Langrisser: Gacha Tactical RPG

I've been on the hunt for a game like Fire Emblem, without actually playing Fire Emblem. I'm a big fan of Gacha games, I don't really spend any money on them, I just like the chance of getting a new unit rather than 100% getting one. Sometimes you have to come up with an alternative strategy because you do not have the meta units. Langrisser checks all those boxes so I decided to download it and give it a try.

Langrisser is a Tactical RPG. You will have to use some form of strategy in this game as it can get fairly difficult. The autoplay is also really dumb, so you need to out gear the enemy to really use this feature. It generally runs my archer all the way into the enemy, then uses an ability then moves away from the enemy never attacking or doing anything useful. However, when you are actually playing the game it's smooth and easy to pick up.

Your units can only move so many squares. The blue squares indicate where you can move, and the red is out of range. You can also click on your opponent's units to see where they can move next turn as well. Terrain will slow you down as well. Mounted units are very slow through wooded areas. Some units are slow or can't go through mountains, but flying units can just fine! Your unit's abilities are in the bottom right. It appears as you can have a total of 3 passives/actives equipped at once.

Combat is a general loop of units being strong and weak against each other is a must know. For instance, an archer is strong again flying units. They will gain more damage when they attach a flying unit. They will help make quick work of those annoying flying units. There are many times I've won a battle because the AI chose to attack a unit of mine that was strong against theirs. You can make quick work of the mission if you can counter the opponent's units.

As this is a Gacha game you will be summoning units and hoping to get a rare unit. They come in different rarities, and generally, the rarer it is the better it is. There are some exceptions to this. From playing the game normally it seems the healer you start with is fairly strong. I've had no issues keeping my units alive with her as my healer

Each unit also has some Soldiers with it. These minions also do damage and have a damage triangle like the main unit itself. You can swap these units out just like any item you may be using. I have not had to change these very much in the game. I feel like these additional soldiers will be more important later on in the game.

Your units also have a progression patch that changes their class. As you can see above I am trying to turn my unit into a Dark Princess. You will need to collect certain items to upgrade the units, and they have a level requirement as well. It takes a while before you can get all the way to the bottom of the tree. Be careful with your decisions here because it can change the weapon type your unit uses as well. Some will change to throwing daggers or a bow for instance.

You can equip each of your units with a Weapon, Armor, Helmet, and Accessory. Then each of those items has its own star ranks and levels.  So you'll want to be upgrading these as you go. Make sure you keep up with these because they can really help. They can even have enchantments on them to make them stronger, and what appears to be a set bonus.

The game has a lot of level variety and is 100% worth downloading and trying out. The game is free so the only thing you have to lose is your time. There is tons of progression even on a limited amount of playtime, and for farming easier content you do have the option of autoplay. The events and beginner bonus seem very fair. This game is Pay to Win just like any other Gacha game out there. However, for PvE, it does not seem to be needed.