Chains of Freedom review: More isn’t always better

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I rarely find myself letting out audible signs of frustration due to game difficulty, as a dash of challenge can be quite enjoyable, especially in turn-based tactical games. However, not all forms of challenge carry the same weight.

In essence, Chains of Freedom follows two primary methods to elevate the challenge: First, by immersing you in one battle after another, with each successive encounter featuring more adversaries than the last. This strategy is consistent with the game’s design, as resource management throughout your playthrough is a significant aspect. However, ammunition and resources for crafting it are both limited, which often requires you to use precious shots in what seem like unnecessary skirmishes. The gamewalks a fine line here, and unfortunately, Chains of Freedom tends to overstep this boundary, leading to an overwhelming sense of repetition.

In this game, your band of outlaws consistently confronts either grotesque creatures or oppressive military forces across numerous battles. The tasks at hand rarely vary, as the majority of the game requires eliminating all incoming waves of adversaries. It seems there’s an abundance of these encounters, making unique opponents a scarce sight. I could probably count the instances of such characters throughout the entire campaign on one hand.

Though I’m not fond of the resource management aspect in Chains of Freedom, it would be acceptable if the challenging situations were engaging instead, but they fall short. The game seems to lose momentum around midway, and it doesn’t improve that you can’t save during extended battles. Moreover, you can’t even minimize the game while numerous opponents make their moves because it automatically pauses when it’s not the active window. Consequently, once you initiate a battle, there’s no escape, regardless of its dullness. This lack of progress and the fatigue I experience often leads me to abandon battles mid-way, opting for other activities instead.

It’s deceptively tricky that resource management often turns engaging battles into less exciting ones. Often, encounters may involve additional parties, making them more intricate skirmishes. However, you don’t want to squander your resources. So, what do you usually end up doing? You find a safe spot to hide while the other two parties fight each other, watching their turns and waiting for an opportunity to finish off the survivors for an easy win. Though it might be satisfying in a crafty way, it’s not ideal to adopt this strategy in a game if your goal is to actually play the game.

In this game, it occasionally increases the challenge by removing team members, either by eliminating them or making them turn against you in predictable plot turns. Despite the strong narrative and well-crafted storyline, it seems a bit cheap. Throughout your journey, you’ll encounter different types of biocrystals, which characters can utilize for stat boosts, passive advantages, and active skills provided by the artifacts. You can easily swap these out, except during combat, making the system enjoyable to use. It offers a lot of flexibility in customizing your characters or preparing for encounters you couldn’t handle initially, which is one of the game’s best features.

As a gamer, I’ve got my team set up in a way that suits me perfectly. However, tweak just one aspect, and all of a sudden, my team seems uncoordinated and underpowered. I get the logic behind it – it pushes me to reevaluate my strategy, adapt my playstyle. But it feels a tad inconsistent, don’t you think? The developers are making us juggle things up while they keep throwing the same old enemies at us throughout the game. It’s like they’re asking for innovation from us, yet they aren’t exactly shaking things up on their end.

I’d rather not label these elements as outright disadvantages, as I believe there are gamers who would enthusiastically take them on – they simply don’t appeal to my particular taste.

Beyond just the noticeable similarities in its turn-based battles, the game appears to draw inspiration from games like Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and Miasma Chronicles for elements such as exploration, level design, and overall challenge.

Regarding its level design, it possesses both strong and weak aspects. In terms of battlefield layouts, they’re usually quite solid and demanding, offering a variety of challenges. The maps need to be extensive because they frequently serve as the main distinguishing factor between combat engagements. You’ll encounter elevated terrains, protective cover, and diverse types of explosive barrels for assistance. These areas offer intriguing lines of sight and strategic choke points. However, they can also pose challenges, like a deep trench shielding enemies from melee attacks, compelling you to utilize long-range weapons on that side and adjust your strategies accordingly.

The locations are repetitive for the exploration aspect, as they tend to follow a similar pattern each time. You’ll encounter a locked structure, proceed further, engage in battles, find a key, gain a quick return route to that locked location, unlock it, battle again, and move forward. This cycle repeats every time. Additionally, there isn’t a minimap available, so if you don’t want to circle around multiple times before locating the exit, you’ll need to remember the layout of the area.

Indeed, it still fulfills its intended role; however, I must admit that I find the objective less appealing than perhaps the creators or even yourself might.

It’s unfortunate that only one character has the Overwatch ability, as the combat in this game is otherwise excellent. If they made it a rare occurrence for a single character, the combat would become more engaging again. Each character in your team possesses a unique ability, such as a man with a grappling hook for mobility, a person who can manipulate mind-controlled horrors, a woman who can provoke enemies, and so forth. These abilities add excitement to gameplay without being overly restrictive.

Alongside the outstanding biocrystal system, an array of diverse weapons, and engaging terrain interactions (such as putting out fires using smoke grenades), the fighting experience is typically enjoyable; however, it can become monotonous and tiresome because of these elements being repeated frequently.

In my opinion, Nordcurrent’s “Chains of Freedom” doesn’t stand out as an exceptional turn-based strategy game, but certain fundamental aspects of the game are quite well-designed, and if they align with your preferences, you may find it highly enjoyable.

Score: 7/10

Platform tested: PC

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2025-04-15 16:16