‘Disciples: Liberation’ introduces new heroes

The dark fantasy turn-based tactical RPG “Disciples: Liberation,” developed by Frima Studio and published by Kalypso Media, is the fourth entry into the “Disciples” series, although it is not considered a sequel to previous titles, the first of which came out in 1999.

Like the other titles in the franchise, “Disciples: Liberation” is set in Nevendaar, but it follows a new set of characters: mercenary Avyanna, who it seems is connected to some sort of angelic, fated destiny, and her best friend, Orion.

There is no character creation — instead, players can customize Avyanna based on a trio of branching skill trees as she levels up, putting points into features that will make her, for example, more focused on melee combat or magic. Avyanna will also choose one of four classes: Warlord, Hexblade, Seeress or Witch, each with unique class abilities, although choices are not permanent as her skill points can be reallocated.

Avyanna can gear up with a full range of equipment, including weapons, armor and boosts called Emotion Shards. Companion units can equip a weapon and a shard, and regular units can equip only a shard, although equipment is regained if a unit dies.

The game takes off when Avyanna suddenly discovers the ability to open a portal to an ancient, abandoned city called Yllian, creating a sanctuary from which she decides to either save Nevendaar from corruption and evil or conquer it.

Yllian holds several “faction” buildings that allow Avyanna to recruit units into her squad, beginning with the lowest-level units from each of the four factions: the Empire, Elven Alliance, Undead Hordes and Legions of the Damned.

Increasing Avyanna’s reputation with various factions will allow an advanced version of their building to be created, letting her recruit higher-tier units. However,

often a choice will be made that prioritizes one faction to the detriment of another. In this way, dialogue choices affect not just the story but also game-play.

Yllian is also where Avyanna researches new spells, upgrades equipment and converses with companions. It should be noted that aside from Avyanna, any other unit, including companions, can die in combat and be permanently lost (although it is possible eventually to resurrect someone during the combat in which they fell — or bring them back as a temporary undead ally).

The size of the squad Avyanna can take into combat is based on her leadership score, which increases level after level and also can be raised by upgrading buildings in Yllian.

Units are used in either a frontline or back-line position. Frontline units are actively controlled but can be targeted and defeated. Back-line units have a special ability to provide a benefit, or “buff,” to allies or de-buff to enemies, such as increased defense for all units or poisoning the nearest enemy unit each turn; and back-line units cannot be attacked or defeated.

Positioning can help win tough battles. Doing damage to an enemy with an ally directly opposite will give a damage bonus (and increase the chance of massive critical damage), but enemies can also do the same — and will often then surround and flank your flanker.

There are a few issues I encountered that don’t quite make sense. Early on, when Avyanna gains the ability to teleport her squad to the hidden city of Yllian, there’s a scripted dialogue scene that describes how a power bursts forth from her, creating a portal she and her companion Orion escape through, but it’s not animated at all. It’s just dialogue, and then a loading screen.

This turns what should be a big moment in the story into something pretty lackluster, especially considering the excellent animation in even simple events, such as drinking from a health fountain to regain hit points.

It’s also not always clear in advance (or often in retrospect) what effects dialogue choices will have. A wounded dragon was encountered in a ruin, and the dialogue implied that Avyanna was seeing this dragon for a second time, but it was my first time seeing it. Later, we found some elves in the ruin and one of the dialogue choices was to bring them to my side, which I chose. But then as they left, I was informed that they were eaten by the dragon, which the dialogue did not warn me was an option. R.I.P., almost allies.

Avyanna has a variety of dialogue choices for every conversation, and those choices can drastically affect outcomes. Generally, a small icon next to the conversation option lets players know what kind of response it is. Icons include angel wings, a halo, devil’s horns or often, a heart for romance options. And there are a lot of those to choose from — the denizens of Nevendaar are very thirsty for Avyanna.

Game-play in “Disciples” titles is similar to that of the “Heroes of Might and Magic” franchise ( and earlier titles in the “Disciples” series). Combat takes place on a hexagonal grid, with each unit taking up one hex, and positioning is paramount, with flanking, area of effect attacks and more to consider.

In all, “Disciples: Liberation” is an enjoyable game with excellent graphics and solid voice acting. It also helps players lessen the grind by allowing Avy to auto-win battles in which the enemy is much weaker. Even with that speed-up, the main campaign will take an estimated 80 hours to complete, with five possible endings.

More than 50 units are recruit- able, and enemies will include various horrific monsters, beasts and bosses.

In addition to the single-player campaign, a multiplayer mode to play against friends allows each player to choose Avyanna’s class, army composition and companions in online skirmishes is also included.