Bonaparte Feels Like Civilization Meets Fire Emblem During The French Revolution

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

When I was at Gamescom, there were a couple of games that really stood out to me and offered an alternate take on history in a very unique way. Bonaparte A Mechanized Revolution is one of those games. Taking place in 1789 France, you take Napoleon's place in history and rewrite history, choosing to defend the monarchy or lead the revolution in this turn-based strategy game that feels like a melding of Fire Emblem and Civilization with some more in-depth story elements.

I'm a sucker for these kinds of games. I love being able to change the trajectory of history and create my own path with my own decisions. These decisions get into the future of France and how the government will be run. As you play, you will get to make decisions that can change what happens in the game, like which faction you will want to be part of, whether you will side with royalty or the people, and even whether you will execute or imprison people.

You will meet a bunch of historical figures like Marquis de Lafayette and Maximilien Robespierre and work with them to achieve your goals. It also takes an intriguing turn to the science-fiction area due to these giant colossal robots each side can command. It can keep things interesting as you decide whether or not you want to defend the king or go full in with the revolution.

As for Bonaparte's gameplay, the bulk of it will take place on the country map, where you will control your officer and try to take control of the map. You will be able to recruit officers, use different abilities, and destroy opposing armies in tactical combat. As you play, there will also be events that pop up where you will make decisions that can affect how the opposition is treated and what events transpire. You will even be able to attend the National Convention, where you will propose and pass new laws while also needing to manage the support of your people.

Then, we have the combat. You will control your troops moving on a hexagonal field and attack different troops. You move a set amount of spaces and attack the enemy forces. You have both melee and ranged units, as well as your giant robot, and will have to destroy all the forces on the field. You do have a regular attack, as well as different abilities to raise your morale and support your other units. As you play, you will be able to build new robots and improve your armies, as well as utilize different tactics to win.

Recently, Bonaparte got a demo for the Steam Next Fest, which is still available now, and I went ahead and played it on the Steam Deck to see how it is on the go! I love the artwork for the game. It feels like the cutscenes and portraits all look like older paintings, which really add to that historical element. I also really liked seeing how my decisions panned out and how everyone reacted to it.

The turn-based combat was also quite fun. I did like going around and deciding which enemy to attack based on the flanking system in place. Each unit has a direction they are looking in, and if you attack from behind, you will flank them. This gives you a chance to attack without the enemy retaliating, as well as doing a little bit more damage. I also really liked that when you attack, it will show both the units attacking each other. It is a little bit basic in the demo, but it is a nice touch and is skippable if you decide to.

On the Steam Deck, the demo runs decently well too! The map is able to hit 60 FPS, while the turn-based combat was sitting at 48 FPS. There were no graphical options to change, and I have every belief that the full game will be better performing based on the system requirements. It would also really benefit from controller support, but it is still playable regardless. There is still some time before it releases to iron these out though, and based on what I have seen, played, and what's coming, this will be an awesome game to have in your library!

Bonaparte A Mechanized Revolution can be wishlisted ahead of its Q1 2025 release date, and a demo is available now to try for yourself!

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!