Rise of the Third Power is a JRPG where an implausible group of acquaintances have to deal with events that may lead to a bloody and terrible war, and I greatly recommend it.

From the 8 possible party members the player is allowed to have 3 of them in the field at the time but may change the chosen fighters before and during a battle, some party members may be ineffective against a few enemies and can get tired if they don’t sit some battles out, the player must manage their activity, learn their strengths, combos and interactions if they want to be effective in the highest difficulty, each party member has a talent tree with genuine enhancements and changes to their style, not just bigger numbers, together with some choices of unique personal items all party members become highly customizable.

The members themselves come from all walks of life, having lived under different governments, wealth, adversities and responsibilities, they tend to clash a lot but allow themselves to focus in greater threats and maintain cohesion, through exploration and progression you get a greater understanding of their lives, motivations, hopes and shortcomings, the development of some is even reflect through their skills, they truly carry this politics heavy story, all main and supporting characters, its world and overall story are excellently written and I would often catch myself thinking on were it all would end up, and still do it sometimes, even after fishing it.

This game has one of the best equipment systems I have ever seen, it does away with annoying inventory management but keeps all power gain and variety of it, the music compliments the game nicely and has some great energetic rock and battle themes, the battles themselves tend to be diverse but also have battle speed options if they feel repetitive, not that you gonna need it, most encounters can be bypassed through positioning and all battle animations and sound effects feel impactful and masterfully done to the point of I wanting them to slow down instead of speeding up, Rise of the Third Power is an accessible, well polished and one of best JRPGs I have ever played.