About This Game A thousand years after the fall of a spacefaring empire, a young princess named Tahira travels the far reaches of her barren kingdom, alone but for her trusty horse, Iba.When word reaches her of an army wielding the devastating technologies of the past, she finds herself thrust into the most challenging night of her life as she fights to become the leader her people desperately need.Experience the epic coming of age story of a young woman, told in near-real-time across a 12-hour period in this tactical turn-based adventure.Tahira:Control up to 20 characters as you fight against the vast army of the Astral Empire in large-scale tactical turn-based battles.Guerrilla Warfare – Even the odds by ambushing enemies, taking cover and knocking foes off cliffs and rooftops. Meet a rich cast of characters - Spend time between battles exploring the environment and talking to your companions.Discover a shattered world, where the shadow of the past hangs heavily over all that remains.Four difficulty settings, catering for beginners more interested in the story and to seasoned tactics veterans. A soundtrack featuring instruments, sounds and textures recorded while travelling in the Middle East and Central AsiaThe TeamTahira was created by a three-person core development team who were inspired by real-world travels through the Middle East, Nepal, and India. 1075eedd30 Title: Tahira: Echoes of the Astral EmpireGenre: Adventure, Indie, RPG, StrategyDeveloper:Whale Hammer GamesPublisher:Whale Hammer GamesRelease Date: 31 Aug, 2016 Tahira: Echoes Of The Astral Empire Download Direct Link i was unable to progress very far due to game breaking bug 'repeated crashes in an early battle'.this is unfortunate since i did enjoy the game untill that point,i experienced crashes throughout the game but was willing to over look it untill i could not continue.furthermore i reported the bug and still have recieved no response now more than a week later.. Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire is a tactics RPG, with a turn based combat system. The kingdom of Avestan is being invaded by the evil Astral Empire, and Princess Tahira is attempting to lead the surviving civilians to safety, with the aid of a small group of soldiers.When this game popped up in my Steam discovery queue, my immediate thought was that it reminded me of the Banner Saga series. Obviously its not exactly the same, there are a few differences in the gameplay mechanics, but its a pretty good comparison to give you an idea of what to expect. If you enjoyed the Banner Saga, you should enjoy Tahira.The majority of the 12 hour campaign is spent in combat. In most battles the player will have around 10-15 units, going up against 25-30 enemies. With so many units on the battlefield, which is laid out as a square grid, positioning is quite important. Some maps have narrow chokepoints which you can take advantage of to reduce the number of enemies that can actually hit you on each turn, but you also have to be careful not to block off your own units.Positioning also affects damage per hit. If a unit is standing next to an ally, they get a defence bonus. However, if a unit is surrounded by multiple enemies, they take more damage. A couple of maps have ledges that you can knock enemies off for an instant kill. Each unit has a value for health and armour. Health is only damaged when armour has been reduced to 0. Armour can be restored by using willpower, or a supply cache, but health can't be restored during a battle. If any of the player's main heroes die in combat, the result is an instant mission fail, but you are allowed to lose normal soldiers.The player has access to three different types of units, each of which has their own special moves, which also cost willpower. Knights can simultaneously attack the two squares in front of them. Amazon style women can use a shockwave attack that damages the four squares on each side of them. Samurai style mercenaries get an extra attack for that turn each time they make a kill, which allows you to continue chaining kills for as long as there are enemies in movement range.The one obvious omission is that the player doesn't get any archers. Princess Tahira can use a magical staff to do ranged AoE damage, but its limited by willpower, and I kept running out. The enemy does get archers, but they're extremely weak, doing very little damage. This lack of ranged combat is the main weakness in the combat mechanics, and must be addressed if the developers release a sequel.The story is entertaining, but there's no voice acting at all, and the player doesn't get any significant dialogue options or moral choices. Again, if these points could be improved in a sequel, it would turn a good game into a great game. The only bug I noticed was related to keybindings. You can change them, but they seemed to reset to default every time I closed and reloaded the game. However, I mostly controlled everything with the mouse anyway, so its not the end of the world.Tahira is a fun game, and I definitely recommend checking it out, especially if you like tactical combat. There's enough content to justify a full