GOD WARS Future Past

This strategic role-playing game is well designed, but its lack of focus on the story weakens the overall gameplay. By their nature, tactical role-playing games are more about methodical planning than quick reflexes. They tend to be deeply involved, complex experiences where the key to winning is to stay a few moves ahead … like a game of chess on steroids. GOD WARS Future Past follows that formula to a tee, offering players a challenging test of skill, coordination, and strategy. Unfortunately, it's also a game that puts so much focus into the mechanics of the gameplay that it forgets to find a way to keep players' interest.

From a technical standpoint, GOD WARS Future Past is a solid tactical RPG game. Fans can dig deep into equipping their characters with the right gear, the right jobs (classes), and the right team build for everything thrown at them. There's a strong bit of challenge and difficulty when facing the game's A.I., though it does seem to make some questionable moves if you put it in charge of some of the units on your side of the action. While the plot mines some rich material, it feels like the story is an afterthought. Events just seem like they're glossed over, mentioned and dismissed in the blink of an eye. Characters enter the fray and leave so quickly it's hard to even remember their names, much less get attached. Even the main characters just fall flat as the story does little more than set up the next round of battle. Before long, it feels like you're just going through the motions.