Rise of the Third Power is a turn-based RPG that is designed around making sure all eight of its party members stay relevant and useful in a fight rather than languish back at some home base or out of the active party.
Inspired by the political climate of 1930’s Europe, Rise of the Third Power places the player in the aftermath of a great war that left all but the kingdom of Cirinthia and the ancient Republic of Tariq destroyed. In this situation, Dimitri Noraskov of the defeated Kingdom of Arkadya, a hero to his people, rises up and overthrows the king, calling him a coward for surrendering during the war. He then motivates his people to help him build an army and begin taking back territory, tearing through the weakened territories nearby with few able to stop him. Until the player comes in, perhaps.
Players will work through this period of strife with eight party members, each with their own personalities and reasons for wanting to stop Noraskov’s march across the world. These eight characters all have their own strengths and weaknesses in a fight, but the player won’t have to know what they’re fighting in advance to know who to bring to the battle. Using a Front Line, Back Line, and Aux Line, players can shift who’s fighting at a given moment. Front and Back Lines can be swapped on any character’s turn, allowing for full party shifts, or single characters can be swapped out of the Aux Line for more specific customizations.
Character swapping isn’t the sole way each character can help in a fight. Each character in the Aux Line can provide a specific passive bonus to the Front Line, buffing them with regeneration or higher critical chances depending on who is there. All party members also gain experience and level up as a group, ensuring no one member is ever weaker than the others.
To simplify other aspects of the game, equipment has been done away with in lieu of giving each character twenty-four upgrades that can be bought, found, or crafted as players work through Rise of the Third Power. These will offer useful stat boosts for the rest of the game, making every single upgrade into a worthwhile find.
Rise of the Third Power is currently in development, but players can wishlist it from its Steam page or donate to its Kickstarter campaign.
