"Excellent Turn Based Strategy Game"

Vantage Master is a brilliantly designed turn-based strategy game which Falcom decided to release as freeware a while ago to help sales for its sequel (Vantage Master Japan). The freeware release has also been 95% translated into English, giving Western audiences a chance to experience the Vantage Master series.

The focus of the game is a battle to the death between two Masters. The Masters start out alone, but on their turns, they may summon one of 24 different Natials to form their army. The action takes place on a variety of hex-grid maps that are dotted with magic tiles, when controlled, will increase your Masters mana regeneration rate, allowing you to summon more Natials.

Gameplay: 10
The game seems simple at first, but becomes more complex as you play. Basically units take turns moving around the map, attacking other Natials, casting spells, and eventually killing the enemy Master.

Each Natial has its own statistics and abilities and knowing which one to summon when it is your Master's turn is important. The Natials fall into four separate element groups: Earth, Water, Fire or Heaven, with one type being a counter to another (Water > Fire > Heaven > Earth > Water). In most TBS games, the simple strategy of having all your units beat down the weakest guy and then moving on to the next weakest guy was generally always effective and made things too simple. The counter system in VMO forces you to consider much more than how to get your powerhouse units next to their weaklings.

The turn system is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, where the time until your units next turn is based on its speed stat and the actions it performed this turn. Much better than the usual I-go-then-you-go method.

There is an excellent variety of maps available. Terrain is important in this game, and all the maps are well designed and different enough that your strategies will vary greatly which each one.

The main story mode is a nice way to ease players into the game. Players will initially get to choose from a handful of maps to play and only 4 Natials. After beating a few maps, another group of maps will become available. Each map you beat, will raise your Masters level and stats, and earn him a Natial or spell.

Interface: 8
Everything is done with mouse clicks, and is simple to use. All important map and unit information is shown in a window to the right. Left click to move and open up the commands menu and right clicks to cancel and bring up extra information. You can even click a unit and see its movement and attack range, very useful. My only gripes are that the Natial list is pretty unorganized and its hard to find the one you want sometimes, and there is no way to see a turn order listing, and you have to individually check each unit.

Story: 3
This is where the 5% untranslated part comes in. While the intro and end sequences are translated, the few intermissions that play after every 5 maps or so, are not, and will probably show up as gibberish on a non-Japanese system. The intermissions all involved your character and a witch talking, and probably isn't too interesting anyway.

Graphics: 9
Very nice anime style graphics, the designs of all the Masters and Natials are very cool. The animations are pleasantly flashy and fun to watch, but short enough and to the point so they don't get too repetitive. The maps and background also look good, though I think there are some places where units can be obscured by walls.

Sound: 7
Not too many sounds, but what's there is good. Each Natial has its own sounds and this adds a lot to the personality. There may be some overlap with a couple of the Masters sounds.

Music: 10
Its only midi, but its extremely good midi. The songs are orchestral/medieval sounding and they go well with the game. Some of the melodies are really catchy too. If you have a good soundcard or a program like WinGroove installed, it will sound even better.

Challenge: 7
The AI for this game is brutal. The difficulty curve of the story mode is probably too steep, even on the easy settings. Beginners might get frustrated early, but strategy fans should enjoy the challenge. There is also an expert mode, which has maps heavily in favour of the enemy.

Multiplayer: 9
Good multiplayer support, TCP/IP, Modem, LAN. All maps are commented, explaining which player will have the advantage (there are symmetrical maps available too) and players can set the level of their Master for handicaps. In game there is even a cool smiley which changes faces depending on what actions your opponent is doing.

Overall: 10
It is a shame this game is not well known around here, as this is one the finest turn based strategy games. Lots of charm and personality on the outside, and a deep game at heart. Since it is freeware, there should be no reason for any strategy fan to pass this little gem by.
Since it is freeware, there should be no reason for any strategy fan to pass this little gem by. Get it here:
http://www.falcom.com/vantage/index_e.html

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/03, Updated 04/07/03