I think as far as a remake goes, they pretty much did everything right. However I also remembered the plot and characters being better and boy was my memory wrong.
Overall gameplay wise, it's pretty fun, simple action-lite combat where your characters have two skills equipped at first and then you can have access to 4 in total. Magic users can just cast any spell equipped via menu. I found the combat generally easy on the normal difficulty. Though there were times when an enemy would just wipe you easy if you didn't pay attention, very much a game where everyone tends to be glass cannons.
There's also the crafting system which while it's optional is pretty fun (and can be very busted) it's actually cool in that you can control your experience if you want to make the game easier by engaging into it early on. Though it can be RNG dependent which compelled me to save scumy so I can get what I wanted without wasting materials.
Graphics look great, they kept the sprite based look and while I don't know if this qualifies as 2D-HD like Octo, it's got that similar vibe. Overall it was a good decision to keep it like that. Music is also great and I liked the newer arranged tracks.
Which leads to QOL, they added a fast travel system and where you can see the pending personal actions or side quests which is handy. Enemies are now visible on the map so you can avoid/fight easier. And they made it so skill and crafting points are separate and easier to get which means you can break the game easier if you wish. You can also swap back to the older art in the menu of the other releases or the original sound track.
What didn't age well for me though was the plot and characters. While the character's aren't bad, they all have some interesting points, they tend to just fade into the background due to the fact that you can only recruit so many. So once you pass their important plot function they rarely say or do much of anything. And there wasn't any private actions added which means that affinity control has to be artificially done via items if you're going for certain endings.
The plot was kind of all over. It starts out simple enough but then it just kind of jumps the shark without smoothly transitioning from point to point, and the fact that the characters just roll with it just didn't make it believable within the context of the game or make it come together.
Overall though it's a fun JRPG and I mostly played a bit before bed. But it's not one you play for the plot but the gameplay and vibes.
Overall gameplay wise, it's pretty fun, simple action-lite combat where your characters have two skills equipped at first and then you can have access to 4 in total. Magic users can just cast any spell equipped via menu. I found the combat generally easy on the normal difficulty. Though there were times when an enemy would just wipe you easy if you didn't pay attention, very much a game where everyone tends to be glass cannons.
There's also the crafting system which while it's optional is pretty fun (and can be very busted) it's actually cool in that you can control your experience if you want to make the game easier by engaging into it early on. Though it can be RNG dependent which compelled me to save scumy so I can get what I wanted without wasting materials.
Graphics look great, they kept the sprite based look and while I don't know if this qualifies as 2D-HD like Octo, it's got that similar vibe. Overall it was a good decision to keep it like that. Music is also great and I liked the newer arranged tracks.
Which leads to QOL, they added a fast travel system and where you can see the pending personal actions or side quests which is handy. Enemies are now visible on the map so you can avoid/fight easier. And they made it so skill and crafting points are separate and easier to get which means you can break the game easier if you wish. You can also swap back to the older art in the menu of the other releases or the original sound track.
What didn't age well for me though was the plot and characters. While the character's aren't bad, they all have some interesting points, they tend to just fade into the background due to the fact that you can only recruit so many. So once you pass their important plot function they rarely say or do much of anything. And there wasn't any private actions added which means that affinity control has to be artificially done via items if you're going for certain endings.
The plot was kind of all over. It starts out simple enough but then it just kind of jumps the shark without smoothly transitioning from point to point, and the fact that the characters just roll with it just didn't make it believable within the context of the game or make it come together.
Overall though it's a fun JRPG and I mostly played a bit before bed. But it's not one you play for the plot but the gameplay and vibes.