Crystal in Carnations

Crystal in Carnations is a story-rich tactical RPG and fantasy war epic where your choices shape both the story and the battlefield. Follow branching paths, shape your party members to suit your playstyle, and master two distinct tactical battle systems that challenge you to approach every encounter differently. Take on the role of a noble or a commoner in the kingdom of Vivestria during one of the most tumultuous periods in its history. As war tears the realm apart, your choices will ripple outward, shaping the lives of those around you and determining what Vivestria will become. Whether you preserve the old order or forge something new is up to you. Crystal in Carnations features two distinct tactical battle systems, with the rules of each battle shaped by the map and the protagonist leading it. Eloise’s battles emphasize formation and coordination, encouraging you to move your units in tandem and carefully position your forces to unleash devastating chain attacks and combos, while keeping the most vulnerable of your units at a safe distance. Willow’s battles focus on individual initiative and aggression: units act according to their speed, creating a fluid battlefield where the goal is to seize as many turns as possible, overwhelm enemies before they can respond, and maintain the momentum of the attack. The game is set during a bloody war between Vivestria and Ehrenburg, two countries with a long and turbulent history. In the third year of the war the mountain god fearing people of Vivestria are steadily losing ground to a northern invader, the dire situation forcing King Dardaine IV to take to the field himself only for him to perish soon after with little fanfare. Among the king’s troops are Eloise Bellerose, a young noble scion fresh to the battlefield, and Willow Fletcher, a peasant hunter conscripted to the army against her will who holds little love for neither king nor country. In the heat of battle these two discover by accident that their lives, and fates, are magically bound. Join Eloise and Willow as they struggle to understand their bond and what it means, as Vivestria crumbles around them. Soon the eyes of a desperate people are on them, and the two women must decide which is more important: saving Vivestria, or remaking it into a country worth saving? - See the war through the eyes of your chosen protagonist and experience two distinct sides of Vivestria's story - A nuanced political fantasy of passion, betrayal, difficult choices, and emotional devastation - A two-sided tactical battle system that challenges you to adapt your strategy to a myriad of scenarios - Narrative choices that shape the course of the story, leading to six unique endings - Fight across 20+ chapters of mechanically rich battle maps, with an equal number of challenging extra maps - Explore towns between battles, uncovering the lives, stories, and struggles of a kingdom torn apart by war - Ten core party members with unique progression paths and deeply personal stories - Only here for the story? Equip scalable plot armor and experience the narrative at a difficulty that suits you - Only here for the epic battles? The skip button is for you :) - And much more!