Hello friends, I am the handheld nostalgic person who holds the GBA all day long. When I saw this "Metal Fantasy" today, my hands shook and I almost dropped my phone 😄 For no other reason than it was a tower defense + RPG that reminded me of the days and nights I spent hiding in bed playing "Fire Emblem" and "Advanced Warfare".
I still remember that era, there weren't many tower defense games available on the GBA. At that time, there was a game called "Final Fantasy Tactics", which I played over and over again for several weeks. At that time, the game was pure. Enter the level, arrange the formation, count the steps, and watch the damage fluctuate. Everything was calculated by your own brain. If you lose, you start over, and you don't want to overwrite the save file, for fear that if you make a wrong step, you won't be able to go back. Thinking about it now, that kind of hard-core energy is indeed something that the current replicas cannot imitate.
When it comes to the game "Metal Fantasy", to be honest, I was disdainful when I first saw the introduction😏 After all, I have seen too many products that use the banner of replicas to make money. But don't tell me, it really looks like a Japanese-style painting. It's not a cheap 3D face remake, but it has the flavor of “Super Robot Wars” on the NDS back then. The military commanders are made to look like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and the characters in the Three Kingdoms have all become two-dimensional. It seems a bit out of place, but it is easier for us old players to accept. After all, wasn't it just this way that got us hooked?
The key point is its gameplay integration. Classic tower defense focuses on layout, card positions, and resource allocation, and what you get when playing is the sense of accomplishment that comes with the golden waterway flowing in waves. "Metal Fantasy" retains these, but adds RPG development into it. Now it's interesting. Generals can be upgraded, broken through, and awakened. It feels like I have continued my addiction to leveling up in “Royal Knights”. And its design of character growth is indeed more humane than the old tower defense works - back then on GBA, if you trained a useless character, you had to keep using it, which was very painful; now, at least, this one can be washed and reset, and it saves a lot of detours.
But having said that, the modern replica version has never been able to imitate the thrilling feeling of carefully laying out the old version of tower defense. Why? Because now the game is afraid that you will get stuck in the level, so it gives a lot of paths for value expansion, including weapons, bonds, and dungeons. After that, it is basically a brainless crushing. The strategic nature has been diluted a lot. Well, I have to criticize this one😤 But to be fair, the hardcore nature of old games can sometimes make people's blood pressure soar. Back then, I was stuck on a level for a week, but I don't have that time now.
So, if you are like me, you spent your youth in the warm light of GBA, PSP, and NDS screens, then this "Metal Fantasy" can find many things we were familiar with back then, but it will not make you feel like an old antique from ten years ago has been moved to a new home. It's more like re-doing past ideas with current techniques. The foundation of tower defense, the heart of RPG, and the skin of Japanese style. Putting the three together is not a violation.
To put it bluntly, youth is not a regression, it is a reunion in a different way. "Metal Fantasy" can be regarded as the most "like-then" replica work that I have played recently. It is not the kind of copycat, but it has really regained a little bit of its soul. Friends who are still wondering whether to give it a try, I think, don't be afraid, just rush and you'll be done. The intuition of experienced players will not lie. It doesn't cost money to download now. Come to the forum when you have time and let's talk about who is the first S-level general you drew.