Battle Slots

Role-playing games require a bit of dedication in order to be played right, because they are quite complicated in some regards and the enemy encounters can be brutal. However, the challenge of getting out alive from a difficult battle is half the fun, especially if you enjoy slightly more hardcore mechanics that allow you to set up everything like you want it.

Battle Slots presents a different view on the matter, because it takes most of the choice and freedom from the combat mechanics and replaces them with pure luck. Hence, instead of arranging your party properly, choosing the right spells, and sequencing your attacks in the desired order, you just have to spin a slots-like machine, which determines what you are allowed to do.

Naturally, the entire thing is a tad more complicated than that and there are ways to influence your power, using special abilities and powerful monsters. As far as the story is concerned, the plot revolves around a world Tellus and the evil that has invaded the land. Your role is to kill everything that moves and save the realm from destruction, which is about as straightforward as it can get for a role-playing game.

Whether you agree with the underlying idea of the game or not, it must be said that the mechanics are very well polished and intuitive. Hence, everything runs smoothly and you can get familiar with the instruments quite quickly, although it does take a while longer to become good at it. The battles evolve at a relatively slow pace, which gives you enough time to consider your chances and decide what abilities to use.

The visual quality is more than decent, with much of the artwork being drawn by hand and many mesmerizing particle effects to make the atmosphere a bit more attractive. You might find the soundtrack way too repetitive and not very exciting most of the time, but there are some tunes that can keep you invested into the action as well.

Overall, Battle Slots’ greatest feat is the fact that it makes the role-playing genre accessible to complete newcomers as well, which is definitely a good thing. However, its random nature and the dependance on luck can ruin the fun for slightly more advanced users, especially since you feel like the game takes control away from you.