The DioField Chronicle is a new real-time tactical RPG from Square Enix

The Year of Tactics charges forward

A new tactical RPG from Square Enix is on the way, under a brand-new moniker too. The DioField Chronicle is a new kind of strategy role-playing game, using real-time systems.

Shown at today’s State of Play, The DioField Chronicle definitely has some Final Fantasy Tactics vibes at first. It’s set in a fantasy world, in the midst of a clash between armies and nations. Soldiers in armor stand around a table, discussing battles.

Where The DioField Chronicle differs looks to be its combat. There’s a real-time approach, rather than the turn-based you’d expect. Square Enix is describing this as the Real-Time Tactical Battle system, or RTTB.

So while it’s got a bit of classic FFT in there, it also feels a little akin to an RTS too. The cut-ins, with stylized portraits and zooms, also bring to mind Fire Emblem: Three Houses. And the maps look to be “boards,” again similar to FFT or more recently, Triangle Strategy.

I’m pretty interested in this new direction, because it seems pretty novel and different than what you’d usually expect from a tactics game. The tactical RPG genre is having a big year in 2022, with Triangle Strategy just out and games like Front Mission and Midnight Suns on the horizon. But something a little fresh and interesting seems intriguing, too.

The DioField Chronicle is coming to PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam sometime in 2022.