CAPES Review: Amazingly impressive turn-based strategy game
Capes distinguishes itself with a distinct comic-book look, vibrantly painted in strong purples and oranges that bring the cyberpunk world of King City to life. The environment, evocative of the busy streets of Night City in the Cyberpunk world, provides a rich backdrop for this action-packed game, as does the narrative approach, which is similar to The Boys TV series. The game is completely voice-acted and 3D modelled, with speech bubbles that improve accessibility by eliminating the need for manual subtitle activation—a smart touch for gamers. The 3D figures’ lip-syncing falls somewhat short, detracting from an otherwise engaging visual experience.
“Capes” immerses you in a world where superheroism is the norm rather than the exception. For more than 20 years, a dystopian supervillain tyranny has ruled over King City. Anyone who travels with superpowers in a so-called private capacity will be prosecuted as an adversary of the state. The approach is very much like that of the manga and anime series “My Hero Academia” and its spin-offs. However, the genius Morgan Jaffit may be relied on to create something independent of the theme. After all, he is also behind the then innovative “Freedom Force” (2002) and has garnered important genre expertise with “Teen Titans” (2006), which follows the cartoon network series of the same name.
Winning is all about countering the enemy’s actions before they can hurt you, either by taking them out, disarming them, or relocating them precisely where you want them. Each level is a tactical puzzle that provides you with practically all of the information about what will happen the following turn up front. You can see all of your enemies’ abilities and a timeline showing who will move next, and just a small number of abilities have random consequences, so there’s no possibility to miss. Put simply, you possess all the knowledge required for success.
It’s in the gameplay that this game starts to truly separate itself from the competition. While turn-based strategy is not new—superhero games like Marvel’s Midnight Suns have also used the format—Capes is attempting to set itself apart from other games in the genre by providing gameplay that isn’t dependent on chance or percentages or other annoying aspects that are out of the player’s control. Capes is the purest form of strategy. Without using cover systems, you must arrange your characters, use them as a team, eliminate the most dangerous enemies first, shield your less powerful allies, finish side missions and goals, and more.
You are further encouraged to dedicate each character to their own function as each hero has a unique method of storing Ultimate energy, the powerhouse they require to launch their strongest strike. For instance, Facet is such a committed tank that he charges up each time he takes damage, yet Weathervane, the storm-calling character, gains a charge for each additional victim that he hits with his chain lightning strike. Unleashing an Ultimate at last provides a delightful mid-mission dopamine rush, rewarding you for optimising that character to the fullest.
The typical mission kinds are represented: protection, extraction, elimination, and survival objectives are all present and accurate. Every map has several extra goals, including finishing a particular amount of disarms or Team-Ups, and they provide a kind of gentle challenge to players who wish to accumulate every last SP. Widespread terrain impacts are important when dealing with the voluminous enemies seen in most missions. Burning tiles give damage every turn that is compounded for each burning tile entered, and they also cause enemies to receive more damage when pushed off high ledges or to perish entirely.
There are missions that feature a stealth aspect that begin with the heroes unseen. Turns proceed normally in these missions, but the opponents follow preset paths. You may travel about and take out individual adversaries without waking the others by keeping track of these paths and the enemies’ area of view. Though the mid-to late-game examples are sometimes lengthy and ponderous, the approach is sound in theory. Additionally, there isn’t a good substitute: it’s hard to win if you go in headfirst even though the task says it’s a stealth start. You have to eliminate certain adversaries covertly, and you must take into account at least part of their routes of patrol.
Capes establishes itself as a remarkable contribution to the superhero genre with its vivid graphics, complex gameplay mechanics, and an engaging story. Although there are a few small balancing anomalies and audio-visual sync difficulties with the fighting system, overall gameplay is really good. In addition to offering hours of captivating gameplay, this game makes a strong statement about resistance and control in a dystopian future.
Capes, a narrative about imperfect superheroes striving for justice in an oppressed city, presents a novel topic in the TRPG market. The turn-based combat is smooth and well-balanced, and the special Team-Ups provide a variety of ways to solve mission obstacles. Key information needed to make wise tactical decisions is presented in a clear and succinct manner via the game, and the user interface. Though several visual and repetitious fighting issues prevent the game from being really epic, you could certainly do worse than playing superhero with Capes if you’re looking for a little bish, bash, and boff with your tactical, turn-based role-playing game.
