Ecol Tactics Preview

Ecol Tactics is the latest tactical MMORPG on the market, a genre that seems to become more and more relevant as the months pass. If you’ve never played the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics or Ogre Battle, or even Dofus/Wakfu, then perhaps the idea of a tactical RPG sounds odd to you (especially online). The truth is: it’s incredibly natural, and the turn based nature of the genre makes it more of a fit for online. But what about his specific game, what about Ecol Tactics. Although it’s still a way from being released, we got some early time in the game and things are looking pretty good…

And I mean that literally, as much as anything. Although the cartoony anime style might not be everybody’s cup of tea, it’s impossible to deny that the bright visuals offer a pleasant portal into Ecol Tactic’s world. There isn’t much choice in regards to creating your character – male or female, skin colour (there are three choices) and then a limited choice of haircuts – that might change before full release, and certainly can be built upon as more people join the game. Upon completing your character, you’ll be placed right into the story.

Your character is wondering around one day, when he/she is attack by a terrible monster. It looks like things are going to go very, very badly, when you’re rescued by a group of mercenaries (“we take quests and finish them”). The mercenaries manage to destroy the monster and all of its allies, and leave you in awe of their power. This skippable cutscene goes on for quite some time, as I get the feeling many cutscenes will in the game, but they’re not exactly filled with heavy reading and it’s quite pleasant to see an attempt at plot/non-player character development.

The tutorial consists of controlling these mercenaries in an actual battle. The battle system is more involving than that of Wakfu, allowing you bonuses for not attacking head on. This gives you an incentive to actually move your characters and positioning is more important than ever. It also helps avoid the “cat and mouse” feel of other tactical MMORPGs, which tend to throw enemies that want to avoid your close quarters combat and attack from afar regardless of their best moves, your level or your own moveset. While I can’t say that this enemy doesn’t exist on Ecol Tactics (because it’s a strategically interesting opportunity for battle, so it should have its place), I can at least say that it isn’t every enemy.

The tutorial gives you access to a gang of high level mercenaries, complete with a wide array of powerful magic. You’re up against maybe fifteen enemies, but they fall quickly with a little thought on your part and the fight doesn’t last very long. This is a glimpse of what you’ll become, what you’ll be capable of. And, without a moment’s notice, that power is taken away from you. Your thrust back into the role of your created character and must start that long climb back up to the top. Other MMOs might benefit from doing something similar, actually, to give the player a hint at the awesome things they’ll be able to do after hundreds of hours. In Ecol Tactics it feels more like a plot device, a clever way of delivering the tutorial without using the word tutorial.

As mentioned above, much of the game takes place in a turn based combat; think a kind of chess when the players have more than one move. When you enter combat, a grid is revealed on the surrounding area, showing you the limitations of the battle arena, and also the range of your attacks/movements. As you become more used to the battle system, you’ll start building strategies for dealing with certain attackers, as well as the best way of using your moves against large groups.

Although a large part of the game takes place within battle, there’s also traditional RPG moments that have you exploring towns and speaking with NPC characters. From here you’ll be able to accept new quests, buy equipment and find out what’s happening in the world. Quests generally consist of you going out and fighting a small group, which may get repetitive, but for those that enjoy this sort of game, it won’t feel any different to similar titles in the genre. Fans will love, others might hate it. If nothing else, it’s certainly slower than the traditional MMORPG.

Perhaps the biggest problems for me is that the music can be a little annoying and that you can’t make the screen bigger, at least, I couldn’t find a way to do it. Playing in a tiny 800x600 box is pretty frustrating, but doable. It becomes doubly frustrating when you consider how nice the graphics are – you really want to see this thing in 1080p. And because it runs in this tiny 800x600 box, it's hard to see some of the enemies (behind others) at times. The music is harder to wave away, because although it’s passable in itself, listening for any length of time will have you running to the volume knob on your speakers. It’s an all or nothing situation. 

And those are really the only bad things about Ecol Tactics. There are a few other things that feel like they need to be fixed before launch, but they’re fairly minor and mostly would just add to the polish as opposed to making or breaking the game. For one, the way that cutscenes are used is very interesting, but the transitions between gameplay and cutscene can be a bit rough. Sometimes it seems to take a while for the game to realize what’s happening and you’ll be in one place, unable to move, and then the cutscene will kick in. Similarly annoying is that the game doesn’t really save your location in quests. Using the tutorial as an example: the gameplay in the first part of the game spans ten years and multiple locations, but if you close your browser or get distracted, you’ll need to play it all over again.

These issues can and will be fixed in the coming months, and as release date draws ever closer, interest in the game is well deserved.

"There’s going to be plenty to see and do in the world of Ecol Tactics, and any game that takes a more tactical approach to combat deserves to be rewarded. Expect an entertaining, original jaunt through a brand new world in a game that will no doubt keep you going for hours on end. Ecol Tactics is everything the genre should be, and with some tender loving care on the part of the developers, will be the tactical MMORPG to beat."

You can register for the CBT here>>