"I often wonder if we are growing as a people... or in fact, regressing"
A clean summation of my feelings about this game would be a failed reconciliation. For every conceptual idea we have presented we have a mismatch in implementation. The battle between ambition versus execution is a prevalent issue sprinkled all throughout the framework. We are given a world dense with history, that creates sprawling awe-inspired environments to invest the player into deeply. Yet, the characters and events lending themselves to this lore are plagued with static arcs and an inability to rise to the stakes presented as the drama peaks. A complex battle system with thorough magic combinations and massively rewarding tactical planning when done right, that unleashes brutally satisfying team attacks. On the other hand, it is almost required to even dispatch the weakest of opponents, even ones two dozen levels beneath you, creating tedium in standard encounters. A vast array of endless options for team composition to meet your preferences and needs. Conversely, the majority of the best choices are locked behind a gatcha RNG system that requires patience, luck, and hope to get something useful outside the clearly superior story options. Everything here lends itself to a payoff that is excellent, although the struggle of meeting the line between points A and B is exceedingly noticeable. When it works, it manages to capture all the allure of the genre with a sense of brilliance and wonder. When it fails, it awkwardly crashes into the ground digging a hole so deep, that you wonder to yourself how it could escape from such plight. For all the wonderful music, scope, and ideas this game is held back by flimsy scripting and needlessly complicated systems that make the most mundane activities a chore. This game is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and depending on your feelings towards those extremes, your experience is bound to majorly differ. Godbless Poppi α for existing.
We hereby award: The Bronze Seal of Recognition
A clean summation of my feelings about this game would be a failed reconciliation. For every conceptual idea we have presented we have a mismatch in implementation. The battle between ambition versus execution is a prevalent issue sprinkled all throughout the framework. We are given a world dense with history, that creates sprawling awe-inspired environments to invest the player into deeply. Yet, the characters and events lending themselves to this lore are plagued with static arcs and an inability to rise to the stakes presented as the drama peaks. A complex battle system with thorough magic combinations and massively rewarding tactical planning when done right, that unleashes brutally satisfying team attacks. On the other hand, it is almost required to even dispatch the weakest of opponents, even ones two dozen levels beneath you, creating tedium in standard encounters. A vast array of endless options for team composition to meet your preferences and needs. Conversely, the majority of the best choices are locked behind a gatcha RNG system that requires patience, luck, and hope to get something useful outside the clearly superior story options. Everything here lends itself to a payoff that is excellent, although the struggle of meeting the line between points A and B is exceedingly noticeable. When it works, it manages to capture all the allure of the genre with a sense of brilliance and wonder. When it fails, it awkwardly crashes into the ground digging a hole so deep, that you wonder to yourself how it could escape from such plight. For all the wonderful music, scope, and ideas this game is held back by flimsy scripting and needlessly complicated systems that make the most mundane activities a chore. This game is a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and depending on your feelings towards those extremes, your experience is bound to majorly differ. Godbless Poppi α for existing.
We hereby award: The Bronze Seal of Recognition