The DioField Chronicle Overview: Gameplay Hands-On Impressions- Several days ago, Square Enix released a demo of The DioField Chronicle on multiple systems, allowing players to try out the game more than a month prior to its release.
In this DioField Chronicle Overview: Gameplay Hands-On Impressions, we will talk about the political intrigues associated with the title’s narrative, its gameplay intricacies, and the real-time tactical battle system. This strategy JRPG is developed by Lancarse alongside Square Enix and is set to be released on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on July 22, 2025, for USD 59.99 for the Standard Edition.
The DioField Chronicle Overview: Gameplay Hands-On Impressions
The DioField Chronicle Overview - Overview and Story
The DioField Chronicle is a top-downReal-Time Strategy JRPG, which is set on the island of DioField. One section of the continent posed a threat as the Rowetale Mainland continued to suffer from political unrest with war looming over the horizon. Hearing about this opportunity to seize control, the ragtag bandits of Trovelt Schoevian built an empire comprised of armies capable of wielding Modern Magic. When word got out, nations in Rowetale formed a massive alliance to combat the Empire’s strength, only to fall short of their expectations.
While the war was ongoing, the 200-year-old Kingdom of Alletain, which is situated on the North Western part of Rowetale, remained unfazed. Instead, it focused on holding a firm grip over its people and prized resources, particularly Jade. After reaching a stalemate, the Empire and Alliance redirected their focus on DioField in a bid to harvest as much Jade as possible to gain control over Modern Magic. The once isolated Kingdom of Alletain is at the precipice of an impending war against these nations. Will it survive the mighty throes of battle?
Since The DioField Chronicle demo only lasts until the end of Chapter 1, which is roughly 3-4 hours of gameplay, we do not see the succeeding primary conflict come into play. Instead, we participate in a series of self-contained quests centered around quelling the growing power of bandits and rebellions against the noble families on the island.
What makes this JRPG all the more interesting is its rich cast of characters starting with Andrias Rhondarson and Frederet Lester. When they were kids, they failed to save their friend, Prince Levantia Shaytham, who was assassinated as he tried to escape. This painful incident has since burrowed into the minds of Andrias and Frederet, inspiring them to defend DioField and to turn it into the peaceful and harmonious island it once was.
Together with Izelair Wigan, another comrade of theirs, they were recruited by the Blue Fox Mercenary under the leadership of Duke Hende. In the demo, you also get to meet and recruit two more characters, namely the Sharpshooter Iscarion Colchester and the Magicker Waltaquin Redditch.
The DioField Chronicle boasts an art style that marries classic and current JRPG design, often reminding us of greats like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Battle plans and encounters follow a creative ‘diorama’ format, indicating that we play a significant role as part of the mercenary. But there are some moments in combat where the unit models look washed out and unrealistic. Meanwhile, the UI is straightforward and clean, making it quite easy to navigate.
What makes the game stand out is the audio design. Music, sound effects, and voice acting are superb due to how cohesively engaging they are. As such, they have this tendency to naturally propel the narrative forward in exciting ways.
The DioField Chronicle Overview - Gameplay Features
In The DioField Chronicle, you control several characters at a time with the option to assign the leader and adjutant positions for every unit. The leader not only gains the same level of experience as the other 3 characters but they also determine that same unit’s attributes and skills. For instance, if you assign Andrias as the leader and Izelair as the adjutant, his HP, Attack, and Defence ratings, will be retained for that mission rather than Izelair’s.
As the adjutant, she will be able to participate in fights by sharing her skills. Since her contribution is relatively limited, she won’t get as much experience so it is better to swap characters before the start of every quest if you wish to level them up effectively.
Exploration is not a core highlight of the game since you will simply alternate between roaming the halls of Blue Fox or Elm Camp and completing Main and Sub Quests, which Duke Hende provide. The idea is to move the overarching narrative forward and to develop the stories of your characters, respectively. Despite the gameplay loop’s simplicity, laying out the story and goals behind the start of every quest makes you feel like a legitimate member of the War Council. This is due to how thorough and creative the battle plans are.
The DioField Chronicle Overview - Classes and Skills
Every character in The DioField Chronicle has a different class, which can be distilled into 4 playstyles, particularly, the Soldier, Cavalier, Sharpshooter, and Magicker. What makes respective units distinct is the weapons they wield. So even if Andrias and Izelair are both Soldiers, they possess unique skills. Let us discuss each class.
First is the Soldiers who are front liners in combat. They excel in surprising enemies by jumping on top of them or charging forward, thanks to Leaping Attack and Assassination, respectively. But Soldiers are capable of doing much more since they usually goad targets into attacking them due to their shields and high HP to protect their allies. Specific to Izelair, she is able to stun a strong target with her Shield Bash Skill, rendering them immobile for a couple of seconds.
Second is the Cavalier who excels in utilizing his movement ability to launch a full assault against enemies. What makes them more effective is their prowess in disrupting formation, thereby providing their allies with much-needed space to navigate and reposition themselves accordingly. With Fredret, his starter skills allow him to deal damage against multiple targets at once. One of his strongest skills is Mounted Charge, which lets him knock them back. Of the four classes, the Cavaliers have the highest HP coupled with considerable Attack and Defence ratings.
