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Hellenica

An entertaining tactical RPG reminiscent of genre defining games like Tactics Ogre with a strategic twist of levels and combat designed around dynamically shifting environments. Though it lacks refinement in ground textures and an abrupt and unfocused end to the main story, Hellenica is carried by its unique combat and memorable characters.
Hellenica Game Cover
70%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
grinding, character development
68% User Score Based on 88 reviews
Critic Score 80%Based on 1 reviews

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Hellenica Game Cover

About

Hellenica is a single player tactical role playing game with fantasy, warfare and historical themes. It was developed by thedragonloft and was released on January 9, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Hellenica" is a turn-based tactics RPG set in a steampunk ancient Greece, where an industrial revolution has transformed the cultures and landscapes. Customize your party's skills and navigate a complex storyline where choices impact battles, paths, and alliances. Experience a reimagined history with characters like Plato, Socrates, and Cyrus the Persian, and engage in strategic combat with environmental manipulation.

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Hellenica screenshot
Hellenica screenshot
Hellenica screenshot
Hellenica screenshot
Hellenica screenshot
Hellenica screenshot
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68%
Audience ScoreBased on 88 reviews
story35 positive mentions
grinding10 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique steampunk ancient Greece setting that creatively reimagines myths and characters, providing a fresh narrative experience.
  • Combat mechanics are engaging and encourage strategic thinking, with a focus on environmental interactions and character abilities that allow for creative gameplay.
  • The branching storylines offer replayability, allowing players to explore different paths and character interactions, enhancing the overall experience.
  • The combat system is overly simplistic, lacking depth with no equipment or class systems, which may disappoint fans of traditional tactical RPGs.
  • The story can feel repetitive and disjointed due to its branching nature, making it difficult to follow character development and plot threads.
  • There is a lack of tutorials and quality of life features, such as a speed-up option for animations, which can lead to frustration during gameplay.
  • story
    187 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story features a branching narrative that allows players to explore multiple paths and revisit unlocked story points, providing flexibility in gameplay. While the setting of steampunk mythological Greece is charming and some characters are likable, the execution suffers from repetitive story beats and a lack of depth in character development, leading to a narrative that can feel disjointed and hard to follow. Overall, the story is considered decent but could benefit from a more linear structure to enhance engagement and coherence.

    • “The setting (steampunk mythological Greece) is very charming, the characters are simple but likeable, the story can take unexpected turns, and even in my 4th run through the 'branching storyline' I was finding places I imagined only existed 'in lore'.”
    • “The story offers multiple branching paths with a goal to recruit a team of heroes to fight at your side for a final battle; it is impossible to accomplish this task in a single playthrough, so you will need to loop time and make new choices.”
    • “The characters are interesting and the story is well written.”
    • “The story is written poorly and has tacky animation, coming off as an amateur flash game in the end.”
    • “As mentioned earlier, the story is an absolute nightmare to follow even at the best of times.”
    • “Also, the story is awful, the dialogue just goes on and on and on and rarely says something truly interesting and the characters are painfully generic, which is a shame considering how cool the setting is.”
  • gameplay
    56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Hellenica features turn-based tactical battles on small 3D maps, drawing inspiration from classic RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, with unique mechanics such as pushing and tossing. While the combat is generally enjoyable and the art style is charming, many players find the RPG elements lacking, with limited character progression and repetitive mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Despite its fun aspects, the game suffers from unpolished mechanics and a need for more depth and tutorial guidance, leading to mixed reviews on its gameplay quality.

    • “Hellenica is a fundamentally strong turn-based tactical RPG with great combat mechanics and well-designed combat maps.”
    • “The battles are the core of the gameplay and they're very well done.”
    • “Hellenica is an excellent new indie RPG with a creative game world, interesting game mechanics, tactical turn-based battles, and pixel graphics that have personality and charm.”
    • “But I have to put some warnings before recommending it, because for some reason the devs decided to reinvent the wheel on many staple strategy RPG mechanics, and this led to some very unpolished aspects.”
    • “The deterministic nature of puzzles makes the combat lack in mechanic depth and character progression (very few skills per character, most characters restricted to certain maps), to the point the game even gives you one skill point at most per battle, not one skill point per character, but one skill point to give one character.”
    • “Further, there is hardly an RPG element to Hellenica, as the game offers little in the way of rewards to improve the characters and gameplay.”
  • graphics
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are characterized by colorful, pixelated visuals reminiscent of the PSX era, evoking nostalgia for titles like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea. While the combat graphics and character sprites are generally well-received, the town and conversation art styles have been criticized for being off-putting and generic. Overall, the combination of steampunk and ancient Greek aesthetics offers a unique visual experience, though some players feel it lacks cohesion and depth.

