Athena Crisis Review

Paying Homage to the Classics 

Athena Crisis, the first game from indie developer Nakazawa Tech, is a hybrid turn-based real-time strategy game heavily inspired by Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. Developers have stated their goal was to pay homage to these classic games while keeping the gameplay fresh. Spiritual successors can be hit or miss, so I was curious to see how the game held up. With its charming pixel visuals, satisfying strategic depth, and a staggering amount of both official and user-generated content, it’s safe to say that Athena Crisis lives up to its inspirations and then some. 

Tactical Victory

The gameplay of Athena Crisis will be familiar to fans of similar top-down strategy games. The player’s objective is to command their troops to attack or maneuver around their opponent’s troops and secure victory. On the player’s turn, they can move all their troops within their movement range on the map. Troops can attack enemies as if an enemy is within range. In addition to maneuvering troops, the player can manage buildings to generate income, recruit new troops mid-battle, and deploy vehicles. The experience seems simple at first to avoid being overwhelming. However, it quickly opens up once the player realizes how much strategic potential can be drawn from these mechanics.

Strategic Innovation

Where Athena Crisis differs from other strategy games is in its online offerings such as its invasion system. When playing compatible campaign levels, a player can choose to activate a Power Crystal. This gives them an attack buff but also opens up the game to be joined by other players online. Depending on what type of crystal players use when they join, they will either be helping the host player or trying to hinder them to earn Chaos Stars. I did not find any other players online when I tried this mechanic, so I did not get to experience it to its fullest potential. With that said, I appreciate the concept. It’s a great addition to the game that adds a unique twist. 

There is also a wealth of traditional user-created content to choose from, from individual maps to full campaigns. These maps can be played solo against a computer opponent, or PvP with other players. If you’re enjoying the game as I was, there’s a near endless amount of content to sink your teeth into. 

The game’s presentation is also generally well done, with the visuals featuring a retro pixel aesthetic. It looks good for the most part, but some of the vehicles are tricky to distinguish at a glance. However, this became much less of an issue as I got more familiar with the game. The main campaign features a colorful cast of characters. While none of their dialogue blew me away, they had fun personalities and quirks that kept me liking them. One thing in particular that left an impression on me was the game’s soundtrack. Much of the game’s background music stuck with me more than I was expecting.

A Bit Trickier on the Go

While my experience with Athena Crisis was mostly positive, there is one more issue to address: currently, the state of the game on mobile is less than ideal. For one, there is no official mobile app – you have to download a browser version of the game. Additionally, the controls work well enough on a phone, but they were clearly designed with the PC release in mind first. It can sometimes be cumbersome to command units exactly how you want. I would find myself accidentally sending one troop to a spot I didn’t intend or attacking an enemy when I simply wanted to look at that enemy’s stats, forcing me to restart my entire turn to undo the mistake. Games like this can be difficult to fully port to mobile, but I hope the developers will continue to adjust the game so that it is more streamlined on all platforms.

A few control issues weren’t enough to sour me on the experience as a whole, however. Athena Crisis is a love letter to classic turn-based strategy games, and you can feel the love for its forebearers in all aspects. If you are a fan of this genre, you won’t regret checking it out. Rather than simply retreading old ground, it takes what was already there and expands on it for the modern age to create a strategic experience that I intend to return to often.