied with Vanguard Bandits.Truly,a wonderful game.I suggest that you should own it.It is worthy to be in any gamers collection.
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