Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes

Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes is a 2010 tactical RPG from Silent Dreams that takes the genre’s greatest hits (Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, that whole grid-based turn order thing) and filters them through a comedy lens aimed squarely at fantasy tropes. Instead of a noble band of chosen ones, you’re recruiting a rag-tag crew of morally questionable fighters to stop a murderous cult, and the game seems less interested in being taken seriously than in poking fun at the RPGs it’s borrowing mechanics from.

How it plays

The backbone here is turn-based tactical combat: you position a party on a battlefield, take turns acting, and work through encounters the way you would in any strategy RPG. What sets it apart is presentation. The combat animations lean into slapstick rather than spectacle, and the roster is built around exaggerated personalities rather than blank-slate warriors, characters like an insufferably self-righteous holy avatar or a vampire with a name that’s basically a punchline. Outside of battle, you’re doing the usual genre bookkeeping: taking on quests, gathering loot, leveling characters up, and outfitting your party before the next fight. Dialogue plays a bigger role than you might expect from a tactics game, with branching conversations and puzzle-like exchanges that owe more to old point-and-click adventures than to strategy games. It’s a combination that either clicks for you or doesn’t, since the writing is doing as much work as the battlefield mechanics.

Who it’s for

This one’s for players who like their tactics games with a sense of humor about themselves, people who’ve played enough Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics clones to appreciate one that’s in on the joke. If you enjoy dialogue-heavy RPGs and don’t mind combat that prioritizes comedic timing over rigorous balance, there’s a lot to like. It’s also a reasonable pick if you have a soft spot for 2010-era indie RPGs with rough-around-the-edges charm rather than polish. On the other hand, if you want tight, competitive tactical combat or a story played completely straight, this isn’t that game, and the constant winking at genre conventions can wear thin if the humor doesn’t land for you personally.

Is it worth grabbing?

For a strategy RPG, yes, it’s worth having in your library, especially if tactics games are already a genre you return to. The combat system is a known quantity (grid-based, turn order, party management) so there’s no real learning curve risk, and the comedic angle gives it a distinct flavor compared to the dozens of straight-faced tactics games out there. It’s best suited to players who read dialogue and enjoy world-building jokes rather than those who skip straight to the next fight. If satire and turn-based strategy sound like a fun combination to you, it’s an easy addition to a backlog, something to pick up when you’re in the mood for a lighter, sillier take on a genre that usually plays it very seriously.

Quick facts

Genre: Indie, RPG, Strategy. Developer and publisher: Silent Dreams. Platform: PC (Steam). Release date: October 15, 2010.