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Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

It’s All in the Cards

Yggdra Union: We’ll Never Fight Alone made its debut on the GBA a few years ago. It was an innovative game that combined strategy, real time, and RPG elements in a well-balanced blend. Of course, production values were seriously lacking but that did little to hamper the gameplay.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone screenshot

Now released on the PSP, Yggdra Union is reworked, refined, refreshed, and ready for another lease at life. It’s great to see this game “be all that it can be” with all the extra processing power and the larger screen. The makeover is nice, but this is still the same game. If you haven’t played it before, this is definitely the one to get, but cosmetic and aural improvements aside, there isn’t enough new content to recommend to fans.

RPG, strategy, real-time action, and turn-based card elements comprise the gameplay. It’s going to take you some time to grasp the overall concept of exactly how it’s played, but, fortunately, there is an in-game tutorial the gives you a good general explanation as you progress. It’s not overly detailed, as it allows you to go in armed with a little knowledge and make your own mistakes. This is the way most of us like to play. Just get in there and mix it up. It’s also more forgiving than the original game. If you get killed, the enemies will lighten up each subsequent time you retry a stage. The only downside is that you’ll lose some of your health, which is in the form of “morale.”

There’s nothing particularly interesting about the story or the meandering plot developments. This is a game about battling. Hopefully, you’re a fighter and not a lover, because you’re going to be doing an awful lot of fighting in this game. There is the requisite character interaction, but there’s not a lot of tedious exploring. Most of the boring RPG elements have been distilled, leaving concentrated residuals of fun and action. Even though the game is quick to cut to the chase, at 40 hours, it’s still a lot of game.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone screenshot

Princess Yggdra has had the misfortune of having her empire invaded by enemies. The Kingdom of Fantasinia is now under the control of the Empire of Bronquia after seizing the King. Traversing the outskirts of the kingdom, the princess searches for allies to join her party in an effort to thwart the new evil Empire. There are lots of characters to contend with, and, consequently, this results in a lot of complex relationships both personally and professionally (in terms of combat). Each character that you encounter for inclusion into your party has different personality traits, or morale, that must be taken into account, along with their strengths, weaknesses, and weapons affiliation. Instead of bringing four or five party members with you into battle, each character comes with his or her own little army. You’ll have to make decisions based on what units to send where, in what order, and with what weapons. Of course, the cards will ultimately dictate what you can and can’t do on the battlefield.

While the card system is not overly complicated, it does require some forethought. There is plenty of depth to this game if that’s what you’re looking for. It has a remarkable way of being as deep as you want it to be, while also accommodating players that just ride on the surface. The card system can be relatively easy to access, but don’t confuse it with the interface, which is unnecessarily annoying to access. There are a lot of stats to keep track of, and, fortunately, the large screen accommodates plenty of info and icons.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone screenshot

It’s all in the cards. They will indicate how many tiles you can move in a particular grid section and what kind of attacks and other specialties you can use during your turn at battle. The cards will allow you to increase your stamina, deliver more devastating attacks, increase your units’ skills, and even dish out some magic spells. Winning a battle will erode some of the enemy’s morale, at the same time increasing the power of the cards you used. Losing a battle will decrease your morale.

Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone screenshot

Strategies have the potential to grow more complex as you win, lose, and level-up. It’s imperative to link your units together in specific formations. That way you expend less powerful units at the outset so that more powerful units are available to deal with more powerful attacks during your enemy’s turn. With so many variables to keep track of, the game avoids becoming entirely predictable or boring despite the continuous battling.

Cutscenes and the in-game dialogue are fully voiced, so you won’t be eye-weary from reading text, of which there would be plenty. You also have the option of skipping over these exchanges and cutscenes. The voice acting is surprisingly good, and it even includes the original Japanese voice acting if you’re into that. The tunes are catchy and diverse, as are the sound effects. Visually, it’s far superior to the GBA version, but it’s still filled with static tiles, icons, and character portraits. All the graphics have been upgraded with the addition of new images, but it does get repetitive-looking, as even the new locations are all too similar. Overall, the game has a certain storybook anime-style to it that is colorful, clear, and contemporary. There is nary a technical glitch to be experienced.

Let it be said that the PSP version of Yggdra Union is the definitive version. It’s a great game, but once you’re done with it, you won’t likely be back for a visit. The focus is on battling, and, frankly, you’ll have had enough of it by the time you reach the end.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.8 Graphics
Very simple graphics that don’t complement the PSP. Lots of repetition. 2.9 Control
Interface is not user-friendly. Card system is great once you learn it. 4.6 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Good music, sound effects, and voice acting. 4.5 Play Value
Solid gameplay. Lots of fun and strategy. May seem redundant after a few hours. 4.1 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Break-the-mold strategy system: Turn-based strategy meets real-time action in this innovative battle mechanic!
  • Build your strongest deck of cards to rain down special attacks, monitor the aggression meter to adjust the power of each hit, and create troop unions that will overwhelm the enemy’s numbers.
  • Rebuilt for the PSP: Yggdra Union is brand new again on the PSP system, boasting remastered audio and visuals, new playable characters, additional missions, difficulty options, widescreen support, and dual English and Japanese voiceover tracks.
  • Unlock even greater rewards: There is more to Yggdra Union than can be revealed in a single game. With three different endings plus a hidden ending and secret characters, there’s tons of treasure for a true gamer to uncover.

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