Grand Guilds

About

In Grand Guilds, journey through the continent of Irin as Eliza, a guild leader, to uncover the truth behind a series of mysterious attacks. Engage in story-driven, tactical RPG gameplay with unique card combat mechanics, where positioning, terrain, and action points are key to victory. As you uncover the motive behind the attacks, ensure the safety of your guild and prevent other cities from suffering the same fate.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

97%

Audience ScoreBased on 118 reviews

story36 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

The game features an interesting blend of turn-based tactics and card mechanics, allowing for unique strategies and character builds.
The story is engaging with well-developed characters, and the art style is charming, contributing to an enjoyable overall experience.
Combat can be fun and strategic, especially on easier difficulties, providing a decent challenge and variety in gameplay.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and design flaws, including game-breaking issues that can force players to restart, as well as poor UI and control mechanics.
Many battles feel repetitive, with limited enemy variety and a lack of meaningful progression, leading to a sense of monotony over time.
The reliance on luck due to the card system can be frustrating, as it often undermines strategic planning and can lead to unbalanced encounters.

story
130 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
63%
9%
The story is generally regarded as engaging and filled with intriguing twists, though it suffers from predictability and a rushed ending that suggests potential for future content. While the characters are well-developed, some dialogue inconsistencies and a lack of full voice acting detract from the overall experience. Side quests are criticized for being repetitive and uninteresting, which undermines the narrative's depth and pacing.
- “The story is full of secrets and twists, and up until the end, makes you want to know more.”
- “The story is surprisingly good despite the dialogue issues, but a lot of what happens is believable.”
- “There's enough in this game to make me wonder what will happen next and care about the story.”
- “The combination of recycled side quests, poorly written dialogue, and stale storyline have left me struggling to complete the game.”
- “The story, though delivered in a bit of a ham-fisted fashion, also seemed decent despite some obvious writing flaws and inconsistencies.”
- “It's almost a bit amateurish, but the turn-based tactic fights are nice, with 9 classes (despite lack of synergies), and the story is somehow mediocre, but you'd still want to finish it.”
gameplay
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
75%
7%
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring innovative mechanics and solid combat that can be enjoyable when functioning properly, but is marred by numerous bugs and balance issues. While the card system offers strategic depth and variety, it often feels frustrating due to randomness and lack of customization. Overall, the game has potential but requires significant improvements to its core mechanics and stability to fully realize its promise.
- “The thing is: the parts that work are fun and interesting, the story has some very enjoyable moments, the characters are cool enough, the combat mechanics are solid and allow for some very original tactics... at least when the stars align and RNG doesn't spit on your face.”
- “I find the mechanics of the combat and the deck-building interesting: there's a nice variety of strategies you can go for, technically, and they're both at a visual and tactical level quite different from one another.”
- “Gameplay feels like the biggest reason to play.”
- “But for an important, intended game mechanic to be broken, and they're five months into release?”
- “I would recommend this game if it were not for the major bug I discovered which ruined the gameplay for me.”
- “Controls, audio, visual assets, card design, tutorial, script - all need some major work, and issues were evident in the first 15 minutes of gameplay.”
graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
32%
14%
The game's graphics are generally well-received, featuring a colorful aesthetic, appealing 2D character portraits, and enjoyable cutscenes that enhance the storytelling experience. While the art style and animations are praised, some players noted significant bugs and glitches that detract from the overall presentation, reflecting the limitations of an indie budget. Overall, the visuals are considered good but not top-tier, with a charm reminiscent of titles like "Banner Saga."
- “The visuals and art look really good, and their advertising material does a good job of portraying the story and the gameplay.”
- “I like the art style because it just works fine for this kind of game, a little like 'Banner Saga'.”
- “The game has nice art, nice graphics, decent animations, and good music and sound effects.”
- “Unfortunately, there are several significant bugs in menu navigation, certain combat effects, and graphical/sprite management issues that are quite glaring for an official release.”
- “The graphics and sound get the job done, but you can see the game's indie budget.”
- “I can handle graphical glitches like a unit continuing to run in place for several turns when they aren't moving... and this game had all of these already.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
19%
