LiefKatano
2021
This review contains spoilers
The story's played way safer compared to the previous games, which wouldn't be as much of a problem if they didn't completely botch the execution anyways. The only real interesting scenario is Savalon, because of the whole "flooded by water crystal" thing. (I think it's neat, at least - the crystals causing problems by not being where they should.) The earth crystal scenario tries to be interesting like that, at least, but the fire crystal doesn't try at all.
Gameplay suffers from inexplicably cutting out QoL features. A huge one is with the battle system - for some reason, they made the shift to a conditional turn-based format (think Final Fantasy X), but they didn't pair being able to view the turn order - they just gave vague indications of who's up next. You could argue that this is to counterbalance how it would affect Brave/Default; I'd argue that's a good reason to just sticking to traditional turn-based like the last two games.
The jobs are kinda sloppily designed. They undid the "double unlock" system for magic that the first two games had, which wouldn't be too bad if they didn't also make getting job levels way more accessible. This does not make magic good. On the contrary, they massively undertuned magic because you can, without too much effort, get -aga spells before even leaving the first area. (The job levels being easier to get thing would be nice if this wasn't almost assuredly the direct result). One of the final jobs you unlock has its schtick completely undermined by its final passive, which lets you break the damage limit. You can deal 10k damage over four turns... or you can slam 45k (generously, it's easy to get more) at once with, say, Berserker. Your call.
...I will say that I do like that specialties are actually, like, special, rather than "just" a job having an innate version of a passive they can learn normally. The integration is kinda wonky and uneven (some are very subclass-reliant, some are more focused on the class itself. some are really fucking good (tank class gets more attack the more target rate it has!), others are bottom tier crap - I'm looking at you, black mage specialty 2, or "use a different element, dipshit!"). But it's a nice concept.
Also counterattacks are dumb in this game. They're either a huge pain in the ass or absolutely nothing to worry about, depending on where you are in the game. Early on they're godawful, most of the game they're un-notable because you get a passive to dodge most of them (yes really), end game they're super fucking annoying because one of them is... Counter Any Ability: BP +1. Extra turns because you did literally anything. This makes you lean towards not letting your enemies get a turn at all, which is really easy, and I'm gonna let you in on a secret: keeping your enemies effortlessly locked down is really, really fucking boring. Status effects are absolutely criminally unused in RPGs but the way to make them usable is not making a passive that lets them have a 100% success rate, at least/especially when one of those statuses makes your enemies completely unable to move.
Like it could be fun in theory but like, almost every boss (when it's relevant) is open to some variant of it. That's boring.
Also sidequests generally suck, compared to the last two games. There's some that are fun and also worth it (not-coincidentally, they have voice acting) but most of them are just... dumb crap for shit that's not even unique.
tl;dr - there's a lot that went wrong with this game. i won't, admittedly, say it's BAD - it's serviceable enough and for most of the game it isn't really offensive. But it could've been more - and it doesn't always land on its feet for what it's trying to be.
Gameplay suffers from inexplicably cutting out QoL features. A huge one is with the battle system - for some reason, they made the shift to a conditional turn-based format (think Final Fantasy X), but they didn't pair being able to view the turn order - they just gave vague indications of who's up next. You could argue that this is to counterbalance how it would affect Brave/Default; I'd argue that's a good reason to just sticking to traditional turn-based like the last two games.
The jobs are kinda sloppily designed. They undid the "double unlock" system for magic that the first two games had, which wouldn't be too bad if they didn't also make getting job levels way more accessible. This does not make magic good. On the contrary, they massively undertuned magic because you can, without too much effort, get -aga spells before even leaving the first area. (The job levels being easier to get thing would be nice if this wasn't almost assuredly the direct result). One of the final jobs you unlock has its schtick completely undermined by its final passive, which lets you break the damage limit. You can deal 10k damage over four turns... or you can slam 45k (generously, it's easy to get more) at once with, say, Berserker. Your call.
...I will say that I do like that specialties are actually, like, special, rather than "just" a job having an innate version of a passive they can learn normally. The integration is kinda wonky and uneven (some are very subclass-reliant, some are more focused on the class itself. some are really fucking good (tank class gets more attack the more target rate it has!), others are bottom tier crap - I'm looking at you, black mage specialty 2, or "use a different element, dipshit!"). But it's a nice concept.
Also counterattacks are dumb in this game. They're either a huge pain in the ass or absolutely nothing to worry about, depending on where you are in the game. Early on they're godawful, most of the game they're un-notable because you get a passive to dodge most of them (yes really), end game they're super fucking annoying because one of them is... Counter Any Ability: BP +1. Extra turns because you did literally anything. This makes you lean towards not letting your enemies get a turn at all, which is really easy, and I'm gonna let you in on a secret: keeping your enemies effortlessly locked down is really, really fucking boring. Status effects are absolutely criminally unused in RPGs but the way to make them usable is not making a passive that lets them have a 100% success rate, at least/especially when one of those statuses makes your enemies completely unable to move.
