Quick Links

Fallen Legion Revenants has you playing as the vengeful spectre, Rowena, and the dashingly handsome, Lucien. Together, they are trying to overthrow the iron-fisted Prison Warden, Ivor. The world is in a pretty bleak state, there are flying castles (and whales…), and a venomous miasma pollutes the land and threatens to end humanity.

Related: Best PS5 RPGs, According To Metacritic

It’s a fairly dire situation our heroes find themselves in, but this is offset by Revenants’ moment-to-moment gameplay, slit narratives, and decision-making. Whilst the game is fairly simple on the surface, a lot is going on if you dig a bit deeper. So much so, that it can get quite overwhelming.

Tag Team Duo Rowena and Lucien

Fallen Legion Revenants Lucien considering where to send Rowena

Revenants is split into two distinct forms of gameplay, with each pillar being governed by one of the two protagonists. Rowena is your combat-focused banshee-like witch who engages in combat with her band of loyal Exemplars. Lucien, on the other hand, is a smooth-talking councilman who uses his wit, intellect, and sleuthing abilities to assist from a distance.

Together, Rowena and Lucien will cooperate to undermine and overthrow Ivor, and this will often take place mid-mission. Combat scenarios typically have sections where Lucien must explore Welkin and talk to its residents to provide vital information to help Rowena. These can often be timed, giving them a similar sense of urgency as combat.

Stop, Hit The Rewind

Fallen Legion Revenants Exemplars attack wildly

One of the most interesting aspects of Revenants is its multiple choice scenarios. Every Chapter will thrust decision, after decision at you, and depending on what you choose, outcomes can differ wildly. Hidden endings, new Exemplars (more on those in a bit), and extra story beats are interwoven across these diverging pathways.

You can access everything Revenants has to offer in one playthrough, however, by talking with the Oracle. The Oracle (found in the Main Hall) can reset your story progress to try new paths whilst maintaining all of your items and Exemplars. Replaying Chapters is an integral part of Revenants' gameplay loop.

Uncovering New Exemplars

Fallen Legion Revenants exemplars fighting basic enemies

Rowena is a potent wraith in her own right, however, she is not capable of taking on the Miasma-ridden masses alone. This is where Exemplars come into play. Exemplars are powerful spirits who have been bound to relics, weapons, and armour. They can be summoned and controlled, and this is how you will engage in Revenants combat.

The catch is that you don’t have access to many at the start. Each Chapter will allow you to find new Exemplars, and tracking them all down is more than worth your time. Each Exemplar has a unique set of stats, skills, passives, and equipment. The more Exemplars you have, the more you can dabble with creating the perfect party.

Don’t Play Optimally - Play With Mastery

Fallen Legion Revenants Exemplar landing a Perfect Parry on Vile Abatoir

Exemplars don’t level up - they are as strong as they will ever be - statistically - from the moment you get them. You can, however, customise them in several ways to push their capabilities beyond their starting point. One way you can do this is with Masteries - powerful passive boons.

Each Exemplar has access to five Masteries, but they are all locked when the game starts. Each Mastery for each Exemplar must be unlocked by completing challenges, and they are often awkward and tricky to get. You often have to go out of your way to unlock them. This means playing to kill everything as quickly and efficiently as possible is not always the best course of action. Instead, focusing on completing these challenges is often wiser. The more Masteries you have, the better.

Related: RPGs Where The World Was At Stake

Archeus, Fusion, And You

Fallen Legion Revenants preparing party for an expedition

Masteries don’t just play into passives of course. Unlocking Masteries also allows you to equip more Archeus - powerful items that can be slotted into your Exemplars to provide powerful bonuses, like additional Attack, HP, or conditional effects, like Shields. Equipping more Archeus leads to more power as a result.

What’s more, Archeus can be fused to level them up. You can only fuse an Archeus of the same type, so Duke, or Barbarian, but it only takes one Archeus - regardless of level - to power up another Archeus. Every time you get a new Archeus, look to see if you can use it as fuel to buff your existing Archeus. Fusion can drastically increase your efficacy in combat and it should not be ignored.

Cracking Open Treasure Chests

Fallen Legion Revenants Getting ready to attack a treasure goblin

When exploring the world, you will come across Treasure Goblins. These sleepy souls are guarding chests, and it’s your job to crack them open. The rewards for doing this are not great as a general rule - and treasure is not really what they dispense. But there is some nuance to the system.

For example, opening a chest will heal the Exemplar who opened it. Since healing often costs Mana, being able to heal an injured Exemplar for free will make future combats go more smoothly. Not only that, but they grant temporary passive benefits, like increased stats. Crack them open, get healed, apply a buff, and get back to work.

Look For Items

Fallen Legion Revenants Rowena handing Lucien an item

When you are exploring Welkin as Lucien, you will often be required to talk to people or solve some kind of problem. These problems are often timed, which also makes them somewhat stressful. Your natural response will be to complete the task as quickly as possible - but this might be a mistake.

In scenes with Lucien, there are occasionally items hidden in the level that can be used as bargaining chips in conversations. These can be used to increase reputation, gain otherwise hidden nuggets of information, and more. It’s always worth running around and looking for them. You can spot them by looking out for sparkling objects lying on the floor.

Try Out New Equipment

Fallen Legion Revenants Exemplar using a Deathblow on an enemy

The final piece of the Exemplar puzzle is equipment. Exemplars come with a base set of gear, which includes a weapon and a piece of armour. As you explore the world, however, new pieces of equipment can be found, and these can be equipped to change how an Exemplar plays.

Armour is fairly passive. In general, armour will change your stats slightly. One set might make it so you have more HP, whilst another could lower your HP in exchange for a more robust defence. Weapons, on the other hand, are much more impactful. An Exemplar's Deathblow (Special Attack) is linked to their weapon, and this can drastically change how an Exemplar plays. Look for new weapons, learn new Deathblows, and experiment.

Next: The Best RPGs For Kids