"While Chains of Freedom may lack the polish and marketing of larger games in the real-time tactics genre, it is undoubtedly one of the best games the AA real-time tactics genre has to offer, and I am eager to see what the developers create next."
Singleplayer.
Mimimi Games has been the de facto AA king of the real-time tactics genre for many years. It is responsible for some of the best real-time tactics games in the genre’s history, releasing titles often superior to AAA titles.
Unfortunately, the game industry can take its toll, and even successful companies sometimes need to step back or withdraw entirely.
This is exactly what happened in 2023, when the co-founders of Mimimi Games announced that they intended to shutter the company and exit the industry for at least a decade.
This action has left a hole at the top of the AA real-time tactics sub-genre that will not be easily filled.
While some excellent indie and AAA real-time tactics development teams exist, which can potentially fill the gap left by Mimimi’s Games exiting the industry, this does not change the fact that the best mid-range, mid-scope, mid-priced developer/publisher is gone.
While there are a few contenders, the throne remains empty.
For the last few years, there has been one contender who has shown a lot of promise, and that is Destructive Creations, while I have had my issues with them (I previously found them to be needlessly offensive and edgy), they finally appear to have outgrown their edgelord phase.
While the games they produce are still rather dark, they have scaled back on the deliberate edge, a move that will, in the long run, make them better suited to reach a wider audience.
While there are people who love excessively violent and edgy games, they are thankfully a much smaller part of the gaming community than they were in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I could see Destructive Creations taking a seat at the top of the genre, but after playing Chains of Freedom, I am not sure they will sit on the throne alone. Perhaps now that Mimimi Games has sailed into the West, the throne will become a rather fancy bench!, allowing more studios to attain equal fame and attention, hopefully resulting in better games and more of them!
Chains of Freedom is an excellent game, with excellent combat, fair visuals, and a very well-written story presented in a polished manner thanks to the title’s relatively high production values.
While the voice acting is rough at times, the combat mechanics and narrative are good enough to ensure all but the most judgmental gamers overlook the occasional misplaced accent or flat delivery.
Chains of Freedom is the type of game that should succeed, ensure the developer’s long-term viability, and result in further titles in the series.
Unfortunately, the market is full of excellent games that get overlooked. With so many high-profile titles launching in April 2025, very little attention was given to Chains of Freedom.
This has resulted in relatively poor sales on all platforms and a near-complete lack of Twitch attention, with an all-time high of just over 4k viewers plummeting to less than 40 in just over 14 days, a death knell to most games.
Sure, but Nordcurrent needs to get eyes on it fast.
Adding the game to Game Pass, PS Plus, or Humble Bundle may be the best way to ensure the future of both Chains of Freedom and the developer itself.
Chains of Freedom is a real time tactics video game developed by Nordcurrent and published by Nordcurrent Labs, it was released on 15 April 2025 and retails for $24.99.
Chains of Freedom is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Chains of Freedom is rated PEGI 16+ and contains:
Chains of Freedom is rough around the edges, and the voice acting is sometimes a little distracting.
The main characters appear to be Eastern Europeans attempting to sound American or, occasionally, the reverse.
In addition, the occasional line of dialogue sounds as if the voice actor is bored or confused, resulting in a flat delivery worse than what modern text-to-speech AI can offer.
However, the fact that flat voice acting is my main issue with Chains of Freedom shows how good it is in general. As an AA title priced fairly, such issues are expected.
Ultimately, Chains of Freedom feels like the start of something greater.
While the future of the series depends very much on how well it is supported (and the developers couldn’t have chosen a worse time to launch than April 2025), it is the type of game that the average fan of turn-based/real-time tactic games would enjoy, and I heartily recommend it.
We found Chains of Freedom to be a good game, meaning it is likely to be enjoyable for most players, despite having a few areas that could be improved upon.
