Following yesterday’s surprise announcement of the tactical JRPG The DioField Chronicle, both the western and Japanese arms of Square Enix have released tons of details, artwork, and screenshots.

First of all, we start with a look at the story:

We get to see a map of the world and in particular, Diofield island, which serves as the setting, alongside the crests of the factions involved, the Kingdom of Alletain, the Trovelt-Schoevien Empire, and the Rowetale Alliance. The protagonists are members of a mercenary company defending Alletain called “Blue Fox.”

The continent has been devastated by the war between the Empire and the Alliance, but as the conflict stalls, they turn their sights toward Alletain, since the island of Diofield has rich resources of “Jade,” an element required for modern magic.

Does this sound familiar to you? Because it certainly does to me.

Here’s a description of the characters that will meet, mostly part of the Blue Foxes.

Next, we learn more about the gameplay:

The game flow starts with missions being assigned to the Blue Fox by various characters, and accepting any results in a battle.

The players will be able to perform preparations and upgrades at the base, followed by a briefing, and then the battle itself.

Battles are in real-time, prompting players to move freely on the field and react quickly to the situation while taking advantage of the characteristics of each unit.

Positional attacks are included, like backstabs, which deal more damage. You can use EP to activate skills associated with weapons, and different classes can use different weapons. You can also use skills to block enemy skills.

At the base you control Andrias and you can freely walk around, talk with other members of the Blue Fox, purchase and improve equipment, level up via a skill tree, and prepare for missions.

You can select missions at the planning table, where you will be briefed about details, winning, and losing conditions.

Below you can find all the images.

We also learn more about the staff. Character design is by Taiki of Rise of Mana & Vermillion series fame.

Concept art is by Isamu Kamikokuryo, whom fans of the genre will certainly know for his work on several titles of the Final Fantasy series.

The music is by Game of Thrones composers Ramin Djawadi and Brendan Cambell.

The DioField Chronicle will release in 2022 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.