ARIA CHRONICLE Tactics With a Smile

Combat is turn-based tactics with a twist: every hero has a state of mind, and it shapes how well they fight. Let it slip and performance drops; push it too far and a hero may simply walk out of the party. So you watch the flow of each fight, not just the health bars, and decide when to press the attack and when to pull someone back. The classes play off each other, too. A rogue's throwing knife always crits but misses half the time, and a dancer can put an enemy to sleep to make that next throw land. Small combos like that are where the fun lives.

You choose Aria's job from 14 types, and each one changes how she plays and looks. Around her, you take up to five heroes on a quest, mixing jobs, weapons, skills and traits into your own build. Between dungeons, a village acts as your base: upgrade its facilities, recruit new heroes at the tavern, and craft better equipment at the forge. There is real depth here if you want it, with traits and job combinations worth studying, but on normal difficulty a straightforward party of fighters and healers gets you through just fine.