Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX is a tower defense/RPG with a ton of customization options, and it’s now available on PlayStation 4. Learn more about it in our Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX review!

 

You play as Azra, a librarian who has been exiled after contracting a plague that is consuming her beloved kingdom. The disease turns its victims into the undead, but Azra discovers that she is immune to the disease and is actually capable of fighting it back, and this is how her journey begins. As the game progresses, she will gain allies and become stronger while the challenges she faces will continue to increase in difficulty. The story may seem straightforward, but the writing and humor in the game are great.

The combat is first and foremost set in the tower defense genre with all the standard gameplay mechanics we all know and love, but instead of using tanks, turrets and so on, your allies are your defenses. You can team up with a maximum of six characters, each belonging to a particular class, and the further you go into the game the more characters you will have to choose from. You can place allies anywhere on the map while taking into consideration their skills and range of attack. Long-range allies tend to be slightly slower than melee brawlers, so you’ll need to mix and match as needed so that you’re not overwhelmed during each enemy wave.

Each class has a specific role you need to make the most of. For example, the Berserker class can defend with melee attacks that hit hard and fast with their boost skill, but their attack range is limited. You will notice how each class has its own style and set of abilities, which gives you a considerable number of options for your adventure.

The game is very tactical, and a lot of trial and error is required to find the right mix for each of the battles you will participate in so that you can complete them while defending Azra. Luckily she also has some skills of her own, using a deadly lighting strike as long as she as enough PSI for it – she gains this naturally from the enemies defeated by her defenders.

 

As Azra progresses in the game she will get a chance to distribute skill points to her defenders, each one having their own skill trees to distribute points to as you level up each one, which you will need to do as often as you can as the enemies will not only increase in numbers but difficulty as well. Getting stronger and helping your defenders grow in strength isn’t the only thing you can do, since you can also find powerful items to enhance their abilities – just be sure you distribute these items to best cover your units’ needs since you need to have a good balance of offense and defense units or else you won’t progress further in the game.

Customization is a really big thing in Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX, and you can pretty much customize everything, right down to the tactics for each defender – there is lots of room for experimentation! Also worth noting is that you have complete control over the flow of combat, so you can speed it up, slow it down or pause it to rethink your strategy on the go.

As you complete each level, you will return to the overworld map, and it is then you will notice that each level has a number of stars awarded to it. The less damage Azra receives, the more stars you will get for your performance. The aim is to get all stars for a stage, especially if you want to have a shot at getting the Platinum trophy for the game! Getting all the stars for a level in your first try probably won’t happen since you first need to see what enemy types you’ll run into and how much of a challenge they will present – it will be after this first try that you’ll be able to plan accordingly to give it another go as you aim to have a close to perfect run.

If you find that any stage is giving you an issue, you should go back to replay previous levels to earn more EXP for your units, as well as more money for upgrades. Trust me when I say that a little grinding will go a long way since every bit helps. This will also prepare you to take on the game at a higher difficulty setting, especially since the higher the difficulty, the bigger the potential reward you can get – if Azra survives a level completely unharmed then you earn additional bonuses!

If you’re looking for a fun and challenging tower defense/RPG on PlayStation 4, then Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX will scratch that itch. If you ever played Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders, then you’ll feel right at home when you take this one for a spin on PS4. There’s a lot of content to play, plenty of customization options and a ton of potential combinations for your team of defenders and the skill and abilities they can use. With each character having its own skill tree, if you want to 100% the game, you’ll need to spend some extra time leveling them up, but this will also help you work towards adding a new Platinum trophy to your collection.

Disclaimer
This Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten DX review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Level Up Labs.