Tyrant's Blessing Review (PC)

A Tyrant archer is getting ready to fire at Spark, my pet dog, which is not something I am prepared to allow. His footmen buddies are ready to slash Borges, who can easily get out of the way and kill at least one of them. Traegar is set to use his trusty spear to take down another, helped by his flanking bonus.

I also have an archer on the field, Leland, who can use an explosive arrow to know an undead spearman out of position. This means that neither my party nor their shadows will take damage, while the zombies will have to use two of their energy to revive fallen troops. This will probably allow me to destroy all of them next turn, although I need to use one of the cannons in the level to kill one to reach an objective.

Tyrant's Blessing is developed by Mercury Game Studio and published by Freedom Games. I played on the PC using Steam and players can also pick it up on the Nintendo Switch. The title offers a focused take on the tactical battle concept set inside a fantasy world.

The action takes place in a land called Tyberia, which has been conquered by a powerful necromancer Tyrant and his magic-powered undead army. Now there are 20 scattered heroes who can stand up to the enemy and they will band together in groups of three, with a pet making up the fourth spot in the party and try to move through a set of challenges before they can face the Tyrant and banish him from the realm. The setting and writing are decent but will not impress anyone who has played a fantasy-themed tactics and rogue mix before.

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Tyrant's Blessing is both simple and deep in terms of mechanics. To reach the Tyrant, players have to deal with his undead minions. Each encounter has a set of special mechanics, like meteorites or survivors to protect, and a small group of zombies that players will have to defeat. Enemies always clearly show what they will do during their turn. And a void meter shows how many will resurrect and continue the fight turn. Each player character can move once and then use one of their two very different attacks or abilities (the pet only has one move to deploy).

The idea is to avoid damage, put the undead down, and find ways to achieve all level objectives for maximum rewards. A turn reset ability allows players to erase truly disastrous turns, but the game does not have a classic undo option for moves. Lose a character and the run ends.

Outside of combat, Tyrant's Blessing is pretty basic. Characters sometimes banter a little. Each of them can get upgrades. A merchant shows up, with extra materials for character development and some very cool party items. Some encounters feature choices that will affect how the rest of the run plays out.

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The rogue elements are mainly linked to hero unlocking. Players will have to target in-game achievements during multiple runs, which in turn give them access to stars, and those can be used to recruit other heroes. I understand that the game needs this loop to stay interesting I wish there was a simpler and faster way to access the entire roster or get a guest to appear during certain battles, at least.

Tyrant's Blessing has some very cool tactical challenges. Success involves careful use of positioning, especially in order to avoid damage. A well-placed three-tile dragon attack can change the course of a battle. Items are important and should be deployed when a situation seems desperate.

Tyrant's Blessing opts for a retro look that suits the theme and mechanics pretty well. After a few hours, it will be easy to create connections between characters and their best battlefield use, which is important for this type of experience. There are plenty of fun little details in the presentation, but the style could certainly rub some players the wrong way. The sound design is pretty generic, and the music hits some familiar fantasy notes but is repetitive and adds almost nothing to the core gameplay.

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The Good

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