Grand Kingdom is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Monochrome Corporation for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. It was published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan in 2015, and NIS America in the West in 2016. Following a mercenary group in the employ of different nations formed in the wake of a collapsed empire, the player engages in turn-based combat while navigating paths on maps similar to a board game. Online competitive asynchronous multiplayer where chosen teams of characters fight for a chosen nation was originally featured, but this ended as servers were shut down by 2019 in the West and 2022 in Japan.
Grand Kingdom began development in 2011 under director Tomohiko Deguchi, a former Vanillaware staff member, using similar design and aesthetic concepts to Grand Knights History (2011). The asynchronous multiplayer was developed to prove its viability in Japan, allowing a casual time investment from players. Manga artist Chizu Hashii designed the characters, who was asked to avoid moe design traits. The music was composed by a team from Basiscape, including Mitsuhiro Kaneda and Masaharu Iwata; it was one of Iwata's last original projects for Basiscape before leaving in 2017.
The game was announced in June 2015, when development was around 65% complete. Single-player downloadable content was released in Japan featuring scenarios around the nations and new player units between 2015 and 2016, all of which were bundled into the Western release. Reception was generally positive, with praise going to its gameplay and art design, though its audio saw some mixed response, and critics were generally indifferent to its narrative.
Gameplay
Grand Kingdom is a tactical role-playing video game (RPG) in which players take on the role of a mercenary commander, who forms squads of fighters to complete missions for the four warring nations of Resonail. The game opens with the player naming the player character and mercenary group. The game is divided between single-player missions and the multiplayer-focused War mode. The single-player missions are split between "Campaign" missions which advance the main story, "Single" quests given by Resonail's nations, "Versus" which pits the player against AI-controlled parties created by other players, and "Travel" where players can freely explore areas. Between missions, the player can equip and customize their party using equipment and special gems at the Guild or shops in each nation's capital.
During mission gameplay, the player party is represented as a chess piece on a board game-like map, with pathways displayed in a grid pattern. With the exception of "Travel", every mission has a turn limit, with movement or passing taking up a turn. Enemies are also displayed as chess pieces, moving when the player moves or passes, with some moving on particular routes. Maps include treasure chests, short cuts and hidden paths to different areas of the map. Special events which can be triggered including siege weapons to help the player and traps which must be dealt with in ways that may take varying numbers of turns. Additionally random events can be triggered, leading to extra battles or allowing players to acquire new treasure.
Combat system
Combat uses a turn-based battle system. Units, together with additional objects such as barricades and traps, are positioned on one of three different horizontal lanes, which impact their ability to move and act. The turn order is displayed on a timeline at the bottom of the battle screen. During their turn, a unit's movement and attack duration are tied to separate action meters. Units attack using standard attacks and unique skills, and can defend if some action gauge remains at the end of a turn. Attacks are tied to button prompts, with proper timing and different button combinations raising damage and adding effects including stunning an enemy or shifting their position on the battlefield. Moves can be undone as long as the controlled unit took no damage prior to performing the action.