Operencia: The Stolen Sun Review

Fight

The combat of Operencia is useful. Unlike the story or the puzzles, Zen Studios seems to settle mostly for a standard, albeit refined, turn-based system. Four characters are active at any given time, although those remaining on the bench also gain XP. Considering that you can only swap fighters while stationed at a campfire, sharing XP is definitely welcome.

Enemies land in three rows, with those further back being more susceptible to range than melee attacks. The AI ​​demonstrates a basic understanding of tactics, although this mostly results in defensive enemies using “Taunt” to draw all attacks towards them. Mafia types come in various roles; a group of skeletons may include a swordsman who tanks, two archers with elemental arrows and a sorcerer to heal the wounded or summon new units.

While normal attacks are always accessible, any unique spell or elemental ability consumes energy. And some require a sizable chunk to activate. Characters regain energy by skipping a turn. Thus, battles are as much about managing resources as they are about targeting the opponent’s weak spot. Operencia keeps things interesting by adding team attacks, summons, enhancement spells, and passives.

Operencia’s difficulty settings focus on punishing bad planning rather than altering the battles themselves. So, the fight can be a little too easy. By allowing yourself to execute some degree of strategy, battles are more likely to test the player’s patience than skill. Due to the somewhat slow attack animations, encounters against fodder enemies tend to last a little too long.

Final verdict

With 13 dungeons lasting a couple of hours each, Operencia doesn’t stop beyond its welcome. Exploration is fun and rewarding, especially when it comes to some of the endgame puzzles. Although fatigue eventually sets in, the proper combat system has enough depth to support a 30-hour campaign. With Operencia: The Stolen Sun, Zen Studios has produced a modern dungeon crawler ideal for fans of old-school RPGs.