The landscapes and music in this game are the only thing I'd say reach parity with the originals. It just doesn't feel nearly as good to play this as the 3DS games.
I don't know why they changed is to where you don't queue up your whole party's actions together before executing them, but it just made the game feel worse overall. Changing from random battles to pre-existing encounters I also think actually works to this game's detriment. the 3DS games let you change the encounter rate to 0, 50, 100, 150, or 200%, and it worked perfectly--200 for grinding, 0 for backtracking or if you're strapped for resources. Pre-existing counters have no way of skipping them if you're strong enough, a la Earthbound, so getting around is very tedious. It also means there's no nice way to quickly and mindlessly grind up your job xp.
I have yet to beat the game as I am hard stuck on the final asterisk holder, but eventfully when I'm in the mood I'll look up how to beat him and finish up the story. I can't see my rating changing much, though. Overall a disappointing follow-up to the 3DS games.
I don't know why they changed is to where you don't queue up your whole party's actions together before executing them, but it just made the game feel worse overall. Changing from random battles to pre-existing encounters I also think actually works to this game's detriment. the 3DS games let you change the encounter rate to 0, 50, 100, 150, or 200%, and it worked perfectly--200 for grinding, 0 for backtracking or if you're strapped for resources. Pre-existing counters have no way of skipping them if you're strong enough, a la Earthbound, so getting around is very tedious. It also means there's no nice way to quickly and mindlessly grind up your job xp.
I have yet to beat the game as I am hard stuck on the final asterisk holder, but eventfully when I'm in the mood I'll look up how to beat him and finish up the story. I can't see my rating changing much, though. Overall a disappointing follow-up to the 3DS games.