- Publisher: NIS America
- Release Date: Sep 30, 2014
- Also On: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
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- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Oct 15, 2014If being humiliated and demoralised by in-game defeat is synonymous to Mel’s downfall, achieving victory in battle is a feeling equivalent to earning a billion dollars just for punching your life-long nemesis in the face.
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Sep 23, 2014As it stands though, it is a fascinating strategy RPG that anyone who loves strategy RPGs needs to play.
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Sep 30, 2014A noble attempt to do something unique in the strategy RPG space that won't appeal to most players.
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Dec 2, 2014There’s a thin line between rock-hard gameplay and a broken game and while Natural Doctrine runs up to that line repeatedly it manages to never actually cross it. What it does manage, however, is to be a great example of the genre while also doing very little to bring it into the twenty-first century.
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Nov 21, 2014It's strange and convoluted, it has sub-par graphics, and the story is quite weak. It basically carries itself entirely on the gameplay, which is frequently difficult to the point of frustration. If you can get past that and wrap your head around the mechanics, it's a remarkably fun strategy RPG.
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Nov 6, 2014Natural Doctrine’s combat system is ingenious, but it’s obstructed by its complexity, while the remaining aspects of the release just about fulfil their roles to the point of adequacy.
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Oct 22, 2014It's still one of my favorite games this year, but the flaws keep me from recommending it to everyone; this is a game for those who love the genre, and want an old-school tactical RPG challenge.
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Oct 1, 2014A far from perfect RPG, but one that fans of the genre will get some enjoyment for. Casuals really need not apply though.
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Games Master UKDec 21, 2014It's complex and challenging in some really novel ways. [Christmas 2014, p.78]
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Oct 23, 2014Natural Doctrine isn’t noteworthy outside of it’s combat, if you feel like strategy games have grown stale, Kadokawa Games’ curious take on the genre is an interesting change of pace.
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Oct 1, 2014It's really hard to learn how to play this game, and even though that should be something good and challenging, we feel it's rather a design problem. Still, if you're willing to go on extremely hard strategy battles, go for it.
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Oct 17, 2014For those who aren’t too hot on their strategy role playing games, however, Natural Doctrine is a risk, yet one still worth taking if you’re looking for something testing and out-of-the-norm.
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Oct 5, 2014One thing that is certain is that Natural Doctrine us not designed for the casual crowd, and unless you’re prepared to invest time and energy into learning its systems inside out – and then are still prepared to try and try again when you do know what you’re doing – you’d be advised to away from this one.
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Sep 16, 2014Natural Doctrine is an exhausting game. It’s punishing, unfair at times and hell-bent on funneling players through a narrow corridor that leaves little-to-no room for tactical experimentation. That being said, it has its moments.
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Sep 7, 2014Natural Doctrine is a broken attempt at revitalizing the tactical RPG genre. At first glance, it appears to have all the markings of a classically inspired and intelligently designed strategy game.
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Nov 12, 2014There are some interesting pieces in this puzzle, but once they form the final picture, you'll see something very different, and sadly not entirely enjoyable.
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Oct 15, 2014Natural Doctrine is a cruel, unpolished, but interesting spin on tactical RPGs.
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Oct 10, 2014Natural Doctrine shows a lot of potential – mainly thanks to the complex battle system with its focus on cooperation and positioning. But the game design (or more so: lack of) leads to a lot of frustrating moments and useless grind.
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Oct 6, 2014Natural Doctrine isn't atrocious, but it does have a lot of issues. It's as frequently enjoyable as it is repugnant, an experience that will often blindside you with cheap deaths that reek of artificial difficulty.
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Oct 4, 2014While its refreshing combat offers a different kind of strategy-RPG challenge, some ridiculously punitive design decisions sabotage a good deal of the potential fun in Natural Doctrine. Considering the experienced pedigree of the developers involved—they count Patapon among their previous works—that’s simply inexcusable.
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Sep 25, 2014Natural Doctrine fails in its ambitious attempt to deliver a wonderfully unique, deep, and rewarding turn-based strategy adventure. The foundation is solid but what’s built atop that foundation is a crazy assortment of great individual pieces, but none of them really fit together.
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Sep 30, 2014Now, I don’t want to act like this is an actual bad game. It’s not. It just has multiple things that make it far too difficult to play.
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Dec 5, 2014Natural Doctrine is a brutal and ugly strategic game that will test your patience. The visuals are poor, the story insignificant and the combat mechanics are original and complex, but not rewarding at all.
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Oct 30, 2014With some major flaws like the poorly written story and the impossible to master and understand link system -which leads to a continuous "trial and error"- we really can't recommend this one.
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Oct 23, 2014These ingredients alone don't make a good game, just one that suggests the quality it could have had. It's almost tragic, really.
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Oct 14, 2014There will be a group of people that will love this game, but most people won't. You have to have so much patient, strategic insight and commitment, it is a tough game to really enjoy. There are so many RPG's that are way better, why waste your time on this one?
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Sep 22, 2014Unfortunately, most of Natural Doctrine's greatest challenges to your patience don't arise from a fair and balanced battle system, but from the game's failure to adhere to comprehensible logic.
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Sep 29, 2014If you enjoy mindless hours of grinding with no clear goal or instruction, and if you enjoy hour long battles on the “easiest” difficulty setting where you still feel underleveled no matter how much you grind, then this game could be right up your alley.
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Oct 16, 2014With annoying characters, a dumb story, and outdated graphics, there’s not much that makes playing Natural Doctrine worth the stress.
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Oct 21, 2014If we could ignore a distressing technique, the emptiness of Natural Doctrine and its amateur appearance almost make it impossible to recommend to anyone. Even lovers of the genre, T-RPG.
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Oct 1, 2014It’s shocking to see something this bad on a current gen console, and it’s really sad to think that someone released this and asked for money.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 42 out of 86
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Mixed: 10 out of 86
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Negative: 34 out of 86
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Oct 8, 2014
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Oct 8, 2014
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Oct 2, 2014This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.