Rise of the Third Power review: Return to the classic 16bit JRPGs

Rise of the Third Power is a turn-based RPG set in the world of Rin, which may sound familiar to some. That’s because it’s the same world that RPG Ara Fell took place in, connecting the two stories intrinsically. Rise of the Third Power was a game kickstarted by Stegosoft Games, raising 14,000 dollars and exceeding their goal of 10,000.

It’s a classic story, and while the story can be a little predictable, it’s still a well-told story, with enjoyable characters and witty back-and-forth dialogue.

Rise of the Third Power is loosely based on European political climate

The current story, set in the world of Rin, the fantasy world home to Rise of the Third Power, is loosely based on the political climate of Europe in the 1930s. This means uneasy political alliances and military powers are slowly coming to power through nefarious means.

The game begins with two main characters sneaking into a castle, set on kidnapping a princess. Through this, the characters are trying to stop a major war. The only solution is to make away with the princess of the kingdom.

I did enjoy the character interactions when it came to Rise of the Third Power (Image via Stegosoft Games)

I love this game because while it is pretty predictable for the story, it’s told incredibly well. The character dialogue feels real, and while there aren’t many shocks, it’s still quite an enjoyable tale. Fans of classic RPGs and even anime and fantasy literature will have a pretty good idea of where the story is going.

It may do nothing unique with the story, but it’s the little things that make it worthwhile. Something I wish happened more in JRPGs occurs in this game, where the party healer uses a shield spell to stop a perilous situation in a cutscene.

I find myself invested in the characters, and that’s important for any good RPG. The game is pretty straightforward, but I do like that players can pick up sidequests and explore additional areas they may not need to right away. The world felt very fleshed out in this way.

Even the side quests were enjoyable in this game (Image via Stegosoft Games)

Combat is interesting but also frustrating

Combat is a huge part of the game, and it uses a Turn-based system, similar to Final Fantasy X. Players can see the characters coming up in the combat order at the top of the screen of Rise of the Third Power. There are eight total party members, and players can only have three out at once.

I liked it but also admittedly wished four would have been the maximum. Certain party members can team-up moves, which can be executed as a meter next to their health bar fills up, and characters can swap out a few times a fight.

This is where one of the most aggravating things came in for me. When a party member swaps out, they get to take no action, and that character coming in does not immediately move. It was a tactical move to switch out for sure, but it also grew tiresome to lose out on combat actions.

Combat is enjoyable, and the more characters players get, the more tactical possibilities appear (Image via Stegosoft Games)

It’s not all negatives, though. I love that ‌‌many characters can quickly restore their Mana/Energy resources through reasonable means. This means combat doesn’t have to slow down much for that when I've already used quite a few potions and heals in battle.

I enjoyed combat, though. The characters have an excellent array of abilities and skills, but things are pretty strict in the early going of Rise of the Third Power. With equipment, players can craft a set of gear for each character, and weapons and armour automatically go to who is supposed to use it. That’s a nice touch.

Team-up moves are huge, flashy attacks that can turn the tide of battle easily (Image via Stegosoft Games)

Levelling up was a mixed experience in Rise of the Third Power

Levelling is a little on the slow side, which can be tiresome with how frequent encounters are, but on a personal level, I enjoy level grinding in virtually all RPGs. All may not share that experience. There’s also an exhaustion system, but that didn’t seem to be explained clearly, and it never affected my expertise because I head back to the inns to heal often.

In levelling, here’s where things can be complicated in both good and bad ways. The characters all share one exp bar and level up together. Thanks to the three combat members, it’s nice not to worry about characters that seldom see combat.

The game does have decent tutorial windows that pop up at the right times, but sharing skill points is not fun (Image via Stegosoft Games)

However, skill points for the skill trees are also shared between party members. Now it’s a matter of figuring out who is most important in how you play the game, and I can see this being very frustrating for some players. It makes sense within the mechanics of the game, though. One level bar, one set of skill points.

Visuals and sound quality were excellent in Rise of the Third Power

If you aren’t a fan of the 16/32bit era graphics, Rise of the Third Power may not be for you, but I’m a massive fan of this era. I liked the character designs, and the artist used a faux anime style for each of the main characters. The art expresses a wide variety of emotions well, and it suits the game well.

This game does not miss when it comes to sound engineering or visual aesthetics (Image via Stegosoft Games)

I cannot say enough good things about the soundtrack. I just can’t. There was a good bit of variety in the songs, but my favourites were the folksy, “Where the Water Tastes Like Wine” guitar tracks used in a few of the early caves.

The music is gorgeous and immediately caught my attention. This is not a game I ever wanted to reduce the volume on. I cannot praise the art or soundtrack enough, and while some of the combat and levelling frustrated me, I was pulled right back in with the character development and music.

In Conclusion

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I love playing this game and feel like it’s an excellent love letter to the classic RPGs of my youth. I got pretty frustrated having to split up skill points but got used to it. While I wish I had more party members in play at once, the system worked.

Rise of the Third Power is an enjoyable experience and one I would recommend to people who played Ara Fell and are lovers of the classics. It has one of the prettiest soundtracks I’ve enjoyed listening to and was invested in the story, no matter how easy things were to predict.