Like it could be fun in theory but like, almost every boss (when it's relevant) is open to some variant of it. That's boring.
Also sidequests generally suck, compared to the last two games. There's some that are fun and also worth it (not-coincidentally, they have voice acting) but most of them are just... dumb crap for shit that's not even unique.
tl;dr - there's a lot that went wrong with this game. i won't, admittedly, say it's BAD - it's serviceable enough and for most of the game it isn't really offensive. But it could've been more - and it doesn't always land on its feet for what it's trying to be.
Very good strategic gameplay. Decent if admittedly lackluster story. (I think it's fine but I get that other people might be wanting.)
I really like how bosses are handled in this game. Most map objectives are "defeat boss", which I liked in Tactics Ogre and I liked here as well. Bosses rooted in one place are also the exception rather than the norm, which I like as a way of making you always be wary of them. Also helping is the "revival stone", mechanic - basically the bosses having however many equally-long health bars. It sounds like it has the potential to be annoying but I can appreciate the staying power it gives the bosses - killing them in one full turn is still possible, but you'll definitely need multiple units for it and it's more of a commitment. And it feels really satisfying when you manage to deplete all of their health bars in one turn; each health bar being normal-sized helps. I'd say I only really got annoyed with revival stones when there were multiple units on the field with them, moreso when they otherwise were generic, but those moments are super rare, mercifully.
I think the main weakness of the gameplay is the unit building - specifically, how restrictive it is. You get exactly two slots for skills of your choice - and (at least before version 1.3) you had extremely limited SP to purchase skills with, leading to easy decision paralysis. Another potential annoyance is that there are some unique and potentially useful skills on bond rings, but using them means that you have to completely give up the generally-more-useful engage rings. Understandable, maybe, but still kind of restrictive for my tastes. (Also class skills kinda suck, though I do appreciate how the "activation skills" - things like Luna and Ignis - are restricted to special classes. Makes them feel fancier and exclusive like they used to... but they also don't have cool animations...)
Finally, I want to talk about the story. It exists. It's not the very best story, and I can see why it would be easy to be disappointed with it after Three Houses, which at the very least tried to be more ambitious with it (and I think is generally accepted to have been more successful with it than, say, Fates). There are still, however, pieces of the story that I liked a lot - some of them are, admittedly, most likely because they hit a weak point for me, but I really like the villain. Without getting into spoilers, I think he evokes some more unique emotions. He commits the cardinal sin of "you only learn about him five seconds before you punch his face in" but in spite of that those five seconds make him fairly memorable, I think! It's not a masterpiece by any means but I still genuinely think it was enjoyable enough to not make me want to skip through every story scene just to get to gameplay faster.
I really like how bosses are handled in this game. Most map objectives are "defeat boss", which I liked in Tactics Ogre and I liked here as well. Bosses rooted in one place are also the exception rather than the norm, which I like as a way of making you always be wary of them. Also helping is the "revival stone", mechanic - basically the bosses having however many equally-long health bars. It sounds like it has the potential to be annoying but I can appreciate the staying power it gives the bosses - killing them in one full turn is still possible, but you'll definitely need multiple units for it and it's more of a commitment. And it feels really satisfying when you manage to deplete all of their health bars in one turn; each health bar being normal-sized helps. I'd say I only really got annoyed with revival stones when there were multiple units on the field with them, moreso when they otherwise were generic, but those moments are super rare, mercifully.
I think the main weakness of the gameplay is the unit building - specifically, how restrictive it is. You get exactly two slots for skills of your choice - and (at least before version 1.3) you had extremely limited SP to purchase skills with, leading to easy decision paralysis. Another potential annoyance is that there are some unique and potentially useful skills on bond rings, but using them means that you have to completely give up the generally-more-useful engage rings. Understandable, maybe, but still kind of restrictive for my tastes. (Also class skills kinda suck, though I do appreciate how the "activation skills" - things like Luna and Ignis - are restricted to special classes. Makes them feel fancier and exclusive like they used to... but they also don't have cool animations...)
Finally, I want to talk about the story. It exists. It's not the very best story, and I can see why it would be easy to be disappointed with it after Three Houses, which at the very least tried to be more ambitious with it (and I think is generally accepted to have been more successful with it than, say, Fates). There are still, however, pieces of the story that I liked a lot - some of them are, admittedly, most likely because they hit a weak point for me, but I really like the villain. Without getting into spoilers, I think he evokes some more unique emotions. He commits the cardinal sin of "you only learn about him five seconds before you punch his face in" but in spite of that those five seconds make him fairly memorable, I think! It's not a masterpiece by any means but I still genuinely think it was enjoyable enough to not make me want to skip through every story scene just to get to gameplay faster.
2012
It's a cute little RPG, though I'd definitely say the more hardcore might enjoy it more. Not as hard as I was expecting given some of the things I've heard about it - admittedly, I know some Secrets about the gameplay systems that help a bit, but they honestly don't feel like they'd be impactful enough to make it that much easier?
