Nintendo Switch fans have long wondered if they would get the chance at playing either Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire or Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion. Well, those who have wanted either one can now breathe a sigh of relief as NIS America has delivered. Rather than splitting the game up into two parts again, NIS America and developer YummyYummyTummy have joined both titles in one package titled Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory. Choose between two stories and engage in a constantly changing action RPG that shows two very different narratives. The time to save a kingdom is now in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory.

Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is an action RPG title that tests players’ reaction speed and quick decision making. Embark on two very different adventures that have players guiding two protagonists, each striving for a very different end goal. Each choice made in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory changes the world around you as you defeat enemies and then make crucial choices to either help your land and its people or cause you to rule over them with an iron fist. Can your action save the world or will your actions doom your people? Find out as you enter an epic story and see what your action bring forth.

Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory tells the tale of two characters each trying to rule the kingdom in different ways. Princess Cecille has lost control over the kingdom and has found an uprising beginning causing her to ally herself with a powerful grimoire that may or may not bring more devastation to the land. Meanwhile, Legatus Laendur feels his kingdom has been damaged by Cecille and her family’s action and wishes to gain power to control the land in his own way. Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory combines both of their adventures in the world of Fenumia. Which leader will win the war and their people? Control Princess Cecille and Legatus Laendur in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory!

Back in 2017, we here at Honey’s Anime reviewed two games that were ultimately the same title but told from two different perspectives: Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire and Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion. In both games, we had interesting experiences with but felt the PS4 version of Fallen Legion: Sins of an Empire was a bit stronger with more impressive graphics and a stronger control system than the PS Vita’s Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion. Well now, we get to hop back into the world of Fenumia in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory which fuses both versions of the game in one package for the Nintendo Switch. Does Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory deliver the definitive experience? Let us find out in our review of Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory.

Let us assume that you readers out there have yet to experience either Fallen Legion game and are entering this action RPG title for the first time. Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory tells the story of two “heroes” who must gain strength and glory in epic combat. Guide both of our characters in two different narratives as you go from one encounter to another slashing and shooting at enemies in real time action combat. After each battle, you’ll be forced to occasionally make a choice that can either hurt your rulership or strengthen it, but during these choices, time is not on your side. Now as exciting as this sounds, does Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory play well given what it sets off to do? The quick answer is yes, it really does.

In terms of combat, Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is simple but very technical. Players control either Cecille or Laendur as well as their entourage known as Exemplars, warriors who have been bought back from the dead to fight alongside their masters. Players must balance attacking with their Exemplars and defending as defense is what can win or lose a battle in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory. If you time a defense just right, no damage is taken and attacks can sometimes be rebounded to hurt the enemy. However, missing a defense can remove your combo which helps you unleash massive attacks and equally decimate your HP. Just like in the other Fallen Legion games, the combat is fun and smooth but we noticed Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory performs extremely smooth whether you’re in the Switch’s docked mode or on the portable mode. This is something we’re happy to see as Fallen Legion: Flames of Rebellion ran pretty poorly on the PS Vita and made defending perfectly almost impossible.

Outside of combat, players will need to become efficient rulers as they are constantly bombarded with choices that can change many elements in the story. For example, after a battle a quick time event--of sorts-- will appear giving you a quick story and three choices. For example you might see a group of farmers wish to cause mayhem to the crops on purpose to spite you. You could choose between killing these farmers, imprisoning them or siding with them and forgiving their actions. Each choice boosts your party in some way giving them HP restores, damage buffs or various other stat changers but equally changes the path your character will take once you arrive on the map after battle concludes. The quick thinking choices really give your heart a workout as your actions can doom the land all because you wanted a quick strength upgrade or didn’t think that maybe saving farmers who tried to ruin the land wouldn’t happen again in the future. We loved this system in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory and think its an idea more often needed in RPG games.

Graphically and sound wise, Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory looks and sounds stunning on the Nintendo’s hybrid console. We loved the art style in the past two version of Fallen Legion and that hasn’t changed here in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory. The soundtrack also is quite strong though tracks can loop sometimes a bit too often. Voice acting equally is a mixed bag with some characters being expertly voiced and others missing the mark a bit. These aren’t huge issues, mind you, and don’t ruin Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory in the slightest though. What does ruin Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory are some small issues that still return from the past versions of it.

While we loved the combat and quick time choices, the story and bareboned RPG gameplay still remains from the other versions of Fallen Legion. Outside of combat you won’t be exploring a land or leveling up your party. All of that is systematic in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory as the story and your actions lead to your team increasing in strength and such. We wished there was more to do in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory as even with the other one life mode--meaning you die in combat and the game ends--isn’t enough to save Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory from just barely being a true RPG title. Maybe some equipment managing or such could have been implemented in Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory but as it is, the focus is on action and not really much RPG concepts. Plus, don’t expect much from either story as their tales can be somewhat predictable and ho hum at the end of the day.

Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory isn’t a big change from the other versions but the fact that you can play both version in one package is a great thing indeed. There are still problems with repetition and both stories aren’t that spectacular but we really do enjoy what Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory offers. The excellent combat and quick choice decisions making replaying both stories worth while and if you want a true challenge, playing through the one life mode makes every action--including combat--feel so much more impactful. If this is our first time entering Fallen Legion then we say definitely pick up Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory. You’re ultimately getting two great games for one solid price tag. Plus, on the Nintendo Switch you can play Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory at home or on the go. How awesome is that, right?

As far as definitive experiences go, Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is the best version of both games in one awesome package. Sure, neither game is perfect but we loved our time with Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory and think many action RPG gamers will too! Are you excited to play Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory when it drops later this month? Tell us in the comments down below as we love hearing from all of you readers out there on the web. Be sure to also keep stuck to our magnificent hive as we deliver even more gaming related content here at Honey’s Anime!