Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord Review | No Need for an Encore (Switch)

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is the next game in the Fairy Fencer series and one which has taken some drastic steps since the first game’s launch 10 years ago. With the switch from a turn-based action game to a strategic tactical RPG, Refrain Chord attempts to tackle a brand-new combat system while continuing the stories of Fang, Eryn and the rest of the cast from the first game. How well does it succeed in this transition and can it carve a place in the strategy game market? 

Unfortunately, Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord left something to be desired. Between the so-so story, the predictable cast of characters, the rather strained strategic combat and poor optimisation, there are more than a few areas where this package doesn’t come together.  There are certain things to enjoy, especially if you like the classic fantasy vibes the game gives off, but Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord feels shackled to its retro inspirations, resulting in a lack of innovation in any of its core areas.

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is available on Nintendo Switch, Steam, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 for $39.99.

Story | Been There, Done That

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is the direct sequel to 2013’s Fairy Fencer F. In a world once blessed by a dormant Goddess, mystical weapons called Furies lay scattered. These weapons house the spirits of Fairies which can be wielded by powerful people known as Fencers. Fang is one such Fencer and, with his Fairy Eryn and a group of like-minded Fencer friends, he seeks to locate as many Furies as he can to revive the Goddes, earn himself a wish and get back Eryn’s memories. They’ll have to contend with many others seeking the Furies, though, including the devious Dorfa corporation and two mysterious new characters who use the power of song. 

If that synopsis sounded a bit generic, it’s because it is. The world of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord isn’t a particularly innovative one, borrowing a lot of its most iconic iconography from the annuls of more popular series. Everything is a mish-mash of high-tech and fantasy surrealism: mech suits and magic and mysterious creatures all dwell in the same world and it feels rather disjointed. There’s not much lore or backstory outside of the main characters to make it make sense, and it leaves the world and its many intricacies feeling hollow as a result, especially when everything seems thrown together almost at random. 

The actual plot itself isn’t much deeper, either, and feels similarly thrown together with tropes and cliches. Your main goal is searching for these Furies but it always feels rather awkward: instead of anything actually dynamic or interesting, you’re always just told “Hey, there’s a Fury here, go find it”. The villains don’t help and are so on-the-nose evil that it becomes comedic every time they come on screen. Most of the interesting plot is just character interactions between your primary cast and, while it does help bring you closer to them, it certainly does get in the way of any grand tale the game attempts to tell.

The story isn’t anything egregious and it certainly gives you a reason to go from battle to battle, but it would be a stretch to call it compelling. It’s perfectly serviceable anime nonsense that introduces you to a strange (if undeveloped) world and funnels you to each of that world’s various landmarks. Don’t expect any of it to take root in your memory, though. 

A New Fury Found

Cookie-Cutter Characters

Like the story, the cast of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is pretty cookie-cutter. If you’re at all a fan of anime or JRPGs, there’s a high likelihood that you’ve met Fang or Eryn or Tiara dozens of times. They’re standard character archetypes and, while that isn’t inherently a bad thing (in fact, having a recognisable trope to subvert or build on top of can be an excellent way to create new characters), Refrain Chord doesn’t go far enough with characterisation. 

With notably few exceptions, all of the characters never grow beyond their archetypes: they lack any definitive sort of edge or complexity that would make them stand out amongst the sea of JRPG characters. Spending a few moments with each character will tell you everything you need to know about them. This lack of development can lead to the cast feeling played out or old by today’s standards, especially when other JRPGs have been moving the needle forward in terms of deep, complex characters who still branch off the same familiar tropes. 

That being said, this familiarity does give the cast a comfy feeling. People who are willing to go in with an open mind and don’t mind the lack of growth or subversion will find a likeable cast, so long as they’re fans of the typical anime archetypes. However, it just didn’t click for me and, while I didn’t dislike any of the characters, they quickly became another part of the game to tolerate.

Among Us?

Gameplay | One Step Forward, One Step Back, One Step to the Side

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is a tactical RPG similar to the likes of Fire Emblem. This is a massive departure from how it played in the original Fairy Fencer F, which was a turn-based action game similar to the Tales of series, and I’m not sure it was worth the switch. 

Like with the story, there’s not much original or new here to spice up combat, so everything ends up feeling derivative of better titles in the genre. What’s worse, the small bits of innovation that are present within the battle system goes a long way to hinder your enjoyment of those game systems instead of enhancing them.

Pointless Positioning

The big standout feature of Fairy Fencer F’s tactical combat is how positioning your characters can make you take or deal more damage. There are three different directional states while battling an enemy: if you hit them front-on, you will deal normal damage whereas you’ll deal more damage if you hit them from the side and even more if you manage to backstab them. On the surface, this seems like an interesting way to incentivise aggressive or strategic play as you try to figure out how to position your characters so they can deal big damage while never taking any. 

That’s the fantasy, anyway. In reality, this positional system ends up taking away player engagement and decision-making by pigeonholing you into only thinking about one thing. Every time I fight an enemy, I’m only considering my relative position. Every other strategic thought falls by the waist side and, because enemies can deal this additional damage to you, it’s not something you can ignore.

A Terrifying Creature

The map layouts never really let you take advantage of this feature, either. There are never enough opportunities to sneak behind enemy lines and you’re often funnelled into areas where you and your opponents are stuck trading damage head-on. Aside from a few exceptions, most of the maps in Refrain Chord felt very similar to each other. There’s not enough variety to make you act differently or engage with the directional system in a new way. 

Overall, while good on paper, this part of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord falls flat. Without more investment in character movement, differences between characters and abilities and how different environments can create new opportunities, you are stuck with a system that never really feels rewarding for the time you need to make it work.