Third is the Sharpshooter, which deals ranged damage. Similar to Izelair, the Sharpshooter Iscarion can inflict Status Effects like Stun with Stun Shot as well as Delay with Rain of Arrows to reduce the target’s movement and attack speed. One of Iscarion’s striking skills is Fantail Formation, allowing him to assume the position to shoot arrows against enemies within the AoE. Compared to other classes, the Sharpshooter’s HP is relatively low but they make up for it with decent damage dealt and increased luck to improve the chances of landing critical hits.
Last but not least is the Magicker, which is a hybrid damage dealer and support class. With Waltaquin, you are able to heal a target instantly using Hurried Heal while also having the ability to heal everyone in the party with Convalescent Circle. She can even deal notable damage against several foes by casting Meteor Fall. Magickers have the same attributes as Sharpshooters in that their HP is not as good but their critical hits are decent.
After every successful mission, you gain Skill Points (SP), which you can then invest in unlocking more skills. However, SP is given on a cumulative basis so you will have to carefully distribute it among your characters since respeccing this is worth a whopping 10,000G. Skills also have an overall cooldown period and they consume EP. After triggering one of them, you will have to wait for several seconds before activating the other skills for the same unit.
The DioField Chronicle Overview - Abilities and Blue Fox Badge
Next are Abilities that are obtained from leveling up. Because of this, there is a better supply of Ability Points (AP) to use on each of your units. To differentiate them from skills, think of them as passives. For example, you can improve Waltaquin’s skill damage by investing 1 point into her Skill Damage Boost Ability.
In addition to these gameplay elements, The DioField Chronicle puts prime importance on improving your units to make them more effective in combat. One way of achieving this is by boosting your Blue Fox Badge, which corresponds to how well you rank in several aspects including Meal, Skill Tree, Shop, Weapon Development, and Magilumic Orbs. These are extra perks given to your characters upon completing missions.
For instance, the Meal Rank boosts the party’s attributes whereas the Shop Rank increases the number of items available for purchase. Make sure to target and finish quests related to enhancing your Blue Fox Badge before proceeding with main missions to amplify the party’s performance significantly.
The DioField Chronicle Overview - Equipment
When it comes to equipment, these are purchasable in the Shop for a certain amount of Guld, which is part of the reward pool after every victorious mission. Similar to other RPGs, weapons have different rarities to provide you with better attributes, skills, EP, and abilities the rarer they become. For example, the Knight’s Short Sword grants Andrias not only Leaping Attack but also the Dagger Blitz Skill to poison enemies positioned in the AoE. When equipped, he even gains the Enchanted Beast Killer Ability to boost the damage he deals. Additionally, you can equip two accessories per character to receive attribute bonuses and passives.
Combat and Difficulty
In The DioField Chronicle demo, you will be immersed in numerous fights to understand how combat works using the Real-Time Tactical Battle System (RTTB). This strategy JRPG has 3 difficulty modes, namely Casual, Normal, and Hard. It follows an isometric squad-based approach similar toXCOMbut minus the cover system. You lead 4 units whose positions play essential roles to come out successful. you may control them one by one or as a group and set waypoints to plot their course. This makes it possible to split them into two smaller groups to cover various sets of enemies like bosses.
To give yourself the advantage, you must prioritize dealing Ambush Attacks by backstabbing targets to catch them off-guard and deal significant damage. Essentially surrounding them is the best course of action. In a similar vein, you should be wary of those who attempt to outflank you. With the RTTB, you’re able to keep hitting pause even after issuing several commands on your units to make the necessary battle adjustments.
Although the main focus of combat is the strategy in terms of how you utilize the position of your characters, there is a bit of environmental interaction in the form of Explosive Kegs. This is not as nuanced asDivinity: Original Sin 2’smechanics, for example, but it encourages you to group enemies using your Soldiers and then shoot at those explosives from a distance with your Sharpshooter. There are also certain objectives you will have to complete such as capturing towers and destroying barricades before moving forward.
What makes encounters feel satisfying, especially as it ties directly to how far your party progresses, are the skills you activate. These are significant and they even have associated cinematics to showcase their impact. However, the most powerful ability comes from the creatures you summon via Magilumic Orbs. Every time you slay enemies, you fill up the TP Gauge located on the lower righthand side of your screen. You also acquire Jade Fragments, one of which increases TP. This lets you unleash a unique beast specific to the character or unit you are currently controlling to deal devastating damage or to significantly restore HP and EP.
Final Thoughts
The DioField Chronicle is a real-time strategy JRPG that encourages you to fulfill your true potential as a mercenary alongside a cast of interesting characters. Although we have not yet seen where the story will really take us, the foundations are enough to keep our curiosities satisfied… at least for now. Its tactical combat and impeccable audio design coupled with the strategies you can utilize to succeed in every encounter are the qualities, which will continually pull you in.
If you are searching for a game with an engaging combat system that requires careful positioning together with skill and equipment integration, then this JRPG is for you. you’re able to also carry the progress from the demo over to the full game when it launches on June 17, 2025.
What are your thoughts about The DioField Chronicle Overview? Let us know in the comments below! Catch more hands-on impressions in our latest reviews and previewsThymesia ReviewandCircus Electrique Preview: An Electrifying Take on Darkest Dungeon.
