Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is the first console return of Konami’s Vandal Hearts franchise since the 2nd game for the original Sony PlayStation.  For fans of the first two games this is an opportunity for Konami to rekindle the spark that made those two games so enjoyable.  Sadly though, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment falls short on a lot of levels.

You begin the game as Tobias, a young church ward in the village of Tolly.  While out training with his friends and mentors, they are attacked by bandits and Tobias finds himself swept up into a series of events that pit nations against one another.  Yes, we’ve heard this story before, and that is the game’s first problem.  If it were well told and well developed characters then it might be more enjoyable.  Instead you have a story that is rushed along by dialog scenes between battles and the occasional cutscene.

The underlying problem here is the game’s length, or rather, the lack of it.  There are roughly fifteen story missions in the game.  That’s only fifteen opportunities to tell a complete tale that keeps the player interested.  It’s just not enough, and as a result you never really get acclimated to the game’s world.  More importantly, you never form any kind of attachment with the game’s characters because they feel entirely one-dimensional.

The game’s battle system, which really is the entirety of the experience, is well done for the most part.  You control a group of up to six characters, moving them turn by turn through an isometric battlefield.  This hasn’t changed much since the old games, and that is not necessarily a good thing.  For instance, if you are standing next to a treasure chest and open it, that counts as that character’s turn.  Even if you did not use up all of your movement to get to the chest.  Another thing that feels archaic is the game’s item shop.  When you arrive in town you are able to go into the shop to buy new items and sell off things that you no longer need.  Navigating this interface feels exactly like it did in the original games, and it was clunky back then too.

Another minor issue is how generic the character class system is.  A more appropriate statement would be “There is no character class system.”  There really isn’t.  Every character is capable of Melee, Ranged, and Magic, and the only thing that distinguishes an Archer from a Mage is how often you choose to use those particular skills.  This is in stark contrast to the class promotion system that the original had.  It almost feels as if there was going to be more to this game, but the developers ran out of time.

Despite its antiquated quirks, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is still a fun game.  The control during battles is simple and easy to use, and the Turn Based strategy battles still remain enjoyable  Most of the missions you’ll play through are straightforward “kill all the bad guys before they kill you” type of missions, though the game does break it up with some variants from time to time.

Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is a downloadable game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  It is by no means the best looking or sounding game on either of these networks, but it certainly isn’t the worst either.  The battlefields look fairly good and they have an anime inspired art style to them.  The game’s cutscenes are essentially stills that pan around quickly to show various bits of the action.  These look far better than the in-engine cutscenes that are little more than the characters moving about the upcoming battlefield environment.  The audio is good for the most part.  The game has a fitting soundtrack and the battle sounds are well done for the most part.  One thing that is fair to point out is the game’s opening theme song which features a young woman singing in French.  This could have been much better had they gone with someone who’s mother tongue was French.  It just doesn’t sound natural as it is.

Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment isn’t a bad game.  For $15 it is worth its price and will give you a few hours of enjoyment.  The big problem is that it feels like a lot of compromises were made to make this a downloadable game.  It has a short story, underdeveloped characters, and a few gameplay mechanics that should have been left in the past.  Digital distribution does not mean simplified game, and in this case that’s exactly what we got.  Konami really missed an opportunity here to relaunch the Vandal Hearts franchise.  Here’s hoping they give it another try.

Score: 6.5 | Suggestion: Try It

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About This Author: Filippo Dinolfo

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