The exact actions available to you are dictated by “chips” available for purchase in the between-mission shop, unlocking commands such as guarding, dashing, and using additional weapon slots. Whereas in Faselei a typical command sequence could look like Forward>Right Turn>Forward>Fire Weapon 1>Fire Weapon 1 or Back>Use Item>Left Turn>Reload>Fire Weapon 2. In a usual SRPG mech battle you would pick “Move” from a command list before clicking on the target tile, followed up with “Item” or “Attack” as required – I’m sure you know the drill. What makes Faselei stand out is the way these familiar trappings are wrapped up in a very unique battle system, one where a chain of actions are programmed into your lone TS at the start of each turn and then executed in order, much like an old LOGO machine. So it may be a little surprising to see this pocket tactical game fit so comfortably into such well-worn genre lines: There’s the near future urban setting ravaged by war, the lead’s a young ace pilot under the wing of an older mentor figure, and lots of time is spent stomping around in beautifully chunky mechs (dubbed TS’s – Toy Soldiers – here) or worrying about whether it’s better to walk into battle equipped with a small number of powerful shotgun shells or armed with a pair of weaker machine guns to liberally spray the surrounding area with – so far, so normal.

Small soldiers game gamecube