I would never have thought that a Free to Play (FTP), tactical RPG was on the cards to be such a fun experience for me in 2024. Sword of Convallaria would not be my regular choice of game. However, after spending countless hours playing, it has given me a rare insight into why these FTP, gacha games are so popular.
gacha – noun (also Gacha)
a type of computer game, especially one played on a mobile phone, in which users can pay to get a new character, ability, object, etc. at random. — Cambridge Dictionary
Over the last decade us gamers have been introduced to several FTP games, from the behemoth that is Fortnite to the gacha machine known as Genshin Impact. Each of these games are completely free and you can jump in at any time to play. The catch? Battle passes, microtransactions, and plenty of chances to spend money on random, often nonsensical, goodies.
Sword of Convallaria follows a similar formula. With over five million downloads in its first week, it is proving to be a contender in this saturated market.
Do you have room in your life for another gacha game? Let’s take a dive into the world of Sword and see what it has to offer.
Tactical Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, this is where Sword of Convallaria truly shines.
Developer XD Entertainment has nailed the addictive loop and made it simple enough to pick up and play (and sometimes hard to put down). There are three main modes in the game: a story mode, Spiralling Destinies (a rogue like mode) and Crossing Worlds (a mode with progressively challenging events).
Story Mode
I played a lot of the very simple-to-follow story mode — this is where the tactical RPG mechanics are at their strongest.
Living in a world called Iria, you are a mercenary leader who guides your team throughout this mineral rich country. Unfortunately, these glittering jewels are drawing unwanted attention from an evil and dangerous faction. It is up to you and your team to protect the minerals and the fate of Iria itself.
You begin your journey from a township where you complete small, tactical RPG missions. This is not an open world game, Sword of Convallaria has a set path laid out on a world map. Imagine a Super Mario Brothers map, 1-1, 1-2 etc. Each level takes around three minutes and has a similar goal; work together to rid the area of all the enemies.
This is where the gameplay loop had me hooked. It was easy enough to just pick up and play level after level as it was a quick, short dip into the world. Also, if you failed you could instantly retry and keep going. On top of all this as you complete each challenge your team levels up allowing you to improve your character’s strengths and weapons. I levelled up very quickly in this game and it always felt like I was claiming rewards for my achievements.
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Spiralling Destinies
The second mode is a roguelike mode called the Spiral of Destinies, offering players the chance to play through a different story each time they enter. However, you can only enter this mode if you have a special key to unlock it. These keys can be earned throughout the game, though, they are a rare drop. The game does encourage you to buy these keys, especially if this is a loop that you enjoy.
The nice thing about this mode is that it has branching stories and your decisions matter. Here, you will earn knowledge and currencies that allow you to upgrade your characters. At the beginning of each round, you can only select a certain number of characters to enter with you. Therefore, you need to choose carefully as every time you enter this mode your levels start from scratch.
This is where the gacha mechanic really comes into the game. You would want to have characters with certain abilities and weapons ready to go, so having “better” stats here will give you an advantage in this mode. Unfortunately, a lot of them are locked behind the gacha mechanic. Put your money into the game and see what it spits out. Through some grinding, you can still unlock different ones as you progress but this is a lot slower.
Crossing Worlds
Crossing Worlds is the place to go if you want to level up your character faster. In a game like Sword of Convallaria, you will want to rank up your rarest and best players quickly. In this mode, there are daily challenges as well as various other events you can complete.
These reward you with many of the materials you need to power up your stats and weapons. More and more open up as you progress through the story mode and as you gain levels. This is a great little place just to mindlessly grind for that sweet gear.
Gacha Get Your Head In The Game
In my mind, tactical RPGs are a niche genre and an interesting choice for a FTP game. However, having been turned off tactic games in the past because of their demanding nature, Sword of Convallaria gameplay is very easy to just pick up and play.
When I first began playing, I didn’t know what was going on a lot of the time. Eventually, I got a better understanding of the controls and tactics. You use the touchscreen to tap your character towards a square on the battlefield. You need to decide whether you are going forward to fight or staying back to protect your team by healing them. Think Triangle Strategy here.
Once you make your decision, you can then choose an action. Again, using the touch screen I would select whether I would want to use a melee attack or magic against an enemy. Using magic uses Magical Points (MP) which slowly refill over time. Each character has unique skills, so you have to decide where they are best suited to use them.
For someone like me who was not a huge fan of this style of game, I had fun because the gameplay systems were not overly complicated. I felt like I could actually win and do so very comfortably. One limit in this mode is that each time you play a level it uses energy. Each day you only have 270 in your energy counter. Once this is gone you have to wait up to six hours until it refills (or pay for more).
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A World of Pixelated RPG Characters
Sword of Convallaria has a gorgeous pixel art style. This is something that makes it stand out against other FTP games. I really appreciated the detail in the character designs and the worlds. The main mercenary leader is the character that oversees all the battles, you however do not get to play as him. You do gain control over him in the overworld and town areas. He is like the puppet master, devising the plans. Also, what RPG would be complete without a sassy talking cat instructing him on what to do? A purrfect companion!
Then there is your team. Made up of a range of talented mercenaries, from mages to archers, you can unlock various characters as you progress throughout the story. So far I have unlocked a few but have my mainstays from the beginning of the game. I can see, however, that trying to collect them all has its perks. Each of them is unique and has their own stats therefore building the perfect team will require a lot of work.
The world design and maps are nice for what they are. I noticed that as the story progresses, some of the levels are used over and over again, therefore taking away the feeling of travelling to different areas. I did like the town area as you can unlock room designing and can add decorations to make it feel like your own. It is a nice touch.
Gacha Catch Them All
I have spoken a lot about what Sword of Convallaria offers for free. However, there are some pretty serious gacha mechanics and micro-transactions within this game. Originally, the game hooked me in by giving me so much “stuff” at the beginning I was able to play through a lot of the story without having to pay a cent.
As I delved deeper into the game, the paywalls started appearing more frequently and the FTP mechanics began. Playing through the story mode, I eventually hit paywalls when I ran out of energy or I wanted to upgrade my character. With the game asking up to $100 for 6,500 gems I was happy to grind for my free upgrades.
A big problem was as I unlocked achievements I claimed material after material and I didn’t know what half of it was. Like a pokies machine ringing, there would be bells, and chimes going off everywhere. What did I just collect I wondered? It was all a bit overwhelming.
That brings me to the characters. If you want the legendary ones you have to buy packs for at least $40 or try your luck in the gacha roulette. You can earn some currency to try the character roulette for free but good luck getting the actual character from this.
All this made me wonder if this game was worth it to just enjoy the free aspects or something to fully commit to. I think there is a good game here overall but not enough for me to completely invest in it. With the amount of goodies you collect in the story mode, you could have a good time playing without spending any money.
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Is Sword of Convallaria for you?
I think this can be simply answered. If you like tactical RPGs you should definitely download it and give it a try. It is free to play and available on both the App Store and Google Play as well as Steam. I played the Steam version and I could use either the touchscreen or the controls on my ROG Ally — I liked having this option.
I enjoyed my time with Sword of Convallaria but will I dive back into for more? Time will tell. The idea of a FTP pixelated RPG game made me super excited and I even surprised myself with how much I enjoyed the gameplay. My biggest thought out of all of this is where does the game go from here? Does it hit with fans and will the devs continue to support this into the future?
Give it a go for yourself and let me know. You can begin your quest today by downloading Sword of Convallaria on the App Store, Google Play or Steam right now, after all, it is Free to Play…
A copy of Sword of Convallaria was supplied to Quest Daily.