price purchase.. There's just so much to relish in this mouth watering debut from Whale Hammer Games.The empathetic and engrossing story centres on a young woman growing up and finding herself as she leads her people against the Astral Empire over one epic night. Unusually, the game is heavily imbued with a Middle Eastern flavour. So refreshing on both counts.The story works perfectly with the haunting musical score as well as with the gorgeous artwork and beautiful animations. The overall effect is one of simplicity and richness simultaneously.The combat (4 difficulty levels, excellent tutorials) ramps up to become deeply complex and tactical. Lovers of turn based tactics games will be in their element. But the devs are to be commended on their inclusive approach as people who prefer less combat or who focus mostly on story are able to turn the combat off.There are obvious but not overtly stated parallels with current political events and the game does not shy away from the dark and the anguished but there are enjoyably light hearted moments, particularly involving The Claw and The Hammer. And just for the record, I love the horse!As with all games, influences from various sources can be seen but Tahira is very much its own game. I am hoping for a sequel.. Tahira was a fun, but brief, adventure that in the end, felt like the first hour of a really good movie.It ended when the character and story development was JUST starting to get rolling, JUST starting to hook you in--and then abruptly, it's over---clearly paving the way to a sequel or two.Which, incidentally I'll be buying--because Tahira seems to have nailed a lot of the fundamental aspects of gaming, correctly. Most of your time, and I mean 90%, will be fighting. And the fights are large-scale, multi-staged, arenas which make for some pretty triumphant moments if you use the battle mechanics correctly to your advantage.The battles are fairly long, with scripted events, and virtually every battle is a fight against overwhelming odds, which at first glance look impossible--but it's pretty gratifying to 'hulk smash' their superior forces.I've been a strategy and turn\/based strategy fan since the term came into existence, and in Tahira, was content with the level of balance and difficulty that I ran into. What it lacked in dyanmics in terms of NPC skills, it made up for largely in the size and range of options of the battle fields. Essentially, while there weren't a lot of individual skills, there was a lot you could do with what little you had--so in the end, it was still fun and challenging. The graphics\/animation are hand-crafted and look wonderful, similarly, the sound effects and music quality are well chosen. My largest gripe with the game is that it ended too soon--I don't want a half-scoop of ice cream! :)In terms of improvement, I think the characters could be better developed, and more dialogue could have been added to the game to make it seem longer. Dialogue between characters did not include descriptive elements (only direct, spoken lines), which I think is a missed opportunity for immersion into a well crafted, mystical environment. Humans relate to emotions--and if players can become privy to the internal dialogues and states of protagonist characters, they can relate to--and connect with them better; this is the difference between a comic-book and a novel. And as Tahira is a story driven game, it would be greatly improved by adding narrative and descriptive elements to add to it's already solid combat systems.Overall, I'd give it an 8\/10, for 3 guys, it's quite a job well done. I hope they use this game as a template to launch future games with expanded character abilities, subtantially more dialogue and descriptive elements, as well as special attention to individual character (personality) development.I had fun! looking forward to the next one!. One of the greatest turn based strategy games I have ever played! Beautiful art, haunting music, intriguing story and challenging combat. Tahira is such a unique gem I didn't even mind the cliffhanger ending, I just hope Whale Hammer Games can find more funding \/ create a Kickstarter so I can help make part 2 a reality.. Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire is a good, little game. While I enjoyed it, I've seen some reviews here absolutely gushing with praise and I can't quite understand them. It's a good game. Is it incredible? No, not really. The story is good though nothing particularly amazing and it desperately needs a sequel to tie up some loose ends and to resolve the cliffhanger ending. Most of the reviews compare Tahira to The Banner Saga and for good reason, since the combat is nearly identical with only a handful of small differences. Graphically, it is almost disintguishable from the Banner Saga during combat and if you told me they were part of the same series, just covering different locations or something along those lines I'd believe you. Where the Banner Saga let you choose between targeting the opponent's health or guard, Tahira forces you to work through the guard stat before you can whittle down the health and dispatch the enemy. You