The classic strategy role playing franchise Langrisser is making a triumphant return soon, and Fire Emblem Heroes should be worried. While perhaps lesser known in the world of SRPGs as Nintendo’s offering, Langrisser charts its history as far back as …
The classic strategy role playing franchise Langrisser is making a triumphant return soon, and Fire Emblem Heroes should be worried.
While perhaps lesser known in the world of SRPGs as Nintendo’s offering, Langrisser charts its history as far back as the Sega Mega Drive. With mainline entries across PC, SNES, PS2, and Sega Saturn – alongside spin-offs on Dreamcast and 3DS – its pedigree is well-documented.
Ahead of its return to consoles in 2019, a mobile spin-off will pave the way. Langrisser Mobile is already out in China, and has topped the App Store charts since its launch in August. The reason for that is likely that this is no pared-back experience. It’s Langrisser as you know and love it, but on mobile.
That’s why we think that Fire Emblem Heroes, the current dominator of the SRPG genre on mobile, should be worried. Here’s four reasons why Langrisser is better than Nintendo’s offering.
Most battles in Fire Emblem Heroes take place on a small 8×6 map, which is great for those that just want to nip in and take part in a quick battle while you wait for the coffee to brew.
But what it doesn’t cater for is longer playing sessions. Sure, you could play a bunch of battles but it’s not the same as digging in to an hour long strategic fight across a huge map.
Langrisser Mobile has those in spades though. In fact, there are over 300 of them, and the varying map sizes ensure that there’s something for everyone.
While Fire Emblem Heroes lets you gather up an army of your favourite heroes, it doesn’t let you relive classic battles from the franchise’s history.
Step forward, Langrisser Mobile. This strategic battler offers just that, letting you battle through those classic battles from your childhood.
Classics like “Escape From the Capital”, “The Revived Alhazard”, and many more return as part of the ‘Time Rift’ feature, and you can replay them as much as you want.
Fire Emblem Heroes eschewed its class trees in an effort to streamline the experience, and that’s a huge shame. Us tactical strategy fans love our class trees!
Fortunately though, Langrisser Mobile brings them back with a vengeance. Each of the 80 heroes in Langrisser has its own class tree, and you can tweak them to suit your playstyle.
Want your Fighter to ride a horse, covering ground a lot faster? Train them to be a High Rider then. Wish they could hold their ground better? The Marshal class is the one for them.
There’s an absolute ton of options at your disposal, which will please those that like to meddle as much as we do.
To be fair to Fire Emblem Heroes, it does have a lovely art style – with the characters in particular really popping on your mobile’s screen. Langrisser doesn’t really break the mould such as perfect it, with character design that’s right up there with Nintendo’s best.
However, the world design is far superior to Fire Emblem Heroes, with that same attention to detail extended to the environments. You’ll find gorgeous forests, impressive lighting and shadow effects, and imposing fortresses – and it all adds to the experience.
The Langrisser CBT just started too, and you can check it out on the game’s official website and Facebook now.
