Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons

Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is a great entry in this SRPG series that takes retro systems and adds modern elements to make it stand proudly next to the greats. Its story doesn’t stick, but it also attempts to tackle some significantly difficult topics. Thankfully, the battle systems and accessibility options are sound and make this game a joy to experience.

Throw in the superior character portraits, art, and musical score and Mercenaries Blaze represents a confident step forward. Of course, it’s not of the standard of a Fire Emblem, Disgaea or God Wars, but for people that enjoy the core gameplay loop of the tactics JRPG – and it is a very compelling one – Mercenaries Blaze is a lean and effective example of it.

The Mercenaries series is probably never going to win any prizes for originality, but it does what it does quite well. To the developer’s credit, each game gets a little better. Mercenaries Blaze is no exception, and its new 3D backgrounds help bring the presentation a little closer to the game most players tend to associate this genre with. Setting all that aside, this is a meat-and-potatoes tactical RPG that offers a decent story, satisfying character building, and enjoyable battles. It’s a fairly lengthy affair, so you get a good bang for your buck. I’ve been happy enough with all of the games in this series, and Mercenaries Blaze keeps the tradition going.

While the story fails to deliver any sort of insight or even serve the complex subject matter it lazily employs in the opening hours, Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is a surprisingly layered title which lovingly borrows from the best of the genre, which is best reflected in the game’s battle mechanics. The game provides a solid if unoriginal strategy RPG experience on the Nintendo Switch for series veterans and newcomers alike.

Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is the tactics game for fans of tactics games. It has an interesting story and a single-minded focus on just delivering a simple and easy to follow SRPG experience that’s free of any extraneous plot or gameplay elements. This is its greatest strength, but it’s also its greatest weakness. Those of you that need a little more something to go along with the deliberate and measured pace of a tactics game will be left wanting, as Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is just 'OK' in this regard. We’d give this a recommendation to anybody who’s looking for a short and simple SRPG, but would also say that with the caveat that you manage your expectations before jumping in.