Natural Doctrine - boxed - PS3

Natural Doctrine is a tactical, turn-based role-playing game set in a fantasy universe where humans fight against other races. The player controls the fortress soldier Geoff, who works from the fortress city Fortress. At the start, he hunts a series of goblins to gather resources, which is the beginning of a great story. The player eventually assembles a group of up to ten different characters with classes such as all-rounder warrior, apprentice, combat medic, sword specialist, sword master, etc. The characters carry equipment items they find from loot, and gain experience in combat to improve their agility, dexterity, faith, health, intelligence, spirit, strength, and vitality. Each class has its own skill tree with different paths that can be unlocked by using skill points. It is possible at any time to reallocate spent skill points to try a different build or strategy. If a single character dies, the scenario must be replayed.

On a world map from top to bottom, various locations or scenarios are available. During battles, characters are shown from a top-down or third-person perspective. Since it is a turn-based game, movement is based on grids. Characters have various offensive and defensive actions available depending on their class, including melee, guard, and ranger attacks as well as spells, but their position is also important. Depending on the position of a character on a grid in relation to another, certain actions become available or characters can act outside of their turn, which is called a link in the global "initiative" system. Obstacles in the environment also play a role, and players must consider linking effects, as shooting through friendly troops is possible and attempting to block an enemy attack due to a position can have negative consequences if the guarded character suddenly attacks. Since multiple attacks and actions can be planned in a single round, bright lines show the action and direction to avoid friendly fire and unwanted linking effects.

Magic attacks are based on a substance called Pluton, which is rare and shared by all group members. Due to the scarcity of the substance, it can only be used occasionally. In addition to single-player mode, the game supports competitive and cooperative online multiplayer games. Battles are similar to single-player mode, but revolve around collecting and building a deck of cards that becomes stronger over time. The game features cross-platform multiplayer and cross-save functionality for all three platforms.