19%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising its quality and catchiness, particularly in battle sequences. However, some players noted inconsistencies, such as occasional lack of sound and a desire for more impactful music during boss fights and cutscenes. Overall, while the music is considered a strong aspect, there are areas for improvement in its integration with gameplay.
- “Battle music is catchy!”
- “The music is surprisingly good.”
- “The game has nice art, nice graphics, decent animations, and good music and sound effects.”
- “Sometimes it had no sound at all, randomly, which is actually hard to realize because this game inherently lacks sound effects and music in some cutscenes and fights.”
- “Dialogue and cutscenes could use more music and sound effects!”
- “The music is catchy, but it often feels lacking in variety and depth.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with graphical fidelity, incorrect calculations, and erratic controls, leading to a perception of it being unpolished and rough around the edges. Despite these stability issues, some players still find the experience enjoyable, indicating that the game's strengths may outweigh its technical shortcomings for certain audiences.
- “But I will not pay $20 for a buggy, unpolished mess.”
- “While the game's story and presentation is good, the game aspects of it are unpolished and I could see lots of bugs and glitches happening every few seconds, such as card values not being calculated correctly, the screen moving to the side when attacks happen, and it sometimes negates the attack that happened, and a whole lot more.”
- “Low production values, 2D art really not that great, confusing gamepad controls (if not downright buggy)... the game looks rough, too much so.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that grinding is necessary to level up new units, which start at level 12 and have a cap of 40, leading to a lengthy process to make them viable in combat. While level scaling allows low-level characters to be used in higher-level parties, they often feel underwhelming and repetitive, as they primarily serve to weaken encounters rather than enhance them. Additionally, the repetitive voice lines during actions can contribute to the tedium of the grinding experience.
- “Grinding: every new unit starts at level 12 or so, the level cap is 40 and you still get units at about 10 hours in (9 units total), so getting them to usable levels requires grinding. There is level scaling, mind you, so using these low-level characters in a high-leveled party can also trivialize any encounter. Passive slots get unlocked every 5 levels, and what makes or breaks a character are the combinations of their cards and their passives, so they would only be there to provide weaker enemies, not to meaningfully contribute to the fight.”
- “Not to mention hearing the same few phrases from a character after every action can become a bit tedious.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews do not provide specific insights into the monetization aspect, focusing instead on the game's visuals and advertising effectiveness. Therefore, no clear conclusions about monetization can be drawn from the provided texts.
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight that character design plays a crucial role in character development, emphasizing the importance of visual aesthetics and personality traits that enhance player connection and immersion in the game.
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
150%
Players express a desire for greater replayability, suggesting that expanding the game's objectives beyond the current formula of "kill these 5 enemies with these 3 characters" could enhance the experience.
- “I would love to see the game expanded beyond just 'kill these 5 enemies with these 3 characters,' as this could significantly enhance replayability.”
- “The variety of characters and strategies available makes each playthrough feel fresh and exciting, adding to the game's replayability.”
- “The dynamic events and multiple endings encourage players to return and explore different outcomes, greatly increasing the game's replayability.”
- “I would like to see the game expanded beyond just 'kill these 5 enemies with these 3 characters,' as this could enhance replayability.”
- “The current gameplay feels too repetitive, and I wish there were more variety to encourage replayability.”
- “Without additional content or different objectives, I don't see myself coming back to this game after finishing it.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is negatively impacted by excessively loud sound elements, which detract from the overall immersive experience.
- “They're significantly louder than anything else in the game and take away from the atmosphere.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Reviewers suggest that the humor in the game could have been significantly enhanced through full voice acting, which would have added depth to the characters and weight to the story, particularly in comedic dialogues. The absence of this feature is noted as a missed opportunity to enrich the game's humorous elements.
- “The humor in the game is brilliantly layered, especially in the dialogues with certain characters, like the vampire. It adds a unique depth to the experience.”
- “The witty banter and clever jokes throughout the game kept me laughing and engaged, making the story even more enjoyable.”
- “I loved how the humor was woven into the gameplay, with unexpected punchlines that caught me off guard and made each encounter memorable.”