Game:

Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection (2012)

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As one of the PSP's very late releases in 2012 / 2013, the game is the last title in Idea Factory's "Generation of Chaos" strategy series (dubbed GoC6 in Japan) as well as a standalone title outsourced to Sting (best known for the Dept. Heaven series). Their merger, dubbed "Super Sting", has only one other known game under this banner (PS3's "Date A Live: Rinne Utopia") before reverting back to regular Sting. The plot involves an alchemist, Claude, who is on a journey with his sister, Yuri, to free her from a curse called "Pandora".

Let's get right to it... the same general strategy is deployed almost every level and basically goes like this:

Deploy fastest unit(s) on the map to secure strategy points (you can't deploy more units until you do).
Have one or two units defending bases.
Minimize gimmicks (artillery, terrain, etc.).
Kill all relevant enemies or capture relevant bases.

The game is more about terrain effects and territorial conquest than your average strategy game and has little in the way of character customization. Each character is a specific class (Alchemist, Eurica, Valkyrie, Angel, Assassin, etc.) and these classes each have different quirks and reactions to the large varieties of terrain (there's 5 movement speeds from sluggish to slow to normal to fast to super). The game has over a dozen types of terrain, which is more than most strategy games. There's also hidden areas on almost every map for special items or quests which is similar to Ogre Battle or Growlanser and occasionally different victory / defeat conditions based on the story. You will later form an army with the Rose Knights which alters how territory is gained and have a greater emphasis on day and night cycles (for example, Vampires are immune to traps and terrain disadvantages at night while Angels have the same during the day). Field artillery is also introduced and these can be taken from the enemy and used to your advantage.

The last thing of merit is summoning: summons are gained through secret quests or as the main character levels up. You build your summon gauge by attacking and doing combos - both produce gems that fill the gauge, but bigger combos produce more gems, some which fall on the field and can be picked up for additional gauge. While fun, the game rarely lives up to its full potential: most maps prioritize grass, mountains and paths, and most maps also default to the daytime, so half your characters never really shine and the first 5 or 6 characters will get the most use. Even with the smart "Alchemy System" (you can use Alchemy Points to upgrade weapons, boost character levels, heal, or convert unused items into points), grinding up characters is time-consuming. Another problem or, rather, oversight is the "Weapon Wheel" system. In this game, there are a variety of weapons that have a sort of "Rock / Paper / Scissors" weakness system as well as impact circles. Weapons can be good, bad or neutral in a confrontation: Good will increase your ability to stun your opponent as well as knock them back after a skirmish, while Bad will have you repelled by the enemy. Neutral has both parties pushed a bit.

The "combo range" is dictated by the number of nodes a weapon has when attacking and successfully clearing them is akin to a rhythm game where you time the presses correctly. The range is from extra small up to extra large (most magic weapons default to extra small). In a perfect world, you would strive for "good" match-ups and rely on stronger weapons (usually magic) to win, but this is misleading. The game does a poor job of outlining the pros and cons here. In actuality, combos are more important than outright stats and most weapons with bad pairings tend to have a greater combo range (so magic weapons with an XS range have their uses, but they're very situational whereas other weapons lead to the more consistent meta). Not only that, but knockback is often detrimental to performing full combos (which damage all enemies within range) and combos also give you more summoning power and increase enemy item drop rate. You even get more Alchemy Points for combos and more experience amongst your team as well since they participate more in battle. With all this under the hood, you wouldn't think it gets so repetitive, but it does.

All characters are locked into two (or rarely three) weapon types. There are no shops, so you rely on item drops or Alchemy to get stronger gear. Upgrading weapons isn't terribly difficult, but it IS a double-edged sword. As weapons rank up, the rhythm timing gets faster. When weapons are near max rank, it's extremely difficult to get the timing down on them, which means less consistent combos and smaller combo rings, so making weapons "too strong" actually makes the game harder. As a whole, the game is competent but on a highly limited budget (lovely character art, but very little in the way of assets like music, animation or actual illustrations), somewhat unique and monotonous.