The DioField Chronicle is a simple concept to follow even with the plethora of names it drops on a constant basis. Andrias, Fredret, and Izelair are three mercenaries trying to make a name for themselves in the neutral territory of DioField Island. After they save someone from an attack, they get roped into a bigger company with better supplies and a position in the government.
On the mainland, there is a war going on. As things tend to do, this war travels overseas and gets DioField Island into the conflict. That’s the basic premise for The DioField Chronicle, but there is so much more to say. Is this a new tactical RPG masterpiece or did it need more time to bake?
8 Best: The RTS Gameplay
Square Enix makes some of the best tactical RPGs. Triangle Strategy, for example, came out in 2022 as well and featured classic grid-based gameplay. While another one of those would have been good, The DioField Chronicle manages to shake things up. The gameplay is more RTS in nature except without the base-building aspects.
Players can only control four players at the start, making encounters feel more intimate and heart-pounding.
7 Worst: The Story
The narrative is one of The DioField Chronicle’s weaker points. It’s not that it isn’t interesting, it’s that it is a bit too cliche. The story focuses on the aforementioned island of DioField getting dragged into a war they didn’t want to join as a neutral zone. That is almost the same storyline as Triangle Strategy except with a few different twists.
The voice acting also has a very monotone feel to it, which could have players fall asleep rather than get invigorated by a gripping tale. It’s not the worst RPG story of 2022 so much as it is a middle-of-the-road experience.
6 Best: The Summons
Magilumic Orbs are this game’s version of Summons from the Final Fantasy series. The first Magilumic Orb players will unlock will be Bahamut, a dragon king fans of Square Enix games should be familiar with.
Players can collect blue orbs as they fight in a match, or fill a bar simply by attacking enemies. Once this bar is filled, players can summon Bahamut or any other number of Magilumic Orb creatures once they are unlocked. It’s a simple but effective addition to the already stellar RTS gameplay.
5 Worst: The Load Times
The modern consoles run at a better frame rate than the Switch version. The Switch’s frame rate is not the biggest technical problem though. The load times can bog down the experience. Almost everything requires a load from transitioning into a battle map to getting into a cutscene. It’s a bit ridiculous for an RPG in 2022, almost as if things were back to the golden era of the 90s and early 2000s.
Thankfully, the load times only last between ten and fifteen seconds at max. So, The DioField Chronicle doesn’t have the worst loads in the world but they certainly could be faster.
4 Best: The Character Portraits
The artists at the disposal of Square Enix whether they be internal or external are second to none. The character portraits in the dialogue screens and the menus are fantastic. There is a narrator that will catch players up to speed on the story surrounding the main characters of this world.
Instead of featuring in-game graphics, these narrator scenes will showcase more artwork which allows the art department to truly shine. Even though the story isn’t that great, players will assuredly look forward to these cutscenes if only to see some new drawings.
3 Worst: The Graphics
The in-game graphics leave something to be desired compared to the artwork. The entire game feels like it is caught in a fog or something as everything looks a bit washed out or blurry. Again, the modern consoles make the graphics look better but not by much.
It is easy to tell that this was a smaller budgeted RPG on Square Enix’s release calendar. That’s not to say a lot of blood sweat and tears didn’t go into this game. Certain aspects shine alongside some of 2022’s other great RPGs, but the graphics fall short of mesmerizing.
2 Best: Mission Chapters
The DioField Chronicle has difficulty settings but it does not have assist features. However, there is a feature that will help players out that would be nice to see in more tactical RPGs. Each mission has a set of objectives that when completed will create a checkpoint. If players die in battle, they can go back to any checkpoint they have unlocked up to that point.
They can even access the checkpoint menu in the options if things aren’t going well. It’s a small, but a powerful option that will lighten the frustration of death.
1 Worst: Lacks Online Support
This game is practically begging for an online feature of some sort. The DioField Chronicle is packed with content from main missions to side quests. There is plenty to do although tactical RPG fans would assuredly love to test their merits against other players. It would have also been cool to get a co-op horde mode.
There were seemingly many ways Square Enix could have added an online component to the game. It didn’t need one, but it would have been cool to have as an option.
The DioField Chronicle was released on September 20, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.