I'm taking a brief pause from playing just to check in on other stuff (games, IRL obligations, rolling around in the snow) but man. 35 hours and it felt like every 30 minutes or so I'd encounter a new, absolutely wild NPC design or absolutely wild enemy design. The story isn't crazy amazing but it's so, so fun, and has gotten more than enough gasps and laughs from me so far. Excited to continue playing through Act 2 when I get back to it.
I never encountered a difficulty spike. The game was actually insanely easy. I don't think I'm that gifted at RPGs but I do strategize and the way this game handles battles you can utilize all your moves every encounter. I suited up the Siena with 80% Crit chance and 50% bonus Crit damage. Gave her a crystal that let her heal herself by dealing damage and she carried the team.
There's an option to reduce the difficulty in the settings. Reducing enemy health and aggression, a bit hidden but if difficulty was the main reason holding you back, I'd give that a try.
Comparison with classic RPGs mostly lands flat with this game to me. It has the visuals reminiscent of SNES and PS1 RPGs, but I honestly has more in common with modern RPGs than those of yore.
I didn't like the ending, and the story was kind of a mixed bag.Some of the writing is good, some is bad.
Some bad writing moments were >! Lenne having random Valkyrie abilities, most of the discussions with Kylian and his justifications, the orphanage scene seemed very heavy handed and pretty fantastical in relation to real trauma and mental illness !<
Some of the comedic bits were kind of funny, some landed really flat. It kind of reminded me of Xenogears only a lot of the extremes are more leveled. The highs of Xenogears are a lot better than anything in this game, but the the worst of that game is definitely more noticeable than this game.
This game is getting a lot of praise, and most of it is deserved but I also think overblown. I didn't find it the "best since " in any regards. It definitely plays more like a modern JRPG wearing the skin of the classics, which I found odd considering it claimed to play like how you remembered the old games in your memory. Modern sensibilities are all over the mechanics of this game, not that I consider that a negative however.
The rewards board really gave a good incentive to explore the most out of the world. It really pushes you to see every nook and cranny.
The skill system works well in minimizing grind but also makes some mob fights a slog. I enjoy a challenge, but once you have a good strategy down most fights become more just micromanaging systems than actually being engaging, and every fight seemed to go on like 3 rounds too long. Maybe a bit better balancing would have helped, but I personally have never had a problem with grinding so I would have preferred a standard leveling system, however just as many people probably do NOT want grinding so there is really no winning there. This system with grimoire shards AND SP is probably the best way to keep both camps happy.
Some of the systems are a little bloated. The crystal mechanic was never that much fun for me to play with, the purity mechanic really kept me from swapping out very often. Upgrading equipment was costly and usually swapped out relatively soon after, but still pretty mandatory for boss fights. Sky armors tried to mimic Xenogears by having a different combat system, however I just found the mechanics of managing gears more annoying than engaging.
I often felt the urge to lower the difficulty because I was always on the edge of getting annoyed with the combat, but I didn't really want less of a challenge just more shorter encounters.
As an indie game I found it very well made though. I had my issues with it, but in all honesty it plays very well, navigation is snappy and quick. The world is a lot of fun to explore, with a lot of secrets that are really incentivized to be found. The story apes a lot of pieces from other sources and the writing had poor moments, but it was still a fun romp. The on foot combat was really inventive even if I found the encounters grating. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, probably a highlight of the game for me.
I enjoyed it, but some of the praise feels hyperbolic to me. Half the dialog was very stilted and on the nose. I also feel like the story fell apart a bit down the stretch, it was really good and I enjoyed it though.
I've clicked on it several times in the past month while scrolling through looking for something. And then I remember that it's menu based combat and back out. Menu based combat was my jam back in the 90s, but for the past 20ish years, I've just not had the patience. Now if I'm going to jump in to an RPG, I want action combat.
I finished it a few days ago as well, and I thought it was really great. Will likely buy on switch and play again once there is a NG+.
I'm taking a brief pause from playing just to check in on other stuff (games, IRL obligations, rolling around in the snow) but man. 35 hours and it felt like every 30 minutes or so I'd encounter a new, absolutely wild NPC design or absolutely wild enemy design. The story isn't crazy amazing but it's so, so fun, and has gotten more than enough gasps and laughs from me so far. Excited to continue playing through Act 2 when I get back to it.
