Tactics of Scarlet

Tactics of Scarlet is a Japanese style tactical RPG made and published by Wolf of Scarlet, an independent developer. Steam lists it for 2027. It is inspired by the tactics games of the Game Boy Advance era.

How it plays

You lead units in turn based battles on a grid. The game has three campaigns, each following a different leader, and the developer says they play in radically different ways. Together they show several sides of one story, set between an empire with an empty throne and a holy land troubled by a fallen god.

The good side

There is a demo on Steam. Three campaigns with their own mechanics is ambitious, and seeing a war from more than one side makes for better stories. It will run on anything, with 1 GB of memory listed. It has full controller support and no shop.

The watch-outs

This looks like the work of a very small team, so expect a modest production. The date is only a year, with no price. Three different sets of rules are harder to polish than one. Its appeal depends on nostalgia for older handheld tactics games.

For players in Asia

Japanese is supported in text, along with English and French. Korean, Chinese and Southeast Asian languages are not listed. No voice audio is listed.

NEXTARCA's take

For players who grew up with handheld tactics games, this is an easy one to root for. The demo is free and short. Try it, and see if the maps make you think the way the old classics did.