It is truly a special game with its music, aesthetics, general visuals, entertaining story and beloved characters. Even though it is a game made on Playstation 2, the fact that it has parody dialogues about many game elements still makes the game entertaining. The game is old but its humor is still effective. Music is not only good, but it also has a unique style, with the music and visuals adding identity to the game. And the game even has an interesting twist. Even though it doesn't wrap this twist up satisfactorily at the end.
Even though it is a game with so many positives; Unfortunately, it also has many elements that are broken on the gameplay side. The battle system isn't bad, it's okay, but it's definitely not fun either. And the game has a grind-based design, in which we constantly fight, the lack of fun battle mechanics drags the game down and game becomes boring often. Dungeons are neither good nor bad, but the last two dungeons are exhausting. Because the map system is bad, there is a system that even marks the roads you have not taken and many places on the map look similar to each other. That's why sometimes you can't tell where you're going from when you look at the map, and this is also annoying because encounters occur frequently. There are also things wrong with the combat system. Even if you choose the moves, until the characters make the moves, when other characters in the party attack a target in the same enemy group, your character attacks another enemy because that target has already been attacked. Sharing the LP system(mana) is also a boring decision because you are afraid to spend LP as it can run out immediately. Health-draining attacks also require more health. In other words, the game does not give you the opportunity to apply many tactics, you can finish the game with just normal attacks and health boosts.
You can even beat the final boss so easily, and the final boss is disappointingly easy. It takes a long time to die, but the damage it deals is already very low and it has no tricks other than attacking. That's why it's not difficult at all.
Developing characters with equipment and stats is also very superficial. It has no depth, you can't build character at all. You buy better weapons and armor for each member and that's it. As you level up, you gain new abilities, but most of them are useless.
And there's nothing interesting to explore in the vast expanses of the game. There is a content where you can only find gear, but you have to step almost everywhere on the map to find gear. Because these collectible gears are not visible. Some places on the map actually give clues. When you see a skeletal structure in an empty area, you can guess that there may be a gear there. But it still wasn't interesting enough for me. That's why I didn't collect them all. Although side quests do not interest me; I didn't feel the need. It is very difficult to do this without looking at the guide.
Even though I have many complaints; I really liked this game. I'm glad I played it. Yes, it has a lot of problems, but these problems did not make the game bad in my eyes. It's a game with a lot of good things, and these good things make the game special, so I was glad I played it. And that's a shame, because it's actually the company's first big game and its last. It's actually a pretty good game for the first game, which didn't receive bad critical reviews when it was released. But then they didn't make any other games. I wish they had, because I'm sure they would have released classic and special games as they continued to improve themselves. Perhaps, besides Persona, another stylistic and major RPG brand would have come out of this company.
Even though it is a game with so many positives; Unfortunately, it also has many elements that are broken on the gameplay side. The battle system isn't bad, it's okay, but it's definitely not fun either. And the game has a grind-based design, in which we constantly fight, the lack of fun battle mechanics drags the game down and game becomes boring often. Dungeons are neither good nor bad, but the last two dungeons are exhausting. Because the map system is bad, there is a system that even marks the roads you have not taken and many places on the map look similar to each other. That's why sometimes you can't tell where you're going from when you look at the map, and this is also annoying because encounters occur frequently. There are also things wrong with the combat system. Even if you choose the moves, until the characters make the moves, when other characters in the party attack a target in the same enemy group, your character attacks another enemy because that target has already been attacked. Sharing the LP system(mana) is also a boring decision because you are afraid to spend LP as it can run out immediately. Health-draining attacks also require more health. In other words, the game does not give you the opportunity to apply many tactics, you can finish the game with just normal attacks and health boosts.
You can even beat the final boss so easily, and the final boss is disappointingly easy. It takes a long time to die, but the damage it deals is already very low and it has no tricks other than attacking. That's why it's not difficult at all.
Developing characters with equipment and stats is also very superficial. It has no depth, you can't build character at all. You buy better weapons and armor for each member and that's it. As you level up, you gain new abilities, but most of them are useless.
And there's nothing interesting to explore in the vast expanses of the game. There is a content where you can only find gear, but you have to step almost everywhere on the map to find gear. Because these collectible gears are not visible. Some places on the map actually give clues. When you see a skeletal structure in an empty area, you can guess that there may be a gear there. But it still wasn't interesting enough for me. That's why I didn't collect them all. Although side quests do not interest me; I didn't feel the need. It is very difficult to do this without looking at the guide.
Even though I have many complaints; I really liked this game. I'm glad I played it. Yes, it has a lot of problems, but these problems did not make the game bad in my eyes. It's a game with a lot of good things, and these good things make the game special, so I was glad I played it. And that's a shame, because it's actually the company's first big game and its last. It's actually a pretty good game for the first game, which didn't receive bad critical reviews when it was released. But then they didn't make any other games. I wish they had, because I'm sure they would have released classic and special games as they continued to improve themselves. Perhaps, besides Persona, another stylistic and major RPG brand would have come out of this company.