Agarest: Generations of War

I want to like this game. I really, really do.
But god is everything about this game tedious.
From the fights being slow and grating, to having to grind for literally EVERYTHING. Money, weapons, skills and levels are all things you have to spend HOURS to gain. Even the cheese methods are obnoxious to use.
The game is also hard as hell even on normal mode. Meaning you can't skip grinding at all. You HAVE to put in that time to gear up and level if you want to progress in the later half of the game
I like the art style and music. especially the music. The story is rather basic for most of the campaign, but if you push through the grind and punishing difficulty there is some rather interesting plot points that occur later on.
Would I recommend this game? I would say.... maybe? DO you like hard as hell JRPGS? Do you like grinding all day and even find it therapeutic? Do you have a lot of free time to do said grinding? If all those answers are yes then I'd get it on sale, with the caveat that you don't blame me if you don't like it or quit halfway through.
I love the music so so much that if you do get it then you have to buy the collector's edition with the soundtrack. Its fantastic.

I enjoyed the story and characters. Many of them are charming and grow on you. The girls are all very pretty. I am a person that likes lore and story development so I do like that part of the game. It's like a visual novel with good voice acting although it's all in Japanese. The concept of 5 generations that build on one another is interesting and I enjoyed seeing how your choice of bride influenced the next hero.

The battles however can get repetitive and boring fighting on the same maps with the same enemies over...and over...and over. I try to use auto-battle sometimes to just get through it and on with the story, but the auto-battle feature is miserably inefficient and usually gets my characters killed.

The exploration points are all very similar, just seemed like the reskinned the same one, and are at times confusing to get through and collect all the items without a guide. Most boss battles are gruelingly hard. I always have to do more preparation and stack more attacks than I think I need to be successful.

That being said, I do enjoy the game more than the annoyances. I will play again to try to get the "true ending" and try different team builds. There's a wealth of interesting characters, it's a shame you can only use 6 in a party at a time.

The idea of this game is great the story is good and the turn based combat strategy is cool as well however the fact you cant grind for levels makes this game really hard and LONGGGGGG and leveling up incorectly can ruin your playthrough or even making the wrong decisions i love this game but you almost have to use a guide to play it

I have played Spectral Souls 2 and Blazing Souls Accelerate on PSP long ago, so I have to try this game so far it's a great. But in my 4 or 5 hours of gameplay the combat is not that really good compare to the previous 2 game I had mentioned. The Link Skill/Chain Attack is quite difficult and the move phase and attack phase kind of make things more complicated. If my Healer is at the back and I linked her with a physical attack she will move closer to enemy which makes her very vulnerable. Of course you should not do that to your healer, but as of right now in early game I had no other party member and skills to make use of the link skill. This might be actually good for some people who likes in-depth strategic combat, But I prefer Blazing Soul and Spectral Souls Chain attack where you can easily link your attacks with other party members, there is no "Field" thingy too for linking the attacks.
The controls for Keyboard is quite different when you move your cursor for selecting tile. If I press down, it technically go down/south tile, if it isn't Isometric and you are viewing it from the back of the characters. However it is Isometric, the right feel to it if my Camera is looking at them at left back side should be If I press Down button it should go Down-Left, not Down-Right because it feels like I pressed right button, instead of down, It feels weird and I believe this isn't the case for those 2 games I previously mentioned.
Also during that Dungeon where you can't be healed after battle and you roam around, can't remember what it's called, I just had 1 encounter where the enemies are 6, while we are only 3 party member, It's in the beginning of the game and it suddenly showed too many enemies and those enemies I think the wolf was strong and paired with the bee which has chance to stun you what the heck man, this is in the beginning of the game you can't be serious. I kinda regret selecting Normal difficulty, maybe I should have just selected Easy, I don't know if you can still change it but yeah.
Anyway I still recommend this game since it's cheap and I just bought it during sale.

Generational tactical RPG. You are a human who has given up on humanity in the face of what feels like meaningless war. Take on the powers of a goddess to maintain balance in the world. Choose a bride and raise a son to carry on your legacy. Repeat four times.
This game may have been hot stuff in its day. It has JRPG elements, but instead of the two lines of enemies facing each other, you have a grid over which the characters in your party move. Positioning determines what targets are in range, whether a character is providing support to another, and how much energy is spent on moving rather than fighting.
It has a rather impressive anime opening credits clip that hints at a lot of story, though also hints at what looks like harem romance, with trios of women alternating between armor and bridal wear. This reflects an element of the story, where the hero fails to properly defend an elf girl from human aggressors and is left for dead, whereupon a woman gives him a chance at power to accomplish his goals...if only he pledges himself and his descendants to her cause of maintaining balance in the world. Which means he has to have descendants, which leads to the trios of women. Hence the title: "Generations of War."
Dialogue is done visual-novel-style, with character sprites and dialogue boxes. There's voice acting in Japanese and text in English. Not everything is translated, though...some characters say things on the battlefield in Japanese with no text.
This is not a new game. Steam lists its release date as 2014, but Wikipedia claims 2008, 2014 isn't old enough for it to have been hot stuff in its day, but 2008 is closer. It's certainly not hot stuff today. I am less tempted to play a game with menu-driven turn-based combat when I play an MMO with realtime combat and a hotbar.
But there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it for what it is. No bugs I encountered, the English translation seemed clean and the story might be worthwhile. And some people are in fact into retro. So I'm giving it a positive rating, even though it isn't something I'm slavering to play when there's other stuff in my library.
Got it in a Humble bundle, so likely for around US$1. I would not pay the current store price of $15, and would in fact recommend waiting for it to be on discount. Deep discount, for its age...I'd be shocked if the developers were still trying to make a living off of it.

