Tales & Tactics Preview (Steam Early Access)

by Jim Smale · Published August 18, 2023 · Updated August 16, 2023

For this Tales & Tactics Preview, we play a roguelike Squad-based Autobattler in a Tabletop RPG setting. Draft your army, carefully equip and position your units, make important choices, and meet a colorful cast of characters as you make ready for the Grand Tournament.

Tales & Tactics Preview Pros:

Decent graphics.
2.73GB download size.
Steam achievements.
Graphics settings – resolution, window mode, dynamic resolution, frame rate limitation, v-sync, graphics preset, texture quality, shadow quality, Visual effects quality, and anti-aliasing quality.
Can rebind controls.
Tutorial game. (optional)
Two game modes – New run and quick start.
Roguelike auto battler gameplay.
Every game is run-based.
After every combat round, you earn EXP, money, and star points.
Level up to get power enhancements, gold to buy equipment and star points are used to buy units and rerolling the store.
Merging is where every 3 of the same unit merge into one with a higher tier rank which means more health and deals more damage.
Handy glowing card border to indicate you already have at least one of that unit.
Combat is as said auto so you just place units then they fight it out.
Can change the combat speed at any time.
Traits are where you have a set amount of the same unit trait which triggers a bonus.
Clicking on the traits shows how many you have and need to activate the trait but also shows which units can be purchased.
You can have as many traits active as you have u it’s that fit the criteria.
Simple drag and drop control system.
You can buy units that go into your unit bar or drag and drop them straight into the field.
The game is played on a hexagonal game board.
At any time you control your units you can drag and sell unwanted units.
You can look at the stats of any unit on the board and even hover over them and see their area of attack.
Cutesy animations.
All unit health bars are shown but there is a team health bar up top to show each side’s progress.
Inventory stores consumables and any items/weapons that can be put into a unit.
Every unit can have up to 3 weapons/items on them at one time.
Items can be merged to become stronger.
Merge recipes use a menu that shows what items you need to merge a set, they show icons of items and fill in with any current items you have.
Three archetypes – Vanguards, Magicians, and Skirmishers.
Cool animation of the item merging where dropping the final item will cause a pop-up to show what it will merge into.
Easy to get into if you have any or no knowledge of the genre.
Star points carry over from fight to fight.
Your heart (life bar) goes down by 2 in a fight but doubles in a boss room.
You heal one life after each victory.
Cursed means you pay for random units with your life points.
Win or lose you get mastery for future runs.
Fast loading times.
Before a run, you can set any modifiers, start of run buffs, and challenges.
Four difficulty choices – personal, barebones, recommended, and custom.
12 characters total with one unlocked initially.
The basic narration at times.
The training yard is an optional set of fights to warm up against weaker opponents.
The map of your journey is shown at all times on the game board.
Shops allow you to make one purchase at a time.
If combat goes on too long an overtime countdown starts.
Level up to choose one of three unlocks.
Multiple route choices.
Mastery is spent at the end of a run and you use it on the unlock tree, this can be buffs, mechanics, new ways to play, and characters.
Very addictive.
As a single-player roguelike, it means combat is a one-time event, I say this as in the online mp versions it’s a series of combat encounters.
Highlight a trait to show all owned units that match the trait.
On either side of the battlefield sits all defeated units.
Multiple choice encounters.
When choosing a direction you can see possible rewards and opponents beforehand.
Resting at a campfire lets you increase your army size.
Big boss encounters.
So satisfying to play.
Slow-motion final kill.
Status effects and damage numbers can bang up on the screen.
As you progress you can have the current run unlock higher tier or rarer units to show up in the star points shop.
The estate manor has you playing a luck-based mini-game where you throw a D20 and get a good or bad modifier the you choose to play on or quit and run.
Take part in mini-games like betting on a centaur race.

Tales & Tactics Preview Cons:

No native controller support.
A lot to take in at first with a lot of text and pop-ups.
The menu isn’t always clear.
Takes a while to get acquainted with all the traits and build a team.
Doesn’t have a lot of help with team building.
No online play, just an FYI.
The Characters you play feel a bit lifeless and don’t fit in in some way.
No practice is so you can learn not only traits but also unit placement and strengths and weaknesses.
Can feel luck based at times.
Using potions is not always clear u til you get told to do it.
Cannot save and quit mid-run.
Dropping items on units have such a small hitbox that it can get frustrating.

Tales & Tactics:

Official website.

Developer: Table 9 Studio

Publisher: Yogscast Games

Store Links –

Steam Early Access