Often referred to as simply Berwick Saga (BWS or BS), Lazberia Chronicle Chapter 174 is the second and final installment in the TearRing Saga series. The game is set hundreds of years after the first game TearRing Saga: Yutona Eiyuu Senki on the separate continent of Lazberia and follows the latter days of a war between the Raze Empire and a coalition of nations known as the Berwick League. The story follows Reese, the son of a margrave in the Berwick League, who leads a small band of soldiers to lend support to the League’s main army after it suffers a series of devastating defeats and the loss of its leader, King Mordias IV. Reese works in service of the new leader, King Volcens, and discovers shocking truths about the history of Lazberia, as well as intrigue surrounding the former king and his royal court.
Berwick Saga features many departures from the previous game in the series and its Fire Emblem roots: maps are laid out in hexagonal grids, units’ actions are taken on a unit-by-unit basis (not a turn-by-turn basis), units are unable to counterattack if they are hit by an attack, spears gain more power the more their wielder moves before attacking, and most physical weapons and shields feature probabilistic durability rather than a fixed number of uses. Status effects also appear in Berwick Saga, most notably Crippling, which makes a unit unable to fight and able to be captured for ransom. In addition to recruiting characters as in the previous game, the player can also fill their ranks with mercenary characters, who must be re-hired each chapter until the conditions are met for their permanent recruitment. Whether recruited or hired, characters who fall in battle generally remain dead with no way to revive them.
The game features 15 chapters, which consist of a large main mission and on average two smaller sub-missions, with a total of 41 maps. Between missions, players are able to visit many locations around the city of Navaron, such as shops and armories to buy items, a guild to hire mercenaries, and a restaurant to provide temporary boosts to units’ stats.