This is a masterpiece that shines brilliantly in the history of TacticalRPGs.

2024年7月12日

Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery was developed by Shanghai Sunborn Network Technology. Contrary to the impression given by its visuals of being a “Tactical RPG with a strong focus on characters and low difficulty,” it is actually a full-fledged, high-difficulty Tactical RPG.

The game’s difficulty is born from its well-thought-out design and firm policy, and the tension of one mistake leading to the game being over is beautifully expressed.

The exhilaration of fighting with all your might and the sense of achievement of victory.
Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery will rekindle the flame that has long since died within you.

How many times have you had a game over in a Tactical RPG?

You will probably see the game over more than you have ever experienced in a Tactical RPG.

Don’t be fooled by first impressions. Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery is a wonderful game that stands shoulder to shoulder with TacticalRPG classics such as Tactics Ogre and X-COM.

A new masterpiece from ‘Tactical-Based’

Even if we say TacticalRPG in one word, there are various forms. First, we want to classify TacticalRPGs by game type and see which type of TacticalRPG this “Reverse Collapse” belongs to.

The first type of tactical RPG that I would like to mention is the ‘Story-based’ type.
Yasumi Matsuno’s series of works, such as ‘Tactics Ogre’ and ‘Final Fantasy Tactics,’ are probably the best-known examples of this genre.

The storytelling is characterized by the fact that the main character (the player) is important in the grand scheme of history but is ultimately just one part of the story. It could be said that the carefully crafted history and world setting within the game are the true stars.

Next up is the “Organization-based” type.
It is fair to say that most of today’s TacticalRPGs fall into this category.

Customizing things like status, skills, and equipment to strengthen your favorite characters is at the heart of the game’s enjoyment. Many TacticalRPGs, such as Fire Emblem and X-COM, try to differentiate themselves by incorporating various ideas into their organization.

On the other hand, by placing so much emphasis on organization, the difficulty of the battles tends to decrease.
The surest way for players to see the results of their character customization is to see their characters in action in battle.
If this is reflected in the game, the battlefield will become a place to confirm one’s strength and gain catharsis rather than a place to experience tension.

In addition, the difficulty level decreases even further because many characters are prepared, and a place for everyone to shine is provided.

Finally, there are the “Tactical-based” games.

The gameplay focuses on the movement of units in battle, and Valkyria Chronicles is probably the best example of this. The game’s organization and story are not particularly eye-catching, but the battles using the BLiTZ system are great.

Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery belongs to this ‘Tactical-based’ category. The system itself is very orthodox, but it requires even more precision in maneuvering on the battlefield than Valkyria Chronicles. It could be said to be the purest example of a ‘Tactical-based’ game.

In battle, a single bad decision can lead directly to game over.
If you play on Normal difficulty, you’ll start to struggle to advance even one turn by the time you reach Chapter 2, and by the end of the game, you’ll be faced with a series of difficulties that will make you want to throw in the towel.

If you play ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery‘ in search of the joy of character customization, you may find it a confining game.

However, the flame of fighting ignites within you when the difficulty of these hopeless battles and the series of heartbreaking retries link up with the game’s story and characters. When was the last time that happened?

The moment when the game and my inner self overlap. It’s always awesome.

The setting is 30 years after ‘Dolls Frontline’.

First, I’d like to briefly introduce the background of the story “Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery.”

The setting is 30 years after the popular smartphone game ‘Dolls Frontline.’ The world is divided into the ‘Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition’ and the ‘Antarctic Union,’ and they are at war.

The player takes on the role of Mendo, an agent of the “Antarctic Union” who infiltrates enemy territory as part of a special forces unit to rescue a girl named Jefuty, who goes by the code name “Bakery,” from the pursuit of the “Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition.”

You don’t need to know ‘Dolls Frontline’ to understand the story, but you will enjoy it more if you have played it, as some of the technical terms used in the game are shared.

The story is authentic sci-fi military, and the plot keeps you hooked until the end. It has the quality to keep you motivated to overcome the high difficulty level.

Soldiers shine on the battlefield.

Compared to other TacticalRPGs, what sets ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery‘ apart is the fact that there are very few friendly characters. There are only five main characters.
Each of these five characters has their own unique skills and weapons, and their role on the battlefield as a unit is defined.

For example, the main character, Mendo, increases the power of turrets, the heroine, Jefuty, is a long-range sniper, and the squad leader, Carl, is in charge of buffs and debuffs.

This is a rather bold choice in a genre of Tactical RPGs that tends to have a wide variety of characters to cover players’ needs.
Rather than increasing the number of characters like in an alibi, limiting the number allows each character to be carefully portrayed. This is probably the aim of ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery.’

And it has paid off, with the five main characters and even the enemy sub-characters beautifully portrayed as human beings.

Another thing I’d like to emphasize is that the game’s high difficulty level only enhances the appeal of the characters.

As mentioned above, the difficulty of the battles in this game is unparalleled. You will be forced to fight to the very limit.
Therefore, you cannot win the battle without maximizing your character’s (unit’s) abilities.

How many times have I been saved by Jefuty’s sniper rifle?
I have also buried many bosses under Mendo’s concentrated turret fire.
I also survived by the skin of my teeth more than a few times, thanks to Athena’s defensive barrier.
On countless occasions, Jevon’s firepower broke through the enemy lines.
In the crucial moments of battle, the attacks always begin with the support of Captain Karl.

I will never forget them for leading us to victory in the tough battles.
How could I forget?

