feels frankly fucking goofy to say this next sentence but here we go: i really enjoy every single thing about this RPG except its combat. holy shit, can you imagine this game with robust combat that was actually interesting and challenged you? my, what a marvel of an idea.
i jest but also behind that lampoon is a nugget of truth: the combat is easily the weakest part of this game for me. for virtually the entirety of the game i felt next to no threat during combat and would easily roflstomp most enemies and bosses. and, keep in mind, i wasn't even actively trying to break the game by using some of Those strategies (from what i hear, danger mario snaps this game's difficulty in half and then again). if anything, i was actively trying to challenge myself this replay by not leveling my HP at all, to make myself susceptible to death more frequently. and until basically gloomtail, i had no issues. gloomtail onwards became a "every boss has attacks that can one shot me" affair so i basically had to run with my tail between my legs and level up my HP some, but those fights were still not terribly engaging or challenging. on a fundamental level, the combat of this game fails to hook me in any regard.
when i fight enemies and bosses, i am barely paying attention and feel like i'm going through the motions. sure, you could very easily argue that a lot of random encounters in some of my favorite JRPGs have this problem now and again, but none of them have action commands, which force your attention and timing on the combat. i hate action commands, but i'll withhold the rant. what i will not spare from my ranting, however, is how annoying this game's RNG elements are. here's a real and true story that happened to me: during the final boss of the game, i had that annoying ass fog roll in for two turns. ok. fine. for two turns both me and my partner missed while the final boss landed their attacks easily. that sucks. then, after the fog vanished, a boo in the audience made the final boss invisible for a turn and. fuck is this shit frustrating. i hate the random elements of the "stage" setting and while it's a novel and endearing idea at first, it steadfastly wears out its welcome. good god, against bonetail i had my audience fall asleep twice. "okay, and is that the point?" i ask TTYD. "do you want me to fight bonetail without any star point regeneration?" i humbly inquire. "no! of course not! this is just something completely random that happened to you to inconvenience you. this occurred for no other reason than we think it'd be funny to have random events like this occur during every fight and for you to have no ability to influence them." the game exclaims with a sense of glee i could only find from 7 year olds screaming at the top of their lungs. it's just objectively bad design, and i really hate to pull out the old O word. but you cannot convince me that this adds anything to the game when combat is already lifeless and dull.
ok anyways enough of the bad stuff. ummmmmmmmm i like the rest of the game. the end :)
i jest but also behind that lampoon is a nugget of truth: the combat is easily the weakest part of this game for me. for virtually the entirety of the game i felt next to no threat during combat and would easily roflstomp most enemies and bosses. and, keep in mind, i wasn't even actively trying to break the game by using some of Those strategies (from what i hear, danger mario snaps this game's difficulty in half and then again). if anything, i was actively trying to challenge myself this replay by not leveling my HP at all, to make myself susceptible to death more frequently. and until basically gloomtail, i had no issues. gloomtail onwards became a "every boss has attacks that can one shot me" affair so i basically had to run with my tail between my legs and level up my HP some, but those fights were still not terribly engaging or challenging. on a fundamental level, the combat of this game fails to hook me in any regard.
when i fight enemies and bosses, i am barely paying attention and feel like i'm going through the motions. sure, you could very easily argue that a lot of random encounters in some of my favorite JRPGs have this problem now and again, but none of them have action commands, which force your attention and timing on the combat. i hate action commands, but i'll withhold the rant. what i will not spare from my ranting, however, is how annoying this game's RNG elements are. here's a real and true story that happened to me: during the final boss of the game, i had that annoying ass fog roll in for two turns. ok. fine. for two turns both me and my partner missed while the final boss landed their attacks easily. that sucks. then, after the fog vanished, a boo in the audience made the final boss invisible for a turn and. fuck is this shit frustrating. i hate the random elements of the "stage" setting and while it's a novel and endearing idea at first, it steadfastly wears out its welcome. good god, against bonetail i had my audience fall asleep twice. "okay, and is that the point?" i ask TTYD. "do you want me to fight bonetail without any star point regeneration?" i humbly inquire. "no! of course not! this is just something completely random that happened to you to inconvenience you. this occurred for no other reason than we think it'd be funny to have random events like this occur during every fight and for you to have no ability to influence them." the game exclaims with a sense of glee i could only find from 7 year olds screaming at the top of their lungs. it's just objectively bad design, and i really hate to pull out the old O word. but you cannot convince me that this adds anything to the game when combat is already lifeless and dull.
ok anyways enough of the bad stuff. ummmmmmmmm i like the rest of the game. the end :)
BlazingWaters
1 year ago
By the time the fog effect is unlocked, you're right around the point Bobbery becomes a party member who's explosive attacks can disrupt it, and even beforehand Flurrie's Gale Force is an adequate alternative to use 4FP on to get rid of in the event the need arises. This is probably the best balance of random elements being mixed in with player control.
Then you got the Boo example and here's when the balance gets lopsided. I can only recall like, low double digit times it actually benefitted me and not the enemy, so the roll of that's already screwy, but the reversal done to it isn't. You either use Vivian to hide away until the effect wears off which costs FP, wait for another randm chance of a water spill landing on the enemy to dispel it, or implement Dodgy via upgraded Flurrie or the Cape item, which still results in using a resource. Sure you still have options, but it's not as user friendly.
There's more, such as the stupid ass Posion Shroom effect which is way too punishing and should've either be a half-cut of stats or full audience loss and not both, but that'd be strongly derailing the point that the combat system isn't as cool as the overzealous fans make it out to be. I mean, I still prefer it over PM64's simply cause that game is so simple it borders on being easier, plus partners here are more diverse to the kit, but it ain't perfect.
Anyway hopefully this sounds rather neutral and not stingy, cause I do agree with you on these aspects of the RNG, even though I'm not that bothered by it anymore for personal reasons.