If you're a fan of Visual novel stories and turn based / chess-like JRPG games then this series is up your alley. lots of replay value & some DLC loot to help those wanting to blast through Hard mode. There is item carry-over after game completion for same/lower difficulty. I played this game for hours when released on PS3 years ago & its still a great game to keep you 100% cleared hunter busy.

Agarest: Generations of War is an ambitious and unusually structured tactical role-playing game developed by Idea Factory and published on PC by Ghostlight LTD that sets out to tell a long-form fantasy saga across multiple generations of heroes. Rather than focusing on a single protagonist and a contained storyline, the game embraces a sweeping legacy-based narrative, asking players to guide an entire bloodline through an ongoing war against darkness. This design choice immediately separates it from more conventional JRPGs, framing the experience as a marathon of strategic planning, narrative decisions, and long-term consequences rather than a tightly paced adventure.
The story begins with Leonhardt, a warrior who forms a pact to defy death and fight an encroaching evil, setting the stage for a conflict that will span five distinct generations. At the end of each generational arc, the player chooses a romantic partner for the current protagonist from a set of heroines, and this decision determines the next hero’s lineage. These choices are not cosmetic; the selected partner directly influences the stats, abilities, and growth potential of the next generation’s main character. This “soul breed” system is central to the game’s identity, intertwining narrative choice with mechanical consequence and encouraging players to think several steps ahead when shaping their party and future strategies.
Combat takes place on grid-based battlefields and leans heavily into positioning, formation, and synergy. Characters can link attacks together when placed within specific spatial patterns, allowing for extended combos that reward careful planning and battlefield awareness. Rather than focusing on individual units acting in isolation, Agarest emphasizes cooperation and formation-based tactics, making positioning just as important as raw stats. Each character class offers unique strengths and movement options, and mastering how different units complement each other becomes essential as enemy encounters grow more demanding.
That depth, however, comes with a cost. Battles can be lengthy and frequent, and without efficient use of the game’s systems, combat can feel slow or repetitive. Grinding is often necessary, particularly as enemy difficulty ramps up sharply between story segments. For players who enjoy optimizing builds, refining formations, and squeezing every advantage out of the system, this can be satisfying. For others, the pacing may feel punishing, especially during stretches where narrative progression slows and combat dominates the experience.
Narratively, the generational structure gives Agarest a unique sense of scope. Watching the world evolve across centuries, seeing familiar characters age or take on new roles, and inheriting unresolved conflicts from previous eras lends the story a feeling of continuity rarely explored in tactical RPGs. At the same time, this structure can dilute emotional focus. Because the cast shifts regularly, some characters do not receive the depth or development they might have had in a more tightly focused story, and the overarching plot can feel fragmented as it jumps forward in time.
Visually, the game reflects its console origins with static backgrounds, character portraits, and sprite-based combat animations. While the presentation may feel dated compared to modern tactical RPGs, it carries a distinctive aesthetic that fans of older JRPGs may find nostalgic. The soundtrack and voice acting help reinforce the game’s tone, adding weight to dramatic moments even when the pacing falters. On PC, the experience is largely faithful to its original release, with minimal modernization beyond resolution and interface adjustments.
Perhaps the most defining aspect of Agarest: Generations of War is its sheer scale. Completing the main story alone can take dozens of hours, and exploring alternate relationship paths, endings, and generational outcomes can easily push playtime well beyond that. This is a game designed for long-term commitment, one that expects patience and a willingness to engage deeply with its systems. It does not rush the player, nor does it attempt to streamline its complexity for accessibility’s sake.
Overall, Agarest: Generations of War is a bold and demanding tactical RPG that rewards dedication more than casual play. Its generational narrative and relationship-driven mechanics offer a distinctive twist on the genre, while its deep combat systems provide plenty of room for strategic mastery. While its slow pacing, heavy grinding, and dated presentation may deter some players, those who embrace its ambition will find a richly layered experience that feels less like a single adventure and more like guiding a dynasty through an epic, enduring conflict.
Rating: 7/10