Fae Tactics lays out the building blocks that most turn-based strategy players are already familiar with: elemental rock-paper-scissors, creature collection, and combo attacks. It's a simpler, faster experience than classics like Final Fantasy Tactics; instead of organizing teams like in XCOM, you organize a toolbox; getting a new summoner in Fae Tactics is like giving an alien-fighting marine a It's not the same as naming a friend after a marine fighting aliens, but the strange companions had their own charm.

As Peony, you start by fixing a broken motorcycle and then get caught up in an ancient war between witches, kingdoms, and humans and the Fae. In the midst of this conflict, Peony is searching for her mother. But I enjoyed the weird little stories the most, like a boxing chicken trying to take down a corrupt mobster, and while the DNA of Fae is intertwined with other JRPGs and anime-inspired games, you can scribble silly faces in a post-apocalyptic faerie world and long dialogue No drowning in ...

As a strategy game, "Fey Tactics" familiarizes you with the routine of a few battles and then breaks that routine. Elemental enemies close in with their troops for blood, the environment reinforces certain types of enemies, and traps and battlefield features range from the amusing to the deadly. Some of these challenges can be painful when encountered for the first time and can make for a difficult battle if the party's composition and tactics are not adapted. In one case, the battlefield turned into a pinball table, and I watched in bewilderment as the flipper trap tossed my poor unit, poisoned and all, right in front of the boss and yet on the other side of the map.

Other times I found ways to reverse enemy traps. One time, a gremlin was operating a cannon over a bridge over a pond, and another enemy was blocking the other side. After two attempts where I was blown away by cannon fire, knocked into the water, and severely embarrassed by the gremlin unit, I redid the operation. This time I replaced the summoned units with two flying units. They happily flew over the water, clearing away whatever was blocking the living road so that I could safely run to the other side. The cannon-wielding gremlins continued to fire into the same empty bridge for the remainder of the battle. You're gonna do it, little guy.

The most frustrating thing I encountered in Fae Tactics was the game's familiar "protection mission." These friendly NPCs often have a different battle plan than I do and will run out of my healing range just to make a weak elemental attack. About half of the battles I lost were due to these friendlies getting absolutely nuked by a lucky ultra-critical or simply running directly into danger. These setbacks were not enough to discourage me from taking on the next summoner pinata.

I sometimes missed the lack of detailed character customization and abilities, a staple of games like Disgaea. The abilities of summoned units (basically creatures) and leader units are simply standardized as offensive, auxiliary, and standby, and there are no classes to ascend. Summoned units use pre-set abilities, and leaders can advance with only three passive paths: offense, defense, and other. With only one unlocked weapon choice and one other equipment slot available for customization, I often wished I had more options to tweak my favorite leader, but "Fae Tactics" is intentionally streamlined, with no nested menus and each encounter The emphasis is on a small toolbox feel; Fae Tactics wants you to find a good strategy, but doesn't want you to be satisfied with it.

This less is more approach fits well with the flow of the battle. I quickly learned the grammar of the grid, as most abilities are passive effects (regain HP every round, walk on water, etc.). This meant that I was left free to make active decisions, such as whether my unit should attack and trigger a combo, assist and prepare for the next move, or wait. I have recommended many tactical RPGs to friends over the years, and I have heard before that they had a hard time with too many layers of menus. But "Fae Tactics" is designed to avoid such problems altogether. The battles themselves take between 20 and 40 minutes, but you don't spend that much time selecting and confirming.

My most rewarding moments were battles that brought just the right configuration of units--three strong leaders, three simple summons, and three spells were selected and put into battle just before each battle. After surveying the battlefield and making their selections, they would deploy their melee units to set up combos, and then launch multiple back-to-back attacks and critical hits to inflict damage. I loved this feeling of commanding the ultimate strategy, but it wasn't easy. In one case, after surviving the first wave, I was left with just my three leader units, battered and bruised. Through careful strategy and some luck, I got some nice criticals and ultras, but could not contain the last 13 damage. The boss fairy creature unleashed another poisonous blast against me, and my canine companion Chico not only used his defender ability to block the damage, but also fought back to finish it off. See you again, Tinkerbell.

As for the characters themselves, Peony, who is not a witch at all, and her growing band of misfits are quite endearing. Her first companion, Chico, a lovable dog with a goofy look on his face, quickly became my favorite because he was so good at protecting the rest of the troop. Peony's quest to find out what happened to her mother isn't quite as hands-on, but it's a good excuse to explore the world of Fae's animated sketchbook. I was more drawn to the story quests, which I found more interesting and better designed with new situations and danger-filled battles. In addition, the side quests also had small arcs that gave me access to new leaders and equipment. The difficulty level was even for most of the main story and side quests, and I rarely even had to look at random battles to earn XP. The inability to save during a series of battles was a serious problem in several respects, forcing me to repeat some battles if I did not want to leave the game running for long periods of time.

Although the story took up a much smaller percentage of the game than the battles, it was hard not to love the strange animals I was collecting. There is a nostalgic quality to the quirky creatures and bright colors, and even the odd creature is charming. I'm even tempted to tuck their portraits into my card binder, just like the Pokemon I loved when I was a little girl. Except for Chico, however. He's going in the display case with my holographic Charizardon.