See a party of adventurers running across a landscape, looking for the next encounter, in a hurry to complete their quest and immediately you’ll be drawn to something epic. The Lord of the Rings does this extremely well, as we see the fellowship traversing mountainsides and epic landscapes, taken in from an aerial perspective.
The reason I bring this up is that, in moments, Tenderfoot Tactics feels just like that, as your loyal gang is seen bravely going from point to point, all with some amazing music playing in the background. It’s an intriguing experience and one that has a lot of excellencies. Here’s why.
I saw someone describing Tenderfoot Tactics as a mix of Final Fantasy Tactics and Breath of the Wild, which is a pretty fair comparison. But let’s be clear from the start – Tenderfoot Tactics ploughs its own field; a completely original experience. it’s mostly for that reason why I enjoyed it.
There is a story here about a fog that has corrupted the dreamland that you live in. There’s always something corrupting the land isn’t there? You play a small band of goblins who live here, trying to stay alive, hoping to find the source of the fog and bring an end to their home’s fate. But that’s about as much information as you get from the start because after chatting with a huge god-like creature and taking in a battle tutorial, it’s up to you to discover the story of this world.
The land is the story, what with its strange ghost-like beings watching your every step. The buildings appear and disappear as you roam through forests, grassland, and sea. You meet people along the way, able to trade with them, gathering up stories of the world and their journey through it. Tenderfoot Tactics is, at times, very surreal, strange, and captivating. If you’re looking for a linear story experience then this might not be the game for you. But if you’re looking for something a bit different… welcome.
The gameplay features a main element of grid-based tactical combat gameplay. You are presented with an arena, able to place your goblins (up to 6 in the end) around that space, prepared for the best attacking/defending position. The battle that commences is turned and some real strategy comes into play, utilising both the play styles of the characters and the environment you are in.
You have wizard and warrior classes that can be upgraded and levelled up, adding in some new abilities and strengths. In battle, you have slightly new things too, like if you hit an enemy from behind they will be staggered and lose their place in the battle turn list. The fights themselves are tense affairs and you should expect to lose some occasionally. Only then will you be able to change up your tactics and hope for better; becoming a winner is very rewarding.Â
Another element of gameplay is found in the exploring; a lovely experience and very relaxing. You have an eagle friend who scouts ahead for you, highlighting areas of interest on the ever-changing map.
Tenderfoot Tactics provides a beautiful worldly place to explore. There’s a great diverse amount of environments and watching the team explore, instantly moving from land to a small boat on the sea is always a special moment. However, there may be a chance you’ll find the world a bit too barren at times, and you could find yourself lost for a while, wandering aimlessly, but I think that is the charm of the game.
And let’s make no bones about it, the soundtrack by Michael Bell is an epic masterpiece. It goes from one state to another, always surprising, always uplifting.
Tenderfoot Tactics is one of those games that must be tried at some point in your gaming career. I loved the lack of a linear guideline, left with the ability to just explore and wander. And whilst I’m not much of an RTS man, I enjoyed the turn-based combat, mostly as it never felt overcomplicated, delivered through easy to use systems.
A game that you could spend 3 hours or 30 hours in, I had a great time with Tenderfoot Tactics. And you should do too.
