Strategy games are not typically the kind of game I play, but when Athena Crisis crossed my sight, it caught my attention. It is a game that echoes retro strategy titles and ones like Advance Wars. This is the developer Nakazawa Tech’s first game. The same can also be said for its publisher, Null Games. So, did the teams knock it out of the park for both their first-time endeavors? For the most part, yes, especially since it is a Steam Early Access indie title. I was slightly expecting to give it tons of grace, but I am happy to say that the game is excellent, fun, and polished.
With this being the first game I have played of this specific type, being a retro-styled strategy game, I was expecting a rough time learning how to play the game. This did happen, so much so that I had to search the internet for a tutorial video. This is where my one and only main problem with the game comes up. The game’s publisher, Null Games, has a video that gives players an 8-minute rundown of the game and its units and how to use and “play” the game. This is all good and fine, but when it comes to new players and players who might want to refresh, or even some players with disabilities that involve learning, it is not comprehensive enough.
Thankfully, a player in the community made an unofficial comprehensive tutorial to the game that takes a few hours to complete and more or less tells you every possible thing about the game, as well as some advanced strategies, all within a few hours. This is a big thing missing from the official game, which a dedicated player has shown can be put in the game.
Outside of the game’s lack of a comprehensive tutorial, as mentioned, it is very fun and polished. The animations of all the sprites on screen are incredibly smooth and detailed beyond a few pixels moving, which brings a breath of air into the game and its maps so things feel alive and there. To add to this point, each character has a portrait that moves when they speak and has a distinct design that makes them stand out and unique. This is not a new feature of the turn-based strategy genre, but when I see it, it always manages to make me happy. With this being an early access game, I was expecting just to see simple text boxes, but to see full player portraits there, each boasting their own personality and respective unit, is really nice.
The gameplay of the game is very straightforward. You select a unit on the battlefield and are ready to take their turn and move them. Once all units on your side have been moved, it is the opposing player’s or CPU’s turn. During their turn, the other player will, in essence, be doing the same things you did on your turn, and this will go on until either all of one side has been eliminated or their HQ is captured. I will say that I am used to turn-based strategy games such as Persona, Etrian Oddessy, and Fire Emblem. Still, I am not familiar with turn-based strategy games such as this one, so while the victory condition of defeating all enemies was common to me, the capture HQ objective was new to me and certainly motivated me to try even harder.
One of the many things I am used to is different classes and types of characters/units to select, and here, of course, it is no different. Players can control 40 or more kinds of units in combat, which can vary between infantry, ground, naval, and air units, with some rather neat surprises for each category. Each unit type has its strengths, weaknesses, and purpose, which I was not expecting and I wound up loving. A good example would have to be the Pioneer, the essential unit for capturing and building. They can fight and deal with quite some damage if used correctly, but they have a proper purpose, unlike in games like Fire Emblem and Persona regarding the characters you control. Either they all have a role that is only used lightly or essentially no role. However, every unit type and certain characters, such as the sniper, have an emphasized role in Athena Crisis.
The music of Athena Crisis, however, is another story. The music is good, excellent even. During my gameplay sessions, I only encountered a total of 4 music tracks, all consisting of Low-fi and chill music tracks that captured part of the feelings that the game wants players to have with this game. Most people aiming to play the game are likely to want to relax and have a fun and cozy time. initially, it bothered me because there was no intensity in the music, in my opinion, and it did not fit any real kind of war situation in my mind. It sounded like low-fi music was on the level to exist. But, still, I was a fan of the music and went online to listen to the rest of it. I will say that the soundtrack is excellent.
I found the songs that had some spunk and intensity to them and made it not just feel like I was chilling playing a chill and cozy game, but I was, in fact, playing an intense war strategy game, too. Something I liked about the game’s music was that regardless of whether I liked the music, the music did fit each environment in a way, again, the ones that I experienced. No environment ever felt bad or like it was a drag to get through, and all of the game’s music did help with making that feeling never come. It is extremely catchy and good study or work music or just some good music to bob your head to. Naineux did a bang-up on the soundtrack.
The game’s art can be summed up in one word: superb. From the game’s start screen, it is clear that the art is good. And booting up a level gave me a different type of appreciation for retro-style pixelated art of an environment. Then there are the character portraits, which I could discuss for a while. They all have some kind of slight movement and have some of their personality on display. For example, Valetin, an infantry member, looks like he does not take any mess and is a straight, tough guy. For many games I play, the portrait is moving and shows more personality, so to play a game like this for the first time and see how the primarily static portraits portray such personality impressed me.
It is not like I have not played any 2D games or 2D retro games in general. I do not want to come off like I am saying or portraying this. Seeing all the art come together at each stage of the game is very nice and something I constantly thought about during my playtime. Especially with how the environments are integrated into each map’s gameplay, it is also very important to look at the beautiful art everywhere and click them as well.
The game also boasts that you can create your own maps and existing ones and make whole campaigns to look up and play in the game’s level browser. This brings me to the last point of the review: the campaigns and player content. During my play session I played through half of the game’s official prelude campaign, and I will say that it is fun and funny. It acts more like an introduction to the campaign, a tutorial, and an introduction to how the game tells its story and how the dialogue will play out. However, due to the lack of a real, comprehensive in-game tutorial, the gameplay, even from the jump, can be too difficult, which it was for me even in easy mode.
But thankfully, this is where the game’s true strength comes in, which is the community’s involvement with the game. Athena Crisis allows players to create their own maps and campaigns, which is great, and the community has certainly gone far and away with their level creation tools. Some of the custom campaigns and maps can be a bit more serious or even educational if you are looking for a tutorial map or campaign that will take you through everything, even new techniques to use when playing. The player base is also very active and dedicated, with more maps being available daily, and has over 100 maps made by the community for all to enjoy and battle it out. I really did like the maps and campaigns in Athena Crisis and think that the developers at Nakazawa Tech have done a great job here.
To be honest, I really liked my time with Athena Crisis. While I will admit I have never played a game like this before, I certainly am now a fan of these kinds of games because of Athena Crisis and will want to play more games like this in my personal time. The game nails nearly everything to be as tight and polished as possible while also missing a few steps here and there. Nevertheless, it is a great game whose quality far exceeds the “Steam Early Access” title that it has. If someone handed me Athena Crisis as it is today, I would be inclined to believe it is a finished product that I am playing. But it is not, and I feel like that is Athena Crisis’ biggest positive. From the gameplay to art, music, community, and overall game features, Athena Crisis does everything quite well, and if this is only early access for this team, I am excited to see what the full release looks like.
Null Games provided a Steam copy of Athena Crisis for review purposes.
