We analyze Banner of the Maid, a strategy and role-playing video game by Azure Flame Studio set in an alternative French revolution.
Banner of the maid, developed by Azure Flame Studio, has surprised us by bringing to our computers a piece of the French revolution. It has done so by giving it a fantastic twist in which Napoleon's sister, Pauline Bonaparte, joins her brother in war: conquering territories, winning battles, and stopping the unrest in the city. A title that despite its limitations, is worth discovering. We tell you why.
The game allows us to lead our army in some of the best-known battles in Napoleonic history, it tells us, not faithfully, but fantastic, incidents such as the case of the necklace or the famous phrase of Queen Marie Antoinette "Let them eat cakes" referring to the people who were starving for not having or to buy bread, the basis of food for the French people at that time.
We will put ourselves in the shoes of Pauline Bonaparte, an intelligent young woman with hidden powers that can change the course of the battle, who also has to lead the troops towards the glorious victory. In Banner of the Maid there is more than one girl with hidden powers, all different, but equally useful, some will join our ranks and others will only be part of the plot.
Everything works out on the board
The stories, stories, anecdotes, and even a play, are brought into battle by the protagonists of the game who do not miss the opportunity to take us to their field.
Clashes take place in dynamic turn-based combat. Each unit has a series of movement squares and then some actions that they can carry out. When making our strategy, we will take into account the strengths and weaknesses of our troops compared to those of the opponent. The type of terrain, its altitude, light and weather will also affect the performance of the troops, in full battle it can start to rain and we can be negatively affected by inclement weather. Of course, we will also think of other factors that can benefit us as bridges through which only one unit can pass at the same time and thus be able to face them one by one, or some barrier that we can break down to reach our objective sooner.
The missions and decisions we make in the game earn us favor points from one faction or another, depending on who is in charge, and a sum of money, which is great for us to improve our equipment. In addition, in the missions we collect documents that we will later use in the école militaire to acquire new skills and advantages for combat.
The title has some peaks of difficulty that will lead us to do level-up missions, the ideal would have been to choose the troops we want to send to the challenge, especially on occasions when we are joined by characters with a level lower than that required to face us to a battle, but this is left to the AI.
Banner of the Maid places a lot of emphasis on history, intrigues, political connections, favors… we have to be careful with the decisions we make, it is up to them to win the favor of the factions competing for power in Paris. Each faction controls a type of supply and they will improve the inventory if we raise the reputation that we have with them.
The military that join our army will have different background stories and special abilities, which we can enhance if we earn their trust, some of them will be well-known characters in history such as Desaix, Lannes or Murat and others, original characters of the game such as Charlotte or Paulette, who could perfectly be named after a tax system abolished after the French revolution.
The secret is in the mix
The game boasts a highly accomplished and colorful aesthetic, mixing pixel art and 2D scenes with isometric perspective for battles, with a manga style during dialogues and interactions with other characters. The historical figures on which the title is based are highly favored in this alternative version in which, for example, Napoleon is tall and has a great haircut. Curiously, some characters have greater detail of shadows and a feeling of volume in the body and clothing, and a little less in the face, this is observed in a very subtle way and only if we stop to observe carefully. Where we have seen the greatest contrast is in Marie Antoinette, since she hardly has any shadows on her face.
There are some special missions that don't follow the colorful aesthetic of the title, they are the Story of the Maid. The Count of Mirabeau tells us the story of the first Maid of France, Joan of Arc and explains the story, like everything in this game, with a battle. In these special levels, the terrain is colorless, completely gray, we are presented with red enemies and blue allies, and it has the peculiarity that there is only one correct way to achieve the desired victory.
The music mixes styles, creating the right atmosphere at every moment of the title. It comes to life in the form of allies whose song helps us in battle, and there is even a time when we must recreate some melodies imitating a sequence. This small quest is encompassed in the story of one of the characters, giving meaning to a relaxed touch in the game.
We have been struck by the fact that it is translated into English, preserving the voices in Chinese and at the same time using some expressions in French, it is undoubtedly a most cosmopolitan game.
CONCLUSION
It is a title to keep in mind if you like strategy games, if you are also passionate about history related to the French revolution, do not hesitate to add it to your Steam library. Banner of the Maid has been able to combine the tactical aspect and the role. Each battle has many variables to take into account, the positions of the troops, the weather, the light, the strengths and weaknesses in front of the enemy troops, the level ups, the equipment improvements … In addition, the political game joins him of the factions, each controlling a type of supply and improving inventory due to our affinity with them. Finally, it has an artistic section worthy of mention, from the soundtrack, to pixel art and the isometric perspective that reminds us of Final Fantasy Tactics and will surely delight retro lovers.
THE BEST
- Fantastic artistic section
- A fantastic story with brushstrokes of reality
- Extra challenges really do represent a challenge
WORST
- Level difference between units
- Only available in Chinese and English
Good
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