only have three different classes to work with (four if you count Tahira, herself, being unique to the other characters you use) with a serious lack of ranged options. In terms of story and choices, Tahira comes up a bit short. There are only a couple of choices you can make (as of the writing of this review I can only clearly remember one though I'm 95% certain that there was another one) and they don't really make any difference. Where the Banner Saga prompted you with choices that had real ramifications for the story and the combat, Tahira is more like reading a novella with combat segments after each chapter.While this may all sound a bit negative, Tahira really is a good, enjoyable game. However, I would only suggest that you temper your expectations a bit. It is rather short and the ending comes up rather abruptly with a fairly large cliffhanger. The combat is good though nothing groundbreaking and some of the later battles can get a bit dull as Tahira's response to up the difficulty is to just throw more and more enemies at you as oppose to having different objectives to accomplish. The music and artwork are both very good and the Middle Eastern inspired setting is a fun and refreshing viewpoint that we don't see in enough games and could certainly do with some more of. If you enjoyed the Banner Saga, you'll enjoy Tahira. They are, like I said, shockingly similar. It is not, however, perfect and it's similarity to the Banner Saga works against it. I feel bad constantly lining the two games up and pointing out this or that but they really are that similar. However, in the end, I have to give Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire the thumbs up. Pick it up, especially if it's on sale, you'll probably enjoy it.. I really enjoyed this. I loved The Banner Saga and this seemed similar so it was inevitable that I would give it a shot. It is somewhat short, yet the atmosphere of the game is excellent and while very similar to TBS in visual style, it is still pleasing and fresh to look at. The combat can be very hard on higher difficulties (played through one second hardest myself) but is very rewarding as a result of this. A somewhat confusing save system had me replaying quite a hard mission at one point but I actually didn't mind because I enjoyed the combat a lot. There isn't a huge amount of unit variety but I personally didn't mind this too much either because of the generally epic feel of the fights.Worth the price in my opinion and I would gladly purchase a sequel :). I dont play many turn based games, only played xcom and wasteland 2, this game has great aniimations and a cool art style with some awesome music, although 8 hours in my save was chewed up but i have no problem playing it over again :). The story is good and some very cool characters aswell, for 15$ its worth buying although id price it a bit higher. 10\/10. This is not an objectively "bad" game.The major characters' portraits are drawn with care and individuality; I feel fairly confident to say, for example, not a single portrait in RPG maker franchise history, present or future would remotely resemble The Hammer.Some reviews dismisses this title because it is based on social justice agenda; to this I say maybe, but in no way detrimental to the game. To cite the aforementioned The Hammer example again, she possesses attributes necessary for excellence in warfare, and the game makes no attempt to portray her as "stunning" or "independent".The combat is interesting because many stages introduce highly advantageous mechanisms unseen in prior battles, compelling the player to integrate and adapt.-----------------------------------------------------------------And yet, I cannot recommend this title, for reasons below:1. short: a single play-through isn't very long, as you can tell from play time of all other reviews.2. no replay value: character statistical development is basically nonexistent (only standardized level ups for rank and file soldiers), and the plot is linear. barring difficulty toggles, battle conditions will remain identical across playthroughs.3. massive cliffhanger: compared to a traditional story plot line, this title, presumably the first in a series, ends before the climax.------------------------------------------------------------------lastly, I wish to point out that the participiants in the making of this game number far more than the 3 people, and the Australian government subsidized it.. The game has a great story. The characters are extremely well written and each has a very different personality. I especially enjoyed some of the the banter and corny jokes throughout the game.The combat can be difficult, frustrating and fun, all at the same time. I really enjoy turn based combat and this game brings a few new ideas to the table. Some of the fights are quite hard and you need to be constantly thinking about placement and timingI think this game is really good value for money and developers who can produce this sort of quality should be supported.
Tahira: Echoes Of The Astral Empire Download Direct Link
Updated: Mar 12, 2020
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