Guardian Tales has made its way onto Nintendo Switch after several years of being on mobile. Guardian Tales has made an impressive transition to console, even if gacha elements may end up turning away some prospective players. As a Guardian, players are swept into a fantasy world where they'll meet a rotating roster of characters, encounter quirky NPCs and monsters, collect loot, and attempt to save the realm.
Gameplay in Guardian Tales is split into stages. Many of these are necessary to complete in order to advance the main story, but various stages serve as optional side quests or areas that players can explore for additional loot and experience. In fact, the amount of side content in Guardian Tales is one of its strengths - from PvP and creating Guilds with friends to customizing one's own floating island, there's a little something here for everyone. There are also gacha mechanics, especially ones related to getting new characters. Pulling for characters and recruiting new heroes are common for mobile titles - and now a part of the zeitgeist thanks to games like Genshin Impact that feature character banners. A lot of time can be spent here, and getting new characters - as well as leveling them up and getting them up to snuff - is a lot of fun. Of course, some heroes are given for free and unlocked through gameplay, so players could theoretically avoid most of the gacha mechanics if it isn't their cup of tea.
The game's art style and humor (there are many references and Easter eggs for players to enjoy) help to make gameplay breezy. Combat mostly feels like a Zelda game, although its battles, party members, customization, and quirky tone also feel a lot like Level-5's Fantasy Life at times. If pressed to generalize Guardian Tales into an elevator pitch, it might best be described as A Link To The Past meets Genshin Impact. In other words, it's something RPG and fantasy fans should thoroughly enjoy.
Ultimately, the gacha mechanics will make or break Guardian Tales on Switch. The gameplay is certainly fun and charming, but it often feels a bit bogged down by its mobile-game origins (like having Stamina costs to unlock stages). It also lacks the exploration titles like Tower of Fantasy have, so there's not as much for F2P users to do between Stamina rebuilding. Because so much of the game is broken up into missions and quests, it's easy to chip away at the story on a daily basis.
When playing Guardian Tales, one can't help but wonder if a cute Link To The Past-style single-player game without all the gacha incentives would've been better, especially now that the title is on Switch. Still, personal preferences aside, Guardian Tales is a lot of fun. The gameplay, art style, and quirky characters are all highlights. It's definitely worth checking out when it arrives on Nintendo Switch on October 3.
Screen Rant was provided with early access to Guardian Tales on Switch for the purpose of this review.