Some mates and I’ve a saying about video video games: “Less talk-y, more do-y.” It’s an especially broad (and typically refutable) criticism geared toward the truth that, most of the time, video video games are higher after they let their gameplay converse for them. The DioField Chronicle is the most recent champion of this sentiment.

Released final week, The DioField Chronicle is one more in Square Enix’s wealth of 2022 releases. Billed as a tactical RPG, it eschews the turn-based grid fight of a Fire Emblem, XCOM, or Final Fantasy Tactics, opting as a substitute for real-time battles on freeform maps. As Oli Welsh identified in August, it performs kind of like a MOBA. My personal playthrough unfolded like an A-Team coaching montage as I swapped between occasion members, activating their respective particular skills whereas these of their teammates cooled down.

I totally count on DioField to go down as one in every of 2022’s “hidden gems,” and that’s OK. It’s not the boldest tactical RPG, and it’s not making an attempt to be. Its dialogue is sparse, its plot factors contrived, and any semblance of emotional gravitas is thrown out the window in favor of shoving me towards the following battle with a shock horde of zombies. And herein lies DioField’s biggest power: It will get to the purpose.

Image: Lancarse/Square Enix

In March, I wrote about my disappointment with Triangle Strategy, a recreation that might have been actually nice if it had solely gotten out of its personal method. Its turn-based battles and base-building technique methods had been glorious, they usually led to some implausible emergent storytelling. But they had been separated by monotonous, overwrought cutscenes about political subterfuge and geopolitical strife, a few of which took longer than 20 minutes to complete. By the time every exploration or fight state of affairs rolled round, I used to be too annoyed to really get pleasure from them — regardless of how compelling these interactive sections really had been. There’s an exquisite, hypothetical model of Triangle Strategy that depends on its gameplay to propel its narrative ahead, however alas, this was not that recreation.

DioField, then again, tossed me into fight mere moments after I left the beginning menu, as I defended a toppled carriage from a bandit ambush. The carriage’s passenger, an essential member of a close-by mercenary group, was so impressed by my expertise that she instantly invited me to affix their ranks. I arrived on the firm’s base, the timeline jumped a number of months, and I used to be quickly shopping for new weapons, upgrading my expertise, unlocking new characters, and planning for the following battle earlier than leaping into the battle. This rhythmic tempo repeated for the following 15 hours. There had been volcanoes, weaponized meteor showers, and big wolves. And the zombies. We can’t neglect the zombies.

I don’t bear in mind… properly, any of DioField’s main plot factors — however I don’t care. It’s refreshing to play a recreation that understands its strengths (entrancing tactical fight, flashy character skills, and a streamlined but versatile development system) and doesn’t pressure to be the following Iliad. “Show, don’t tell” is likely one of the oldest maxims in storytelling, and video video games are significantly properly suited to follow it. But it’s nonetheless an altogether uncommon event when that really occurs. The DioField Chronicle is a “do-y” recreation, as my mates would say. What it lacks in literary ambition, it greater than makes up for in brevity, vitality, and ahead momentum.

The DioField Chronicle was launched on Sept. 20 on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. The recreation was performed on Switch utilizing a pre-release obtain code offered by Square Enix. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. You can discover extra details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.