I recently invested some quality time with Genesis War, the modern mobile re-imagining of Object Software's epic 1998 SRPG tome on clever game balance "War of Genesis," and in totality I found it to be an enlightening diet pill for tactical RPG connoisseurs. A surprisingly expansive narrative about Princess Iyolin and the war against the Geysir Empire pulls you into Antaria, a continent torn asunder by decades of conflict. The story is filled with single-use political intrigue hooks and character-emotional moments far beyond what you might expect from a gacha game, while the anime-style characters are gorgeous artwork when read during their dialogues in battles where skills inform of how they triggered animation.

Which is to say, from a gameplay perspective the turn-based grid combat should be at the centre of it all. Battles feel nice and tactical since elemental advantages, positioning, and a variety of well-balanced team composition (tanks > DPS/healers/support) actually matter. The ability to skip through animations is a nice quality-of-life feature. When it needs things to be more than text or menu-driven, though, the UI can feel a little cluttered and too conspicuously complicated (and you’ll maybe nip at its insistence on heavily putting game content into menus again), while translation inconsistencies make sure that nobody forgets this is still a Korean port. Even progression and gear-grinding are pretty slow — potentially a little too patient for more casual crowds.

Ultimately, Genesis War is a pretty good choice for those that like story-heavy SRPGs such as Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics and don't mind some grind. I give it a firm 8/10 — probably better than my nostalgia warrants but modern enough to hold its own. If you want a tactical brain churning game with some gripping campaign threads then I would recommend it.

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