4/5 ★ – TheRealness408's review of Vandal Hearts.

This was a damn good game. Vandal Hearts is a turn based tactical rpg with all of your typical SRPG political maneuvering. You play as Ash Lambert, a warrior in a newly formed democracy. You uncover a plot to take the democracy back into a dictator ship, and it's up to you and your buddies to save America (or whatever they call it). The plot is kind of just there, its not bad, but not great either. Lots of betrayals and twists, but not what I cared about. What I cared about was the gameplay. I typically avoid tactics games because they tend to be very time consuming and require tons of number crunching and planning. I like it, but it's a rare treat. Vandal Hearts removes all the slow stuff from other tactics games. Classes are simple and straight foward. Equipment is limited to buy the newest stuff. Combat has each entire team take turns, so you arent dealing with speed stats and enemies interrupting your flow. If you want to skip a character, it's as simple as not selecting them to do an action. Because of this combat, and the game as a whole moves very quickly and was more fun for me than most tactics rpgs. If you want your hardcore rpg tactics, you'd be better off with Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre. If you just want to get in there and play chess without worrying about numbers, this is your game. The ONLY reason this game isn't a 5/5 is because the story didn't have enough to elevate it. In terms of fun this is an easy 5/5. I cant wait to play the sequel.