I like the 3d environments with 2d characters, although despite the addition of the boost system it feels like a pretty standard fare jrpg
Played about 30 hours (for the 3rd time). I really don't know if I'll ever finish this game or not. This is the 3rd time I've set it aside and I wish I could just commit to finishing this game. This game's presentation is amazing, and it's honestly a contender for best JRPG soundtrack of all time, which is huge for me. All the characters are likeable enough on their own and the combat can be really fun. The thing is that this game really shows its hand early on, as what you do in the first 10 or so hours seems to be what you do for another 40. The structure just gets a little too repetitive and then I start to realize that the break and boost system starts to make random battles feel drawn out rather than interesting. I really do want to just finish this game and finally get it over with, but at this point I might just try out Octopath II as I hear it does a lot of little things to really improve the pacing of the overall experience.
I do not like this game. To sum it up the experience feels like I am in Groundhog day forced to replay a terribly written prologue to a fantasy RPG but they replace the character each time loop.
The game presents you with eight characters, but none of them are particularly interesting, and they barely interact with each other. They feel like tropes and stereotypes of medieval western characters without much to differentiate them. Writing everything in such a self-contained manner, as if each adventurer has entirely set off on their own, does no favors too. It hinders potential interactions and makes everyone feel even more like blank slates and cardboard cutouts. Not to mention for me personally, there are no interesting themes or overall cohesion to the character’s journeys.
Each plot line also feels so damned terrible, they read like someone put up a board of ideas and started throwing darts blindfolded. And with eight of them, none of the individual plotlines have room to fully develop into an actually unique narrative. But I think the biggest problem of all is the pacing. As said in the beginning, each new character’s story starts generic and cliché, and you have to go through this eight times. This makes it such a drag, a long tedious and arduous drag for people who put a lot of points into narrative in a video game.
The game presents you with eight characters, but none of them are particularly interesting, and they barely interact with each other. They feel like tropes and stereotypes of medieval western characters without much to differentiate them. Writing everything in such a self-contained manner, as if each adventurer has entirely set off on their own, does no favors too. It hinders potential interactions and makes everyone feel even more like blank slates and cardboard cutouts. Not to mention for me personally, there are no interesting themes or overall cohesion to the character’s journeys.
Each plot line also feels so damned terrible, they read like someone put up a board of ideas and started throwing darts blindfolded. And with eight of them, none of the individual plotlines have room to fully develop into an actually unique narrative. But I think the biggest problem of all is the pacing. As said in the beginning, each new character’s story starts generic and cliché, and you have to go through this eight times. This makes it such a drag, a long tedious and arduous drag for people who put a lot of points into narrative in a video game.