Natural Doctrine Critic Reviews

As it stands though, it is a fascinating strategy RPG that anyone who loves strategy RPGs needs to play.

If being humiliated and demoralised by in-game defeat is synonymous to Mel’s downfall, achieving victory in battle is a feeling equivalent to earning a billion dollars just for punching your life-long nemesis in the face.

A noble attempt to do something unique in the strategy RPG space that won't appeal to most players.

A far from perfect RPG, but one that fans of the genre will get some enjoyment for. Casuals really need not apply though.

It's still one of my favorite games this year, but the flaws keep me from recommending it to everyone; this is a game for those who love the genre, and want an old-school tactical RPG challenge.

Natural Doctrine’s combat system is ingenious, but it’s obstructed by its complexity, while the remaining aspects of the release just about fulfil their roles to the point of adequacy.

It's strange and convoluted, it has sub-par graphics, and the story is quite weak. It basically carries itself entirely on the gameplay, which is frequently difficult to the point of frustration. If you can get past that and wrap your head around the mechanics, it's a remarkably fun strategy RPG.

There’s a thin line between rock-hard gameplay and a broken game and while Natural Doctrine runs up to that line repeatedly it manages to never actually cross it. What it does manage, however, is to be a great example of the genre while also doing very little to bring it into the twenty-first century.

It's complex and challenging in some really novel ways.

It's really hard to learn how to play this game, and even though that should be something good and challenging, we feel it's rather a design problem. Still, if you're willing to go on extremely hard strategy battles, go for it.

Natural Doctrine isn’t noteworthy outside of it’s combat, if you feel like strategy games have grown stale, Kadokawa Games’ curious take on the genre is an interesting change of pace.

Natural Doctrine is a broken attempt at revitalizing the tactical RPG genre. At first glance, it appears to have all the markings of a classically inspired and intelligently designed strategy game.

Natural Doctrine is an exhausting game. It’s punishing, unfair at times and hell-bent on funneling players through a narrow corridor that leaves little-to-no room for tactical experimentation. That being said, it has its moments.

One thing that is certain is that Natural Doctrine us not designed for the casual crowd, and unless you’re prepared to invest time and energy into learning its systems inside out – and then are still prepared to try and try again when you do know what you’re doing – you’d be advised to away from this one.

For those who aren’t too hot on their strategy role playing games, however, Natural Doctrine is a risk, yet one still worth taking if you’re looking for something testing and out-of-the-norm.

Natural Doctrine shows a lot of potential – mainly thanks to the complex battle system with its focus on cooperation and positioning. But the game design (or more so: lack of) leads to a lot of frustrating moments and useless grind.

Natural Doctrine is a cruel, unpolished, but interesting spin on tactical RPGs.

There are some interesting pieces in this puzzle, but once they form the final picture, you'll see something very different, and sadly not entirely enjoyable.

Natural Doctrine fails in its ambitious attempt to deliver a wonderfully unique, deep, and rewarding turn-based strategy adventure. The foundation is solid but what’s built atop that foundation is a crazy assortment of great individual pieces, but none of them really fit together.

While its refreshing combat offers a different kind of strategy-RPG challenge, some ridiculously punitive design decisions sabotage a good deal of the potential fun in Natural Doctrine. Considering the experienced pedigree of the developers involved—they count Patapon among their previous works—that’s simply inexcusable.