If the difficulty of the battle is low, then the situation itself in which the unit exhausts all of its power does not arise in the first place. In that case, the character’s story is supplemented by the conversation during the intermission, but is that really the way a tactical RPG should be?

I think this.
It is on the battlefield that soldiers shine.

A limited degree of freedom in formation is deliberately used to achieve a high level of tactical play.

The time between battle stages is the organization phase, where you strengthen your five characters.
However, in ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery,‘ there are almost no options for character customization.

Skills are fixed for each character and are acquired according to level. Skills can be upgraded, but these upgrades are limited to increasing power by 10%, so they don’t make a big difference.
You can also change weapon attachments, but again, these are all status upgrades, so there is zero customizability.

The most important aspect of the formation of “Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery” is the production of items.

Items are consumed in large quantities during combat.
During combat, you will make use of a wide variety of items, such as grenades and incendiary bombs that deal damage to multiple enemies, holograms that deprive enemies of movement, and barricades that act as obstacles.

Items are produced using points called “parts” that are earned in battle. Since parts are not inexhaustible, you must rack your brains over which items to make and how many to produce.

Of course, there is a reason why “Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery” limits the degree of freedom in your formation in this way.
This is to ensure a high level of tactical ability in combat.

The more options players have for their formations, the more elasticity is required in the difficulty of the battle stages. If you give players options but make it impossible to clear the stage unless they use a specific formation, then the freedom becomes meaningless.

For this reason, in Organization-based TacticalRPGs, it is common to see a well-balanced game in the early stages, when the player has limited options, but then the game balance collapses in the later stages when the player’s options expand.

‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery‘ is the opposite of this.

By deliberately limiting the formation options, it becomes easier to predict what troop formations the player will use to approach the stage. This makes it easier to adjust the difficulty of each stage and makes it possible to create a battle stage where you can only clear it by using all of your available means.

Use everything you’ve got and take on the most difficult stages in TacticalRPG history.

When you look at the battle stage, the first thing that will make you despair is the difference in the strength of the two sides. It is not uncommon to have 100 enemies against 2 to 5 allies.

At first glance, the situation may seem hopeless, but if you carefully observe the map and understand that each enemy’s placement and the way obstacles are placed have a purpose, you will surely find a way out.

However, this is not an easy mission. Like in a “Soulslike” game, you must find a way through the many defeats you suffer.
A single square can be the difference between life and death. Should you advance or fall back to strengthen your defenses? Should you prioritize recovery or reduce the enemy’s numbers?

Each decision will determine victory or defeat. A sense of tension unlike anything you’ve experienced in previous TacticalRPGs will continue right up to the final stage.

Another great appeal is that there are not only head-on battles but also a wide variety of situations to be prepared for.
There are a wide variety of stages, including stages where you let the enemy and a third force fight each other and you gain the advantage, stages where you retreat or defend, stages where you use tanks, and stages where you ride a trolley to move between areas.

All of these stages have wonderful designs.
It is difficult to clear the game without using all your units’ abilities, items, and wits. It is this sense of tension and the sense of achievement that comes after that that makes “Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery” so great.

What is the expression of the boss that is typical of a TacticalRPG?

And it is in the boss battles that this philosophy really stands out.

In a normal TacticalRPG, the strength of the enemy boss is indicated by their stats. You then attack them with your own units, which also have high stats, and defeat them.
However, this makes the combat in these games no different from that of a command battle RPG (such as Dragon Quest or Persona).

The raison d’etre of tactical RPG battles is supposed to be the movement and positioning of units. If that is the case, then the “strength” of the enemies in TacticalRPGs should be expressed in terms of the difficulty of the unit’s maneuvers. However, it seems that many TacticalRPGs have abandoned this.

To defeat the enemy boss in “Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery,” you need tactics such as luring them to a designated location or positioning your troops in the right place by predicting their actions.
You can’t just push through with simple firepower.

Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery has succeeded in expressing the true essence of combat in tactical RPGs, even if it means abandoning the standard of “freedom of organization.”

The boldness of this approach. And the courage to separate what is necessary from what is not in their work.
There is no other word for it but “brilliant.”

A stealth stage where the player’s initiative is not demonstrated.

On the other hand, there are also clear shortcomings in Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery.
That is the stealth stage.

As the name suggests, stealth stages are stages where you aim to reach your destination while avoiding the enemy’s line of sight rather than defeating them in combat.

However, rather than allowing the player to use their ingenuity to break the situation, these stealth stages are more like puzzle games, where you search for a pre-determined correct answer. In other words, there is little sense of the player actively moving the situation along.
In masterpiece stealth games such as Dishonored, Metal Gear, and Desperados 3, the player has several ways to influence the situation, but the stealth stages in Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery lack this.

This makes the stealth stages feel very cramped.
I can see the intention to include stealth in the TacticalRPG format, but I can’t help but get the impression that it’s killing each other’s strengths.

What lies at the end of countless “retries.”

If you play ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery,’ you will probably fail repeatedly and have to redo the same turn repeatedly.
Again and again.

Each time, you’ll load the auto-save and rack your brain, trying to figure out what you should have done and the correct answer.

You will inch closer to victory, one step at a time, one turn at a time, through this process of trial and error. You will find that this overlaps with the story depicted in ‘Reverse Collapse Code Name Bakery.’

That’s right, you can start the game as many times as possible to succeed.
However, if you could start over again and again in the real world, it would surely be hell.