Tokyo Game Show is back again, and, as usual, it’s jam-packed with awesome demos, new announcements, and peak panels surrounding all things gaming. As huge names like Final Fantasy VII Revelation are already taking the spotlight, one lesser-known gem has really captured our attention – Astrae Oratio.
Scheduled to release in 2027, Astrae Oratio is a fantasy magic RPG that first popped up during Japan’s Comiket last August, and sets out to introduce a unique management theme to a world where reality and magic coexist. Set against the backdrop of ’89 Tokyo, you take on the role of Shunin, a public official at the Special District Office – an agency responsible for overseeing the affairs of mages. Along the way, you encounter a wide array of colorful characters, uncovering the stories and relationships that connect them.
Oh, by the way, Shunin also happens to be a cat. Apparently, he woke up from a nightmare one day and found himself in this new feline form – we’re not sure how that happened, either. We don’t know too much about the story beyond this, but there are plenty of interesting world-building tidbits on the official website, so we highly recommend checking that out if you’re intrigued.
TGS 2026 marks the first opportunity for players to experience the game hands-on, with a demo that shows the initial opening and a taste of the story, but predominantly focuses on a training mode where lucky participants get to try out the unique combat system for themselves.
Sadly, Pocket Tactics isn’t able to attend TGS this year, but I was lucky enough to experience the Astrae Oratio Virtual Tour, during which I (virtually) sat down with QA Lead Ren Ito, Associate Producer Jason Mok, and Senior Director of PR for NC America Douglas Perry to watch a live playthrough of the demo. After that, I also got the opportunity to ask some questions about what I saw.
Throughout the demo, we see that the game’s story is portrayed through a mixture of 3D animated cutscenes, visual novel-style segments with mostly static 2D sprites and beautifully illustrated stills, and 3D combat, with all elements fully voiced in Japanese. The visuals form a striking balance between traditional anime-style art reminiscent of classics like Sailor Moon, alongside a more modern, edgy aesthetic.
The opening section shows what appears to be the main protagonists – Tanaka Erin, Anna M. Battenberg, and Fujiwara Riria of the Magical Activities of the Minato Girls faction – going head-to-head against the mysterious Kujo Yuria, who, according to the website, is out to kill Shunin. We don’t know whether this is her sole motivator, but apparently there are rumors that Shunin stole her first kiss. Whether that justifies her murderous intent or not is up for debate.
From there, the demo kicks off into the real heart of Astrae Oratio; the combat. While it does follow the general formula of a turn-based RPG, it has quite a few key features that really make it stand out. Instead of performing one move then handing the baton over to the next character, Astrae Oratio sees you managing Action Points as you switch between characters to perform three-hit combos and different skills. When it’s the enemies’ turn to attack, there’s also a real-time parrying system with QTEs, and an intriguing Counter Skill mechanic that allows you to respond to an enemy’s preemptive attack, mitigating and dealing damage simultaneously.
Speaking on these systems, Ren Ito states, “I do particularly feel that the combination between the real-time strategy and the turn-based mechanics of the game are really well-molded together”, highlighting, “you have to pay attention to the exact timing that each enemy type presents you with. There’s some real challenge here that we think players are going to have to sink their teeth into.” He also believes that these “different moving parts of combat are really going to stand out to players in a world of many non-active participating mobile games” as “there’s a lot of thinking required to be as efficient as possible.”
Getting into specifics, Ito points out the counter skill, saying that it’s “a really engaging part of the game that forces active participation within the combat. It’s not just a random jumpscare, it’s something that you can prepare for.” Throughout combat, there’s a visible timeline of actions at the top of the screen, allowing you to “manage your AP wisely, switch between characters, and know that the character you need is going to be out at the right time,” which offers a lot more freedom and challenge compared to many mobile turn-based RPGs currently on the market.
During the TGS demo there are 13 characters available to try out, but it sounds like there are a lot more to come, especially based on how many we can spot on the official website. They’re currently divided up into factions that each consist of three characters, and each of the six training scenarios during the demo revolves around one of these factions. However, when building teams, you can actually have up to four characters.
As with most squad-based RPGs, each of the characters also aligns with an element and class. When I asked about this, Ito informed me, “we have classes that are capable of providing buffs to characters, mitigating damage using their own defensive skills, dealing AoE damage to the enemies’ backline, and dealing heavy damage directly to enemy shields to put them into a break state instead of doing direct damage. So there’s a really wide spread of capabilities. The actual details regarding what these unique mechanics do will be revealed as time moves on, but there are a lot of intricate details as to how they mold together that I’m really looking forward to players experiencing for the first time.”
Naturally, I was also curious how the different characters interact with each other during gameplay, and how their unique abilities and roles will impact team formation. In response, Ito tells me, as with many games that feature elemental attacks, “elements have certain strengths against certain enemies, so you’ll want to form a team based on the enemies that you know you’ll encounter.”
However, beyond elemental weaknesses and strengths, Ito also explains that there’s “a lot of strategic play based on forming a party around certain elements [skills, roles, etc.] that you know are going to be useful. If you feel like an enemy is going to do very large amounts of damage, of course you’re going to want a tank. If you know you’re going to fight a combat scenario where there are a lot of enemies on the backline, you’re going to want a class that’s able to do damage to all of those.” However, he also goes on to say that, above all, “what’s stronger than your favorite character?”
While it’s still early days and the three speakers couldn’t really discuss anything beyond the TGS demo, it’s clear that Astrae Oratio is setting out to shift the narrative around both turn-based combat and the current trend of idle mobile games, and, having seen the combat live, I’m very eager to see where the game goes next.
During the Virtual Tour, Jason Mok was playing the demo live on a Google Pixel 9, and it was clear that the game is very well optimized, with relatively quick loading screens, snappy animations, and minimal stuttering. Ito also informed us that the team has tested it on several other devices, including the Samsung S20, commenting that “it plays really smooth.”
Astrae Oratio is set to launch on iOS and Android devices in 2027, with a PC release to follow. If you’re sad about missing out on the TGS demo, you have until 20:00 PT / 23:00 ET on Sunday, September 20 (or 04:00 BST / 05:00 CEST / 13:00 AET on Monday, September 21) to sign up for the first closed beta test via the official website. And, of course, stay tuned to Pocket Tactics to get all the latest news, guides, and reviews for the best RPGs, gacha games, and more.
