Redemption Reapers Review

Thanks to the folks at Binary Haze Interactive I’ve been spending some time with Redemption Reapers. This dark-fantasy turn-based strategy is set to release on PC, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, though we must assume it will also hit PlayStation 5 at some point. After spending some time with the title, we’re bringing you the full video and extended written review for Redemption Reapers, alongside our common-sense parent’s guide. The below impressions and video footage were taken while playing on PC.

The Basics – What is Redemption Reapers About?

In this grimdark setting, players will take control of the Ashen Hawk Brigade. This small band of mercenaries is fighting against the dark forces of the Mort. The Mort is a macabre army composed of orc-like troops, magic users and hulking, armoured behemoths. Travelling through nation after nation, the Mort are leaving humanity decimated in their wake.

You’ll use turn-based strategic action to lead the five-strong Ashen Hawk Brigade in tactical battle against the Mort. Using both point-and-click and freeform area-based movement you’ll position your troops, unleashing stealthy attacks on the fiendish foe. Rather than having an expansive army, you’ll control just five characters in the Ashen Hawk Brigade. Thankfully, should health stop to zero they will retreat from the battle, ready to assist in the next mission.

Positioning of your reapers is incredibly important, providing bonus attacks and buffs for each member of the team. Each brings unique active and passive abilities, allowing you to work in combination to defeat tough enemies and complete your level objectives. The title brings nice combat mechanics, with attacks, bonus attacks and counter-attacks to consider, depending on the placement and reach of your troop.

Is Redemption Reapers Safe for Children?

Rating: 2 / 5: Caution Advised.

Redemption Reapers is rated by PEGI at 16 and above and by the ESRB at T for Teen. The grimdark setting is brutal, and dark-fantasy strategic combat is filled with violence and blood. From the outset you’ll come across plenty of grizzly events both in game and within cutscenes.

Redemption Reapers is a strictly single player experience, so there’s no concern for online interactions here. Similarly, considering the dark-fantasy brutal combat there’s not really any language to speak of either. With this in mind, violence, blood and a small spattering of fear are the only PEGI criteria which are cause for concern.

Overall, our parent’s-eye view rates this one as Caution Advised, due to blood and violence, and it’s not one which we’d let the Micro-Bandits get their hands on. Similarly, it’s not one which we would play in front of them either, before they had at least hit their teens.

Is Redemption Reapers Accessible?

Rating: 4 / 5: Low Barrier.

We found Redemption Reapers to be a little tricky at first, with combat battering our small troop at every turn. After a few battles, however, the combination attacks and use of in-game tools really clicked. This didn’t make it too easy, but certainly less intimidating than we had first thought.

Use in in-game mechanics (such as maintaining a highlight of enemy attack ranges) can really help you here, allowing you to plan ahead and easing the burden on yourself. Compartmentalised levels also make it fairly easy to drop in and out, though it should be noted that the battles themselves aren’t particularly fast. This is another bonus for accessibility, in that we rarely felt rushed, with the turn-based nature of the title meaning you can take your time.

Some quicker actions are required when you attack. After an attack move with one character, other reapers who are close to the action will get the chance for a supporting attack. To do this, you’ll need to press the reaper’s allocated button (1, 2, 3 or 4 on PC and symbol / letter buttons on controller) within a short time window.

The Run Down – Our Five-Point Rating for Redemption Reapers

Gameplay – 3: There are a lot of excellent ideas within Redemption Reapers, but they are hampered by controls and menus which are at best fiddly, and at worst outright frustrating. Even after hours in game, the control system is something which is relatively painful to use. We’ve fallen in love with the mechanics, combat and strategy, and combining skills, buffs and supporting attacks feels great when you get it right. With a little work these issues could be streamlined or completely resolved but at the moment, they’ve broken immersion substantially.

Visuals – 3: From up on high (where we’ll be spending most of our time) the graphics for Redemption Reapers look pretty decent. When we get down low and into the action, however, edges look distinctly jagged and slow-motion attacks can feel jerky. Most of all, cutscenes look distinctly last-gen at times. This includes lip-synching to audio which has seemingly been skipped over for the English language versions. Strangely, redemption Reapers seems to swing from “yes this looks pretty decent” to “oh no, that looks quite poor”, sometimes within seconds of each other.

Audio – 3: The soundtrack, music and effects for Redemption Reapers have obviously been created with love. There are some great background tunes here, and they fit the setting and gameplay very well indeed. Sadly, the title is let down here by voice acting. Both in cutscenes and within gameplay, voice acting is stunted and quite cheesy and has been another immersion breaker for us. Some voices are also incredibly mismatched for their characters, causing further distractions even when the timing and scripting do work out.

Narrative – 4: Redemption Reapers does bring a good story, and it weaves nicely throughout your time in game. Unfortunately, it is hampered by stunted and badly-paced voice acting. The script could also have done with a little work to reduce the cheese and move it from good to outstanding.

Replay – 5: This one really shines with replay value. Even as a single-player only title, there’s a lot to get your teeth into. The title comes with 20-25 hours (more if you’re awful at video games like us) of play time for the main story. This is bolstered by skirmishes, which provide the ability to go back and replay older missions to gain EXP points to upgrade your troop. Each level also has lore items and weapons to pick up, giving you a reason to go back and replay them. Each member of the team also has upgradeable passive and active skills which allow you to approach new levels with a (slightly) different play style.

The Verdict – Is Redemption Reapers Worth It?

Pixel Bandits’ Turn-Based Fantasy Level for Redemption reapers is a respectable 7 / 10.

Redemption Reapers brings a lot of great ideas which can make it stand out from other, similar titles. The varied and unique skills of the five reapers in the Ashen Hawk Brigade make them all fun to play with. Combining these skills and buffs on the battlefield through careful placement and turn strategies feels like a genuine accomplishment. There are also a decent number of special moves, and unlocking more of these as you level up along the way is another nice touch.

I adore the attack – bonus attack – counterattack system and have spent a lot of time pondering character placement to ensure each attack can get the best result from the small team of five. While it’s not super expansive, the upgrade options for each character give some decent options, and allows your small team to work effectively together. Teamwork is a huge part of Redemption Reapers (even more so than similar titles) and when it clicks, working together and getting it right is incredibly satisfying.

With that said, there’s a significant amount here which we believe needs work. Redemption Reapers suffers from stunted audio, cheesy scripting, sub-par close-up visuals and a control and menu system which would make Gandhi himself swear. Even with this in mind, however, the unique mechanics of the title do keep drawing me back in. This has made it an incredibly tough title to score, as if you can get past the drawbacks, it can be a lot of fun. It could have potentially dropped to a 6 or even a 5, had it not been for the fact that I do genuinely want to keep playing it.

If the team managed to fix control issues, that would go a long way to raising the rating here. In the meantime Redemption Reapers remains a flawed but exceptionally interesting title. If you are a hardcore fan of the genre the unique mechanics and close-knit team working may make this one worth picking up, if you can get past its foibles.

As ever, to provide this review and common-sense parent’s guide, we received one free PC copy of Redemption Reapers from the folks at Binary Haze Interactive.