The graphics, music, and general atmosphere of Last Bible 3 are so good. The story is quite compelling and while your humble hometown and initial main cast are adorable, things quickly get surprisingly dark considering Last Bible is allegedly the more lighthearted, family-friendly spinoff of Shin Megami Tensei. The writing has some soul to it, or at least the fan translation is very well done. Aesthetically, Last Bible III is a hidden gem and if nothing else, I recommend you go listen to the soundtrack, which is among the most sonically rich on the Super Nintendo.

But the encounter rate is just sinful. Literally one step can lead to another random battle, and the combat system is not very compelling. The negotiation aspect of it is interesting at first, and the dialogue with this system made me laugh regularly. But even with an auto-battle option, the battles feel just a little too slow. Magic attacks seem to do pitiful damage and the human characters are generally a good deal stronger than the monsters you catch, and plus having a larger party divides up your EXP gains. So I sorta stopped interacting with the monster catching system after awhile, leaving me mashing attack through every battle. I wouldn't say the game is difficult at all, just very tedious.

I think this game could've been really special with some tweaks and re-balancing. A romhack that divides the encounter rate by 4 (and multiplies the EXP rate by 4 accordingly) could make this a pretty great game. Love the vibes, love the music, bored to death by the constant monotonous battles.