I played through Sword of Convallaria's final beta and here's what you should know (2024)

At the beginning of July, I had the opportunity to play XD's turn-based tactical RPG, Sword of Convallaria. The game will launch on July 31, 2024, so soon enough, everyone will get a good idea of what to expect. But if you're impatient (like me), we've gone hands-on with the beta, detailing Sword of Convallaria's mechanics and whether it's worth downloading on your favorite Android gaming phone.

The video above shows the first 26 minutes of Sword of Convallaria's prologue. It gives insight into how the game is played, how the combat works, and the story's overall mood, not to mention showcases performance since the gameplay was recorded on an Android device.

Sword of Convallaria is a gacha-tactics hybrid

It's fun until it's not

My advice to everyone who goes in blind is to tread cautiously. Sword of Convallaria walks a dangerous line; it's like getting fed a sample of a delicious dessert, but you can't keep indulging unless you've exhaustedly played through the modes and perfected the stages. Those here to gorge are in for a rude awakening. The game operates on monetization, but it's not player-friendly. Not even close.

Sword of Convallaria reminds me of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent; it's all good and fun until it becomes a job. You must plan how to earn enough to get the next overpowered unit and how long until you'll be strong enough to beat the content, while secretly hoping that the game's gacha system shows a little mercy. It's a similar idea for Sword of Convallaria.

There are no Final Fantasy Tactics/Fire Emblem-like games on Android/iOS. Sure, plenty of great turn-based tactics exist, but none play like those two games. Sword of Convallaria scratches an itch while looking the part, but if you stay too long, you're going down a rabbit hole full of in-app purchases, and the hole is pretty deep.

Sword of Convallaria's monetization isn't a joke

All the usual systems are here

Sword of Convallaria is a gacha game, which means players gamble to unlock characters. It takes almost 200 pulls to guarantee a limited character, and you only have a 5% chance of pulling a legendary (50/50 for the first try). That's a lot of pulls.

You're also level-capped. The Voyager level (player rank) determines the level cap of your units. Your units might be too weak because they don't have enough equipment or levels, and the only way to make them stronger is by slogging through your daily, weekly, and seasonal quests.

An energy mechanic also stops you from grinding; you can only spend 240 points daily (I was even running low on points during the beta). It's far too limiting, and even the story-focused non-gacha mode Spiral of Destinies can't fix this. The title is still a live-service game, meaning any story development will take a backseat because the company has to make money with its monetized content.

Sword of Convallaria's glosses with polish

Visuals, animations, and voice-acting are an A+

Sword of Convallaria is exceptionally polished, with crisp animations, incredibly detailed pixels, and vibrant colors. If you're a fan of 2D-HD, you're in for a ride; this is precisely what I want a Final Fantasy Tactics remake to look like.

Beyond the visuals, the Japanese-dubbed voice acting is fantastic, and they've nailed it to set the mood. I praise older classics for having full voice acting, similar to what Square Enix's Yasumi Matsuno had accomplished with Tactics Ogre Reborn (a re-release of the original 1995 Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together).

The presentation is phenomenal, feeling like a modern-day pixelated tactics game, and the story is slightly dark and gruelly (as you find out in the first 10 minutes of playing). Overall, Sword of Convallaria has more depth than your run-of-the-mill gacha game, and that's thanks to some of the bigger names attached to the project, like Hitoshi Sakimoto (music producer for FF Tactics, FFXII, and Tactics Ogre).

Don't knock it until you've tried it

Should you play Sword of Convallaria if you hate gachas, but love tactics games? Probably not. As polished as Sword of Convallaria is, the gacha system is still the main driving force, and the Spiral of Destinies mode doesn't correct it. The roster options are limited, and shiny new units are always being advertised. The system is there to tempt.

However, if you are looking for alternatives to Final Fantasy's War of the Visions and are sick of Gumi's hold on gacha tactics games, then Sword of Convallaria is more than good enough to fill that hole.