Natural Doctrine

Natural Doctrine is remembered by players mainly for its uncompromising difficulty. It takes place in a harsh world where people survive in fortified cities and venture into mines in search of a rare mineral that enables the use of magic. The main character, Geoff, belongs to a group of hunters whose expedition into the depths goes wrong and reveals that the line between humans and monsters is more permeable than it seemed. The narrative is terse, raw, and makes no effort to be likable, which matches the overall tone of a game that forgives the player nothing. The characters bicker with one another and their motives are petty, so even the dialogue feels harsher than in most Japanese RPGs.

Battles take place turn-based on a grid, but with rules that differ significantly from the genre's conventions. The key is the link system, where units standing in the right position relative to each other gain additional actions and can attack in a chain even before their turn comes up. The same rule, however, applies to enemies as well, so a poorly arranged group can be crushed by a chain of follow-up attacks in a single round. The harshest rule is that the death of any unit means the immediate end of the battle and a return to the last save. The game therefore demands planning ahead, discipline, and a willingness to repeat encounters until the player understands exactly where they went wrong.

Technically, this is a functional but modest production on the Vita, with a dark palette and rather austere environments, which nonetheless suits the grim atmosphere of the underground. Contemporary reviews were mixed: critics faulted the game for insufficiently explaining its own rules and for difficulty that felt unfair, while part of the audience embraced it as a welcome challenge in a genre that was otherwise leaning toward simplification. Today, Natural Doctrine is more of a cult item for players seeking a tactical game with no compromises, and a good example of how fundamentally a single rule can change the character of an entire genre.