Alphadia Genesis review

Alphadia Genesis tells the story of Fray, a guild member from the Archleign Kingdom, and his friends as they set out to investigate a mysterious murder in a nearby city. Fray will meet and team up with a diverse cast of characters on his way to solve the mystery.

Alphadia Genesis is a 16-bit top-down turn-based RPG akin to classic RPGs from the golden era of gaming. As with typical classic JRPGs, players have to travel through a map going wandering through various towns and dungeons in order to buy new equipment and complete quests respectively.

Battles take place on a 3D dimensional battlefield reminiscent of Grandia. You have front and back enemies. You can attack either, but obviously taking out the front row of enemies will ease things when taking out the back row. On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see the status of your party members so you can keep an eye on their health.

The longer the battle goes, you’ll be able to summon a non-party member to assist you in battle by doing a team attack. It does a bit more damage, but it’s more flashy than useful. The game also features magic attacks. Energi has its called in the game features various elements: Fire, Water and Light. Characters will be aligned to a single element and additionally, there are common skills such as Restore (restores health to a selected character), All Defense Up, etc… typical skills you’ll find in JRPGs.

Throughout the game, you’ll also come across items called Energi Stones which can be used to upgrade your equipable elemental rings which packs a punch in combat. The game is also pretty straight forward. Don’t expect a bevy of side-quests as it’s mostly going from point A to point B. Additionally, most of the time once a conversation is done, you’ll get a prompt saying Story Updated which allows you to prompt the pause menu and have a hint as to what to do next which avoids confusion and frustration.

The game looks fine; I’ve enjoyed the mix of 2D exploration with 3D battlefield. The cast of characters is unique and quirky. The overall game is colorful; even dungeons don’t come across as dark/scary. The soundtrack does the job well; another forgettable score to numb your brain as you mash A to process through the various conversations.

Alphadia Genesis doesn’t reinvent the JRPG wheel. It’s a cookie-cutter turn-based RPG with little innovations. The game is story-heavy which can make it feel the game’s progression tedious. It’s easy to pick up and play with very simplistic combat. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the genre or simply wanting to dab into it for the first time, Alphadia Genesis is a great choice; just don’t expect too much depth.