Can there ever be enough turn-based SRPGs in the mould of Fire Emblem? Is it still possible to be excited about wars of political gamesmanship and the marshaling of the accompanying squads? For indie developer Eldin Turulja, the answer would be a resounding positive. This militaristic SRPG binds a complex and demanding combat system around a gritty, well-told story. Those Who Rule won’t move the needle in terms of originality too much, and there are quibbles with its UI and general level of management depth, but this is a solo labor of love that questions what the right to rule means and what responsibilities those with that right might bear.
Much like its inspirations, the narrative in Those Who Rule revolves around the political interplay of three nations and their aspirations for power following a costly series of wars. As Rangers of Fern, a civil force dedicated to helping civilians and keeping the peace in one of these nations, the main characters quickly find themselves mere pawns in a larger game of catspaw and brinksmanship. Slyker, the de facto leader of a Ranger squad, is the main protagonist. He is joined by his two closest comrades, Marcus and Illyana, who gradually come to define different sides of the emerging conflict. It’s a gritty, realistic story and doesn’t get sidetracked with fantastical elements or much irreverent whimsy.
Dialogue scenes, including optional side dialogues, are cohesive and delve into a deeper sense of character for the cast. The stoic, wood-crafting lancer, Arland, is a particular favorite, as is the original leader of the Ranger squad, Elias, who appears a decent, upstanding individual throughout. It’s a pity this intimacy gets lost in the mix slightly as the cast balloons. It isn’t unusual for characters (other than the core tripartite) to go several chapters without any development, regardless of how interesting they are.
Those Who Rule effectively chose a mix of styles for its graphical and artistic themes. Eschewing a pixel JRPG style, it combines VN-style conversations with isometric 3D maps. The battle maps make notable use of stylized landscape graphics—voxel in design at times—to give the assets a unique feel. While character models aren’t full of cutesy characters, there’s enough variety in weapon and armor color to identify your squad, even if enemies are all very similar. This contrasts with the heavy use of blackline and ink detail on the graphic-novel-inspired character designs. The watercolor landscapes during these sections are varied, tightly detailed, and more evocative than some of the more basic examples in the genre. Music is a comfortable mix of orchestral themes, mostly focused on pastoral melodies and building percussive intensity during battle. It does a neat job conveying the melodrama behind the narrative and blood-pumping drive during battle.
Combat is where Those Whole Rule excels. Although it takes a familiar class-based approach with movement ranges and ability actions, the interplay of weapon type, passive abilities, and character positioning offers unique aspects that differ from similar games. There’s no turn order (you can select and move any of your units on your turn) and Slyker always acts first. This reinforces the need for careful planning rather than headlong rushes. Indeed, it’s one of the few SRPGs I’ve played where taking account of passive skills and synergies is sometimes more important than the activated class abilities. It’s worth noting scenarios are usually long and complex. There are often dozens of characters involved, and even with the ability to increase combat speed, encounters require a hefty time investment.
Every character in Those Who Rule starts with a basic class, with three additional choices becoming available as they level up at 10th and 20th level. For example, Slyker’s basic Warrior can eventually progress to become a Lionheart. This class gains additional speed, defence, and additional attacks if adjacent to two or more enemies. When combined with Arland’s Centurion option, which increases the defence of allies with less than 50% health around him, it offers a potent example of how interwoven and integral class synergies are. Some are plain fun to explore: watching Berzerkers tear through the opposition and gain strength from each fallen foe and their own vitality loss is never dull, especially when there’s a Saint nearby to heal their wounds.
Each class has a different stat and weapon progression. It is possible to choose different weapon sets based on their availability and the level of proficiency, but it never seems prudent to work significantly against a class’ preferred weapon. Additionally, there is a trade-off between two-handed weapons to hit multiple attackers or one-handed weapons with a shield to generate Block. When attacked, damage affects Block initially, with this resource regenerating every turn depending on the shield’s quality. Given the overwhelming numbers in combat, I found only a small force of two-handed specialists was efficient; the need to Block and manage regeneration between turns is too important when healing is limited to finite Bandage resources or healing classes. It’s possible to carry different types of weapons to offset this tactical cost, but the clever use of item weight means the trade-offs continue to intrigue and challenge.
Between missions, the management aspect of Those Who Rule allows players to purchase and equip gear, upgrade weapons with refinements, and trigger side stories and reward conversations. For those inclined towards the meatier, Unicorn Overlord side of development, this ain’t it. Shop stock is pretty static for long periods, and doesn’t inspire much excitement. The forging mechanic is simplistic, even if the abilities you can buy (or loot) to swap in are well-integrated with the combat design. There’s little interaction in the side quests or wider stories beyond a few key moments.
Any tactical RPG lives and dies to a great extent through its UI, and Those Who Rule isn’t without its faults. The indie developer deserves credit for preparing so many tooltips, but their design and layout could be clearer when there are so many interlinked effects. In the field, selection of abilities and movement is easy enough, and attack and movement zones are clearly marked and explained. But I never felt comfortable with having to click multiple times to select a direction to face after completing a move or attack before ending a character turn.
The UI foibles continue in the management screens: there’s no way to cycle through stats or inventory once you’re on a character screen without having to go back and scroll through dozens of characters. Equipping multiple characters and checking loadouts takes much too long. The lack of stat comparisons when looking at different equipment compounds this impression. You need to manually hover over each item to make a judgment, and you can’t pin the screens. The developer has plans to introduce hotkeys in a future update, and hopefully this mitigates some of these frustrations.
Those Who Rule is not an easy game, for sure. There are no difficulty options, and characters level up through their actions and kills on the battlefield, without the ability to replay missions or grind side missions to gain additional experience. The importance of careful movement, protecting flanks, and taking advantage of characters and terrain squares that offer defensive bonuses is crucial. Overextension is lethal, as once surrounded by two or more enemies, a character’s Block regeneration cannot keep up with the damage received. Couple this with more than a few escape objective maps requiring traversal across the whole map, and this makes for a very tense and brutal affair. Put it this way: I didn’t manage to grab many optional treasure chests on later maps. At 20-30 hours, there’s plenty of bang for your buck, and optional sidequests and some branching storylines/characters offer reasons to return for a second playthrough, as does the promise of exploring new character class combinations.
From the beginning of the game, I wanted to complete Those Who Rule to learn the fate of the Rangers and engage with more of the tough battles and varied objectives. There was enough to keep me going in discovering new characters, unlocking new classes, and contemplating new map effects or strategies. The interplay of the combat design and the importance of positioning and managing aggro is deeply satisfying. That said, the fiddly UI and rather limited management options do take away from the experience. Some may also be turned off by the relatively basic enemy variety: there are no lions and tigers and bears here. But I can’t deny the game has a lot of heart and soul. For those who have a soft spot for political drama between warring nations nestled around a challenging turn-based combat system, it might pay to be king for a day.
