I love a good RPG and the downloadable Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is one that I had my eye on for quite some time. Even from the first trailer, you could tell that the brains behind this, Matt Roszak was a huge video game fan as much of what grabbed people’s attention about Epic Battle Fantasy 5 was all the other video game references that were scattered all over it.
How to Download Epic Battle Fantasy 5
You can download the game by following the link at the bottom of this review. The game can be downloaded from Steam.
The Game Review
Some RPG’s get too full of their own importance and end up being more pretentious than they are fun. Epic Battle Fantasy 5 has gone the other way where the main focus of this game is all about having fun. There are not ten million random battles that happen every three seconds, there are no depressing characters and there is no stingy save game features.
The Premise
Instead, Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is all about a group of five greedy, badass and humorous characters who want as much loot as they can! The characters are actually very well written and I found myself laughing many times at some of the stuff they would come out with, especially the references to other games and pop culture.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5 Gameplay
Gameplay though is what makes this title so addictive. The combat is turn-based and it feels great and very familiar, but it is so fast and fluid that each battle is very exciting. What I liked about the battles was how instead of having magic points your abilities have a cool down.
Also, you can do these epic combos and mix attacks together to devastating effect. Figuring out what attacks go with what (also the weather can have an effect on your attacks) is a lot of fun.
There are a lot of enemies in this game, I think the developer has said that there is something like 170 different enemies as well as some big bosses. What is really neat about this is that while putting a beating on these guys is awesome, you can actually capture them and then summon them into battle to help you out.
This is really cool and I love how you drop a big box on them, kind of like a mixture of capturing a Pokémon and also a little of the trap from Ghostbusters! You can even capture bosses! This is harder to do, but as you would expect if you capture a boss, it can do some serious damage.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5: the Puzzles
When you are exploring the game world it is full of personality and there is a little bit of puzzle solving that you will have to do. From moving blocks around, walking a certain path and finding items.
The puzzles are what you would expect from an RPG. Speaking of that. I feel that the perfect balance is here. By that I mean if you are a long time RPG player like I am. The funny story, the references, and the fast-paced gameplay is really going to appeal to you.
At the same time, I feel that the game would be fun and accessible for players who are new to the genre.
The Game in the Making
While I have had a lot of fun with Epic Battle Fantasy 5 the game is not actually finished yet and some people have reported having trouble getting the game to run. Which to be fair can be the case for any game that is released in beta form. The good news is the developer is working with people to help them out.
The History of the Series
Epic Battle Fantasy games series started in 2009 when both the first and the second title were released, They were followed by Epic Battle Fantasy 3 (2010) and 4 (2013). There were also spin-offs: Bullet Heaven and Adventure Story both released in 2011 and Bullet Heaven 2 from 2015.