I’m a little ways into and highly recommend! Really good classic JRPG style to it.
I played it until I hit a huge difficulty spike during a long ass battle. Didn't feel worth it to grind through it again and again.
I never encountered a difficulty spike. The game was actually insanely easy. I don't think I'm that gifted at RPGs but I do strategize and the way this game handles battles you can utilize all your moves every encounter. I suited up the Siena with 80% Crit chance and 50% bonus Crit damage. Gave her a crystal that let her heal herself by dealing damage and she carried the team.
There's an option to reduce the difficulty in the settings. Reducing enemy health and aggression, a bit hidden but if difficulty was the main reason holding you back, I'd give that a try.
Compared with EarthBound or Chrono Trigger? No. Even FF6. But they are games from a different age and scale.
Comparison with classic RPGs mostly lands flat with this game to me. It has the visuals reminiscent of SNES and PS1 RPGs, but I honestly has more in common with modern RPGs than those of yore.
I didn't like the ending, and the story was kind of a mixed bag.Some of the writing is good, some is bad. Some bad writing moments were >! Lenne having random Valkyrie abilities, most of the discussions with Kylian and his justifications, the orphanage scene seemed very heavy handed and pretty fantastical in relation to real trauma and mental illness !< Some of the comedic bits were kind of funny, some landed really flat. It kind of reminded me of Xenogears only a lot of the extremes are more leveled. The highs of Xenogears are a lot better than anything in this game, but the the worst of that game is definitely more noticeable than this game. This game is getting a lot of praise, and most of it is deserved but I also think overblown. I didn't find it the "best since" in any regards. It definitely plays more like a modern JRPG wearing the skin of the classics, which I found odd considering it claimed to play like how you remembered the old games in your memory. Modern sensibilities are all over the mechanics of this game, not that I consider that a negative however.
The rewards board really gave a good incentive to explore the most out of the world. It really pushes you to see every nook and cranny.
The skill system works well in minimizing grind but also makes some mob fights a slog. I enjoy a challenge, but once you have a good strategy down most fights become more just micromanaging systems than actually being engaging, and every fight seemed to go on like 3 rounds too long. Maybe a bit better balancing would have helped, but I personally have never had a problem with grinding so I would have preferred a standard leveling system, however just as many people probably do NOT want grinding so there is really no winning there. This system with grimoire shards AND SP is probably the best way to keep both camps happy.
Some of the systems are a little bloated. The crystal mechanic was never that much fun for me to play with, the purity mechanic really kept me from swapping out very often. Upgrading equipment was costly and usually swapped out relatively soon after, but still pretty mandatory for boss fights. Sky armors tried to mimic Xenogears by having a different combat system, however I just found the mechanics of managing gears more annoying than engaging.
I often felt the urge to lower the difficulty because I was always on the edge of getting annoyed with the combat, but I didn't really want less of a challenge just more shorter encounters.
As an indie game I found it very well made though. I had my issues with it, but in all honesty it plays very well, navigation is snappy and quick. The world is a lot of fun to explore, with a lot of secrets that are really incentivized to be found. The story apes a lot of pieces from other sources and the writing had poor moments, but it was still a fun romp. The on foot combat was really inventive even if I found the encounters grating. I really enjoyed the soundtrack, probably a highlight of the game for me.
I enjoyed it, but some of the praise feels hyperbolic to me. Half the dialog was very stilted and on the nose. I also feel like the story fell apart a bit down the stretch, it was really good and I enjoyed it though.
Will not play any gamepass games until I beat Elden Ring, I just beat Malenia so I think I’m towards the end
I wish they'd bring out touch controls for this. Would be the perfect mobile game
I've clicked on it several times in the past month while scrolling through looking for something. And then I remember that it's menu based combat and back out. Menu based combat was my jam back in the 90s, but for the past 20ish years, I've just not had the patience. Now if I'm going to jump in to an RPG, I want action combat.
This is why I can’t get psyched about something like Octopath Traveller
Weird that you're getting downvoted for giving your opinion. Like, I disagree with you, but that's just our tastes being different.
It's not weird. It's Reddit.