    • “Hellenica is an excellent new indie RPG with a creative game world, interesting game mechanics, tactical turn-based battles, and pixel graphics that have personality and charm.”
    • “The combination of ancient Greece and Rome, steampunk, and anime art style, while all potentially wonderful on their own, is a feast for the senses.”
    • “Graphically speaking, it feels like this came right out of the PSX era of games, drawing up memories of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre.”
    • “You'd think that it might have something suited to the aesthetic of the world, or matched well to the areas and so on, but no, it's really basic stuff that feels more suited to a game about cavemen than it does to Greek/steampunk tactical scheming.”
    • “That wouldn't be so bad, but the art style and writing are incredibly off-putting.”
  • music
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally described as pleasant and fitting for its style, with particular praise for the victory themes in darker settings. However, many players noted the repetitive nature of the soundtrack, which features a limited number of tracks that can become monotonous over time. Overall, while the music is considered adequate, it reflects the constraints of the indie development team, leading to a somewhat lackluster auditory experience.

    • “Especially the victory music in some of the darker maps and story points.”
    • “In all seriousness, this is a well-made game with good art and music.”
    • “The art is well done and the music is a-ok for this kind of game.”
    • “The music is fine, but if you take your time in one place, it becomes annoying to hear the same track over and over with few variations.”
    • “One complaint I have is the soundtrack.”
    • “The limitations of this small indie team are represented in a lackluster soundtrack, a minimal amount of combat effects, and simple but effective sprite animations, which is a shame because I found the character designs to be fantastic.”
  • grinding
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding system in the game to be a double-edged sword; while it discourages traditional XP farming and encourages strategic planning for battles, it can lead to tedious replaying of levels to complete specific objectives for experience points. This design choice, which requires multiple runs to unlock skills, can be frustrating due to the inability to skip repetitive dialogue, although many still enjoy the overall gameplay experience.

    • “This kind of ticks me off because it forces you to replay the level to get the experience (experience is gained through objectives) and there is no way to skip all the same dialogue and etc. somewhat tedious, though still fun gameplay.”
    • “You get experience by doing specified achievements in each mission, not by grinding or completing missions.”
    • “It's a different system that discourages farming for XP and really makes you think about how you will approach each battle and which skills you will choose.”
  • character development
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is criticized for being shallow and poorly executed, largely due to its non-linear storytelling approach, which leads to disjointed character interactions and offscreen growth. Reviewers express disappointment that the potential for a deeper narrative was squandered, suggesting that a more linear structure could have enhanced character arcs and tension. Overall, players seeking in-depth character development are likely to be left unsatisfied.

    • “The limitations of this small indie team are represented in a lackluster soundtrack, a minimal amount of combat effects and simple but effective sprite animations and a limited number of character portraits, which is a shame because I found the character designs to be fantastic and would have loved to see a selection of expressive portraits used during dialog sequences.”
    • “Because of the 'different timelines' storytelling, the dialogue in the game suffers a lot and you will have to sometimes listen to long introductions you've already heard and will skip, sometimes be introduced to characters and plotlines that didn't really have any setup because to meet those characters you'd have had to go through a different path, and sometimes even have to see character development that apparently happened offscreen because some characters become best friends despite having met a battle ago.”
    • “The second biggest issue in my opinion is that the story could have easily been a solid 20-hour linear adventure with proper character development and tension building, if it was structured linearly (like Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem).”
    • “Because of the 'different timelines' storytelling, the dialogue in the game suffers a lot. You will sometimes have to listen to long introductions you've already heard and will skip, be introduced to characters and plotlines that didn't really have any setup because to meet those characters you'd have had to go through a different path, and sometimes even have to see character development that apparently happened offscreen because some characters become best friends despite having met a battle ago.”
    • “If you're looking for in-depth character development, forget it.”
  • humor
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is highlighted by its endearing characters and witty dialogue, particularly the amusing banter between party members, which has elicited genuine laughter from players. Characters like Nephele and Brasidas stand out for their comedic interactions, contributing to the overall lighthearted tone.

    • “Endearing characters with funny dialogue.”
    • “Banter between party members made me laugh out loud multiple times.”
    • “Nephele and Brasidas made me laugh a number of times.”
  • emotional
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional impact of the game is generally perceived as lacking, with many players finding the story clunky and boring, which detracts from the overall experience. While some enjoy the isometric grid combat and the steampunk aesthetic, the short playtime and uninspiring narrative lead to mixed feelings about its value at full price.

    • “Overall, I had fun with the game, but I cannot recommend such a short game (4-15 hours depending on how many paths you complete) for its full price. It might be worth it in a sale if you like the aesthetic of steampunk Greece and don't mind its boring story.”
  • replayability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers notable replayability due to its multiple story paths and choices, allowing players to explore different outcomes and experiences. However, some users find the replayability aspect somewhat unconventional or confusing.

    • “Multiple story paths provide significant replayability.”
    • “The game offers various paths and choices that enhance replayability.”
    • “The multiple routes and decisions make for a unique experience each time.”
    • “I would say replayability is kind of weird; there are multiple paths and ways to progress in the story.”
    • “The multiple story paths do provide some replayability.”
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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

Hellenica is a tactical role playing game with fantasy, warfare and historical themes.

Hellenica is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

Hellenica was released on January 9, 2017.

Hellenica was developed by thedragonloft.

Hellenica has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Hellenica is a single player game.

Similar games include Sword Legacy Omen, Children of Zodiarcs, Dead Age, Redemption Reapers, The DioField Chronicle and others.