If you're looking for a new idle RPG to take out and about with you that packs pixel-perfect Final Fantasy and Fire Emblem nostalgia, Pixel Heroes: Tales of Emond from developer HAOPLAY is coming soon to fill that hole in your life. An open-beta test for iOS and Android users will begin on March 14, and there's never been a better time to get the lowdown on what it's all about.
Set in the once-harmonious land of Emond, you find a civilization under attack from the forces of evil. The Demon King is threatening to awake from slumber, and it's your job to unite the people and lead them back toward the light, overcoming an expansive bestiary of Golems, Witches, and more as you do it. There's plenty of story to tell, too. Pixel Heroes pulls together a veteran cast of Japanese actors to bring life to a story with over 300,000 words of dialogue. The art style is the first thing that may remind you of classic RPGs like Final Fantasy, though leading the battle of light vs dark is a close second.
As for gameplay, you're getting the best of both worlds when it comes to chill idle games alongside nostalgic turn-based battles and unit management not totally unlike Fire Emblem. The gameplay loop consists of drawing to obtain characters, gaining recourses even when not playing, and then earning equipment and greater resources through dungeons. Then, it's time to upgrade and enhance your characters so they're ready for what the main gameplay content brings.
As for the skirmishes themselves, Pixel Heroes uses a semi-turn-based and semi-real-time action bar mechanism, "with the combat process fully entrusted to the system for automatic control." That means you don't need to worry about things like skill casting and can instead focus on the strategy behind it all. Combine that with the resource gathering that happens when you're not playing, and you have a vintage-feeling RPG with the sort of easy-to-pick-up gameplay you get out of all the best idle gems.
You're not short on variety, either. The wide variety of mini-games will be familiar to anyone spending time with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth right now alongside other gameplay modes—from boss battles and cross-server bouts to various competitive dungeons and honor rankings; you're not short on things to do. You can even get your mates in on it by forming a fearsome guild to make your mark on the Emond Continent.
If that sounds good, you can follow Pixel Heroes: Tales of Emond's journey into open beta through their official website, Twitter, Facebook, and Discord.