Admittedly, the game also forces you to grind. Probably one of the most infamous aspects of the game is that you need a fairly-rare drop from fairly-rare reinforcements to proceed in the game three times (if you're going for the good ending). Even if you know what to look for (I did) it's gonna take a bit to show up, which lets you power up your gear fairly well even without going out of your way (unless you get ridiculously unlucky or, in an ironic twist, ridiculously lucky with getting the required drop).
Mastering buffs, debuffs, and elemental combos are key to succeeding in combat, which is a plus in my book. Dice factor in less than you might expect, and the ability to rig your rolls (if you have a guide) makes it... even less contributory, honestly.
The writing is excellent, as you'd expect from a game penned by Matsuno - I think my only critique would be that the actions that let you get the good ending... don't really make sense for causing the good ending, if that makes any sense? Otherwise it does a good job of building the world, which is particularly impressive considering that it's sixteen hours long and takes place inside a singular dungeon.
Overall, I do like the game, but I can't really say I'd recommend it a ton (at least to actually play).
Admittedly, the game also forces you to grind. Probably one of the most infamous aspects of the game is that you need a fairly-rare drop from fairly-rare reinforcements to proceed in the game three times (if you're going for the good ending). Even if you know what to look for (I did) it's gonna take a bit to show up, which lets you power up your gear fairly well even without going out of your way (unless you get ridiculously unlucky or, in an ironic twist, ridiculously lucky with getting the required drop).
Mastering buffs, debuffs, and elemental combos are key to succeeding in combat, which is a plus in my book. Dice factor in less than you might expect, and the ability to rig your rolls (if you have a guide) makes it... even less contributory, honestly.
The writing is excellent, as you'd expect from a game penned by Matsuno - I think my only critique would be that the actions that let you get the good ending... don't really make sense for causing the good ending, if that makes any sense? Otherwise it does a good job of building the world, which is particularly impressive considering that it's sixteen hours long and takes place inside a singular dungeon.
Overall, I do like the game, but I can't really say I'd recommend it a ton (at least to actually play).
There's a LOT of streamlining which is very much appreciated here. "It's super effective!" shows up during an attack, and how they handle EXP and learning moves makes post-battle far more streamlined and less annoying with pestering about learning moves and what-not. It's not perfect, and there's definitely some redundancy still (the menu to go back to town has two "I'm gonna keep exploring!" options, actually equipping new moves - while still less tedious than the old option - kinda takes too long for no real reason, and the "continue" screen in boss battles can be too verbose). It's still a much-appreciated step forward for the Pokemon franchise, though.
I will say, though, that rare Pokemon like Cherrim or Munchlax can be REALLY annoying to find, which is a huge pain in the butt. The action RPG elements don't really help either, especially for Pokemon that opt to flee - it MAKES SENSE but it's annoying for rarer ones that might not always show up.
I will say, though, that rare Pokemon like Cherrim or Munchlax can be REALLY annoying to find, which is a huge pain in the butt. The action RPG elements don't really help either, especially for Pokemon that opt to flee - it MAKES SENSE but it's annoying for rarer ones that might not always show up.
2019
A major improvement on the base game. Still maintains some of the awkwardness of the story (and the quality starts to roll downhill at roughly the final palace and it doesn't really get BETTER) and the DLC is, uh, atrocious still (ATLUS! P-Team!) but gameplay wise? Major improvements, making it an incredibly smooth JRPG.
If nothing else, being able to exploit status ailments and technical damage to knock enemies down, and also passing the baton to deal tons of damage? Beautiful. (The bosses that incorporate technical/baton pass into their gimmicks are the best bosses in the game, incidentally.)
If nothing else, being able to exploit status ailments and technical damage to knock enemies down, and also passing the baton to deal tons of damage? Beautiful. (The bosses that incorporate technical/baton pass into their gimmicks are the best bosses in the game, incidentally.)
2023
Definitely on the simpler side for an RPG (though tbqh I'll take this over the more complicated action commands its progeny can have), but still an enjoyable adventure, imo. I like the overhauled mechanics a bit, but the fact that most of the game was not designed with them in mind can make them fall a bit flat...
I think my main complaint is that some of the sidequest stuff still shows its age in being rough and kinda unfun, though I'll admit this is at least partially because I'm not actually the greatest at reflexive stuff.
Game is definitely a treat visually. I feel like they knew when it'd be best to show off the new possible capabilities (ex. boss intros, certain cutscenes) while otherwise still being charmingly faithful.
I think my main complaint is that some of the sidequest stuff still shows its age in being rough and kinda unfun, though I'll admit this is at least partially because I'm not actually the greatest at reflexive stuff.
Game is definitely a treat visually. I feel like they knew when it'd be best to show off the new possible capabilities (ex. boss intros, certain cutscenes) while otherwise still being charmingly faithful.
2023
Decent dungeon crawler but not one I'd recommend to those not already invested in the genre, imo. Some of the weird quirks of the game are fun to be able to use, at least.
Definitely would recommend this over the DS original, because you can make far more accurate maps in the HD Remaster!
Definitely would recommend this over the DS original, because you can make far more accurate maps in the HD Remaster!