In the five years since its release the Nintendo DS has become the home to a wide assortment of strategy-RPGs; the system’s portability and unique features (namely the dual screens and touch screen capabilities) make it a perfect fit for the tactical genre. Laevatein Tactics is the latest turn-based offering from Aksys Games, and while it delivers solid tactical action for fans of the genre, it doesn’t do much to separate itself from the pack.

Laevatein Tactics tells the story of the Kingdom of Valencia, a small independent nation that barely avoided being conquered by the neighboring Imperium Galia in the Valorous War, fifteen years ago. The land is peaceful until the day Prince Ernesto of Valencia travels to the country’s border only to find it under attack by the undead. He’s able to stop the attack thanks to a young woman, who gives Ernesto a strange powerful sword. The weapon turns out to be one of the legendary Vaettir Arms, the magical weapons whose power allowed Galia to win the Valorous War. Galia attacks Valencia to retrieve the magical blade, so Ernesto and his companions must stop the Empire to protect their nation. The story isn’t the most original ever seen in an epic RPG, but it’s a good enough excuse to send troops into turn-based combat.

The game borrows heavily from the greats of tactical RPGs: Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, and Advance Wars come immediately to mind. Friendly units and enemies take turns moving around a grid-based battlefield; factors like elevation, terrain, and elemental alignment must be taken into account; various character classes offer differing attacks, strengths, and weaknesses. Like Advance Wars, each unit on the grid represents a small squad of units, though here each squad protects a “hero” unit – kill the hero and the unit is destroyed. The troops will take damage for the hero until they’re gone, and deal additional damage when that hero attacks, so it’s almost always in your best interests to kill off the little guys first.

The generic troops up front protect the hero in the back; kill him to wipe the unit from the map.

In some ways, Laevatein Tactics simplifies the turn-based strategy formula – changing a character’s class is as simple as giving him a different weapon, every weapon has just one combat ability, and items don’t even exist. This is counter-balanced by the deeper combat options that you have every time you execute an attack. Instead of one standard type of attacking, here you’re given four choices: Attack (deal standard damage, with no special benefits or drawbacks), Charge (attack with increased damage, but a greater chance to miss), Phalanx (deal less damage, but increase evasion and decrease enemy morale), or Defend (deal no damage, but take less yourself). Combine this with the fact that each combat instance between two units is actually three rounds of attack/counterattack, and the fact that your attacks can be directed to either the hero unit or his troops, and there are plenty of chances for tactical decision making.

As is standard for tactical games, ranged attacks like magic and archery allow your characters to attack without fear of counterattacks.

As I mentioned before, your characters’ equipped weapons are extremely important – it determines not only character class but also what special ability your units will possess in combat. The Vaettir Arms are central in the game’s storyline, but also in gameplay. There are over 180 of these magical weapons to find throughout the course of the game, each with their own combat ability or special skill, but only the truly dedicated will find them all. On top of their combat ability, each Vaettir Arm has a unique supermove, called a Valhalla Break, which can be unleashed after you’ve filled a meter. These devastating attacks can and will turn the tide of each battle. Be careful, though, because the enemies can use them against you just as easily.

Laevatein Tactics’ presentation is serviceable without really standing out. The game uses large 2D sprite characters over hand-drawn backgrounds; while this is fine for letting the player discern the various troop and terrain types, nothing in the game is all that visually impressive – even spell effects are pretty lackluster. The game’s anime art style certainly doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from the myriad anime-style DS games on the market right now. The music stands out more than the visuals; while the soundtrack isn’t an all-time classic, each track is a throwback to the fantasy videogame music of the 8- and 16-bit eras, catchy and charming.

The anime-style visuals get the job done, but won’t knock your socks off.

The game’s developers have stated that it was their intention to create a game that was a throwback to the tactical genre’s earliest entries, such as Tactics Ogre, and they’ve succeeded. The trouble is, the genre’s come a long way since then, and with so many other, more unique, strategy-RPGs on the DS, it’s hard to recommend the relatively straightforward Laevatein Tactics. Genre masters looking for a nostalgic experience might get a kick out of the game’s old-school flavor, but newer tactical fans probably won’t see much to recommend here.

Gameplay: 7.3
The game has some of the most straightforward turn-based strategy you’re likely to find on the DS, or any other system. Straightforward doesn’t mean simplified, or easy, but genre veterans will definitely notice a distinct lack of frills in the game’s various systems.

Graphics: 6.8
These visuals are serviceable but not much more. Unit sprites are large and detailed, but the game’s animation isn’t particularly intricate or attractive. Combat scenes don’t have much impact or energy.

Sound: 7.6
The game’s music isn’t anything too special, but the songs are catchy and engaging in a retro way. Sound effects are passable but minimal.

Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Some battles won’t give you much trouble, but more often than not you’ll have to press every advantage and play very carefully to avoid being wiped out – especially since failure is usually as simple as allowing your main character to be killed.

Concept: 7.0
The straightforward fantasy storyline won’t surprise anyone who’s ever played an RPG, but it’s a good match to the straightforward, unsurprising tactical gameplay. None of it’s bad, but neither is it all that unique.

Multiplayer: 7.2
A few decent multiplayer options exist, if you know someone else who owns the game: you can trade items, lend characters, or go head-to-head in a simple versus battle.

Overall: 7.2
Laevatein Tactics has everything tactical fans expect from the genre, and not much else. I won’t be so harsh as to call the game “forgettable”, but there are far more unique and interesting genre offerings already available for the DS. Other than an unwieldy name, Laevatein Tactics hasn’t got much to distinguish itself from the pack.