Magic Attacks

My Muse

Another interesting feature is the Muse class. Fleur is one of your allies and she is a Muse, a special class distinct from traditional Fencers.  Instead of using weapons or magic, Muse is a support class which uses the power of song to buff all nearby allies. Fleur will even begin singing and the BGM will change. As long as your characters stand within this zone, they’ll gain some type of benefit like a Physical Attack bonus. 

Thanks to the power of the Muse’s songs, you’ll start building strategies and team movements around Fleur. She will almost always move first and, despite having limited movement, can act as the rally point for your entire team: you want everyone close to her so they can benefit from her buffs. This is the one core piece of strategising that you’ll find yourself doing in Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord and it is compelling.

A Beautiful Melody

What’s even better is that your enemies also have a Muse in the form of Glace, one of the big baddies from the story. Like Fleur, Glace can bestow buffs onto your enemies and becomes the character most foes rally around. When both Muses are singing at once, their songs will overlap and create a field of chaotic harmonised melody: any character, whether you or your opponents, who step foot into this area will receive far greater benefits than the songs normally provide. 

However, things begin to get messy here. When both songs are playing at once, the game performance tanks and the screen becomes a mess of neon colours. You likely won’t be able to see the battle map that well, which can lead to some confusing turns and easy mistakes. The game also really overuses Glace by having her show up in every single battle after she is introduced. Even random bandits or monsters in a far-off cave gain the benefits of a Muse and it diminishes the impact of the song mechanic from that point forward. It’s no longer a cool thing to look forward to in pivotal story moments and instead just becomes samey and dull. 

Battle of Song

Glacial Slow Strategy

Perhaps the biggest frustration with combat in Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is how excruciatingly slow it is. Tactical RPGs are no stranger to long, drawn-out affairs that can sometimes last a few hours. In most cases, they last that long because of how you have to strategize and react to your opponent, with a lot of that time being dedicated to just thinking. It’s the best part of the genre and you can feel accomplished upon beating these sorts of tactical puzzles. 

Fights in Refrain Chord last a long time, too, but for a wholly different reason. That’s because you simultaneously don’t deal a lot of damage and don’t take a lot of damage. Enemies have a lot of HP but they never typically have a lot of damage output, either: meanwhile, your party has enough health to survive most onslaughts but they will only deal a pittance to your foes’ staggering HP bars. Unless you go into a fight 10 levels under or are playing completely recklessly, you’ll end up stuck in a slow, drawn-out battle where neither you nor your opponent can get a proper foothold. 

Avalanche Rush

What’s even worse is there isn’t a great way around this. Even if you use everything at your disposal – dealing damage from behind, while in Fleur’s song, using a damage type the enemy is weak to while they have a debuff – it’s never significant enough to notice the difference. As a result, fights became things to tolerate and then groan at when they dragged on endlessly. They’re battles of attrition, not skill or strategy. That was cemented when I soloed an entire level by just feeding my main character potions: he didn’t die because the enemies were so weak and I just poked away at them for 20-30 minutes until they died. Refrain Chord doesn’t punish you for your mistakes, instead letting you ignore them completely. 

In other strategy games like Fire Emblem, you and your opponents generally deal the same amount of damage to one another. This not only goes a long way in making your units feel like they have a real impact on the battlefield but also for engaging in tactical play: you need to be aware of the risk-reward elements in every duel. In Refrain Chord, an enemy attack will maybe deal 1/12th of your HP, meaning you can just tank attacks. When your opponent deals half of your health in a single hit, though, things become more serious and you need to prioritise planning out your moves rather than carelessly wading into fights. 

This glacial slow pace to combat flow paired with the messy implementation of the Muse system and how watered-down fights became thanks to the positioning system genuinely made me agonize over starting another battle. A new fight signified another timesink when I had to pay just enough attention to get through, but never enough to challenge myself.

Freeze Monsters!

Design and Audio | Warm Familiarity

Like with the story, Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord borrows a lot when it comes to audio and world design.

In terms of design, Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord looks really nice. The background art, in particular, stands out and manages to immerse you in the world far more than the plot ever does. Whether it’s rolling green hills peppered with mechanical towers, the cosy interior of the Zelwind’s inn or the desolate wastes of the Cavare Desert, the art design is something to look forward to. Nothing showcases this better than the world map which manages to harken back to the golden age of franchises like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.

In addition, the audio and music work to build out the world but fall to the same shortcomings. The jolly tune of the City of Zelwinds is a nice piece of home to return to after each battle, and the music accompanying the world map certainly gets you ready for some grand adventure, but nothing is going to stick with you in the long term. All of the music and audio feel retro-inspired, giving Refrain Chord a certain level of charm. While I won’t be listening to any of Refrain’s Chords’ music after putting the game down, it did help enhance the battles and story, even just a little bit.

The World Map

Technical State | Sluggish Switch

One part of the game which definitely deserves criticism is the performance. Typically, the game runs okay. Everything from the strategy game framework to the visual novel-like story segments means that the game doesn’t have to rely on having perfect performance. As such, a slight bit of stuttering or slowing down here or there isn’t a particularly glaring issue, even if it is a bit irksome.

However, things get much worse when you begin using Muse abilities. If it’s just Fleur or Glace on their own, the game begins running slower but it is bearable. When both songs are overlapping, though, be prepared for a tough time. Attacks will slow to a crawl and just moving around becomes incredibly sluggish. The game isn’t complex graphically so seeing performance tank so often is disappointing. Paired with how much clutter the overlapping songs cause and these technical issues can sometimes deter you from even activating your Muse abilities. 

On the whole, the performance of Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord is pretty shaky. Despite not needing high performance like in an action game, the stark decrease in performance is so easily noticeable and frequent that it becomes irritating fast.

Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord key provided by Idea Factory.