An interesting blend of tower defence with some RPG mechanics, in which you play as Azra, the Royal Librarian, who must travel through a land ravaged by plague. Despite not being able to fight, Azra is able to summon capable warriors to defend her. This unique talent ties Azra's afte to the fate of the world.

As far as stories go, the plot for Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten, is unique, especially for a tower defence game. The world is inhabited with quirky characters, some with some interesting backstories. I like the fact that the tower defense mechanic is tied to the story- the goal is to protect Azra and the 'towers' you use are the people she meets along the way. At the end of each level, each character gains experience points and when they level up, you can invest points in their skills. Each character type has branching skill trees, allowing you to create varied parties, which also allows you to experiment with different strategies, for example your ice mages could be used to slow down enemies or to create attacks that affect groups of enemies.

As for the levels, each is one is different and offer a new challenge. I will say that the different difficulty level were a little disappointing, as the harder levels are just enemies with more hit points. The New Game+ does reuse the same level designs but it does use other enemies, as well as offer side quests to give the player a further challenge. Overall, Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten doesn't outstay its welcome but does offer enough content to justify the cost.

Something I do want to mention is that I played the game on my Vita and I noticed that the game suffered performance wise. If there were too many enemies on the screen, too many effects going off or I used the fastest speed option, the game would often freeze and then shut down. This can be mitigated by sticking to the lower game speeds. This may only be something that affects the Vita, but I wanted to point it out, just in case repeated shutdowns would ruin the experience for you.

Overall, Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten is a fantastic tower defence game that succeeds in trying to bring new elements to the genre. If you are fan of RPGs or tower defence games, then I recommend you give this game a go.