Fighting against overwhelming odds is a staple of turn-based tactics, but it’s always easier when you have friends. That’s the premise of Untamed Tactics, as you hear the story of five adventurers who saved an island. Using teamwork, strategy, and the power of conversation, you will relive the story and battle powerful enemies.

Fighting with limited resources and abilities makes every encounter engaging, and utilising the environment is fun. It’s great to come up with unique class combinations whose skills perfectly complement their allies. Unfortunately, there are several technical issues and the combat pace slows down towards the end of the game. But the overall experience is positive for any turn-based strategy lovers.

Untamed Tactics tells the story of Greycoat and his friends who shipwreck on a faraway island. When they meet the island natives, they sort out their disagreements through combat. As the story progresses, a deep conspiracy appears which threatens not just the natives, but the recent arrivals as well. It’s up to everyone to work together to overcome the latest threat.

The story takes a while to develop because you investigate different island regions to progress. While the island routes differ depending on the reward you want, the story remains the same. It takes some time to develop and you must defeat several bosses to complete a single stage. But it delivers a standard narrative that wraps up its loose ends. It might not be the most engaging story, but you I felt satisfied once the final battle wrapped up.

Gameplay is the real meat of Untamed Tactics as you will spend most of your time fighting. You can only bring three characters into battle dictated by the story. It limits your combat options but you do have multiple classes for some customisation. These classes have varying effects but you can’t switch them and must choose wisely.

One of the best parts about combat is utilising the environment to your advantage. Several moves can push or shove enemies a certain distance away. Pushing enemies against the wall deals damage along with pushing them into spike traps. You can also push enemies into each other, creating an easy way to deal reliable damage. Some tiles can give you cover or lower defenses, giving you an incentive to push enemies away/into those tiles.

Every battle you clear gives you a reward that assists you in the future. Your path toward the ultimate objective isn’t linear, letting you choose what’s important for your team in the long run. It provides some flexibility which makes you decide how the story is told, and whether a fight is worth the effort. Your characters get a level reset after every chapter and you can switch their class. It’s a good way to build on your past experience when you know what works and what doesn’t. This also means you can experiment with classes and figure out which abilities work well for you.

Another unique aspect of combat is the ability to talk or parley with enemies. It takes time to build up, but it grants unique benefits depending on the character using it. You can lower enemy stats, deal damage, or even remove them from the battlefield. Matching the enemy’s personality with the parley option enhances the effect. It’s a fun way to turn the battlefield in your favour, especially when you figure out which parley options suit your strategy.

Unfortunately, combat runs into a few problems. First, it’s not always clear what is being referenced when a skill is used. For example, some runes reference potions but one character, Mortimer, is all about using potions. Do those runes apply to all of Mortimer’s attacks or just equipped potions? It’s a crucial distinction since you must discard runes instead of switching them out. This also applies to some skill effects, which can surprise you when they don’t work as intended. Some rewards aren’t received despite being promised, which inhibits your ability to grow.

There are also occasions where your character uses a skill and spends the points, but nothing happens. This makes the game significantly harder because there’s no remedy for taking back moves. The final island of the game also has enemies that summon a large number of weak machines. Since it is turn-based, these creatures take their turn which slows down combat considerably. Battles that took ten minutes can take half an hour or more.

These issues make combat unnecessarily complicated, taking away the fun of the strategy. When your plans don’t work because of unclear writing, canceled moves, or taking too long, it’s hard to stay interested. Some of this information could be covered in the tutorial, but it forgoes this in favour of letting you find out yourself. While there is fun in experimenting on your own, not having a fundamental understanding of combat makes battles harder than necessary.

Some of these issues are covered up in Adventure Mode, which starts after completing the story. It’s a custom adventure where your goal is to reach the end of a few regions and fight the bosses. There’s plenty of time to level up and explore, and there’s no rush which lets you take your time. But because it’s a cover-up, it doesn’t fix the fundamental flaws holding back combat. There’s less pressure which means you aren’t as inconvenienced, but it’s still there.

Despite the flaws, Untamed Tactics is still a solid strategy game that forces you to think. With several factors in play, it’s hard to rush in and be reckless. Surveying the battlefield, watching the turn order, and planning your moves are always important. There’s plenty to do and lots of battles to experience, with various strategies helping you succeed.