I would describe this game as very similar to the first one, except pretty much every aspect is improved. I am here for it.
Some ofthe biggest improvments comes from the writing and characters. They are so much more interesting than the first one. I enjoyed each character and the arcs they went through. I enjoyed how the chapters had branching paths and 5 total chapters, one of them being dedicated purely to the narrative.
When it comes to visuals and music, there wasn't much to improve, but they still managed to do it. I like how all of the bosses have animations now and that all the weapons look different when they are equipped.
When it comes to gameplay, the additions the game makes improve the options and strategy you have. The addition of latent skills and the day/night abilities are generally cool. I like the new classes they added and the changes they made to the existing ones. I like the guilds to get new classes, rather than the shrines.
The real biggest improvement is the ending. In the first game, it was frustrating from a gameplay standpoint and poorly structured and written from a narrative standpoint. It overall just seemed very rushed. The ending in the second game obviously had a lot more time put into it, and it is much better written, witch much better designed bosses and I pretty cool conclusion.
Now to the negatives. The biggest flaw with this game in my eyes, carried over from the first one, is the lack of interconnectivity between the stories and characters. It is vastly improved from the first, but still not enough in my opinion. The addition of a few crossed path chapters, additional travel banter, and a more robust engame improves things, but throughout most of the game, the stories still feel very separate. There has obviously been a lot of thought into this issue, but it kinda seems inevitable with the way the game is structured.
The one aspect of the game that I feel wasn't imrpoved from the first was difficulty. The game seems a bit too easy for my liking. The only fights I ever found challenging were a couple I was 8-10 levels under the recommended, Hikari's final chapter, and the final boss. I feel like they overcorrected the amount of health on bosses. This first game had fights taking a long time. In this games, most chapter bosses went down in 1 or 2 break cycles. I feel like they usually ended just as they were getting interesting. I had a lot of second phases of boss fights that I completely skipped due to overkilling the boss before triggering the phase change. There were quite a few bosses that I came in around the recommended level and left without taking a hit. It's kind of a downer when you're preparing to use all of the tools the game gives you only to kill the boss before you can use all of them.
Overall this game is amazing, but it's flaws just barely pull it down from 5 stars. I appreciate all of the effort that went into this game.
Some ofthe biggest improvments comes from the writing and characters. They are so much more interesting than the first one. I enjoyed each character and the arcs they went through. I enjoyed how the chapters had branching paths and 5 total chapters, one of them being dedicated purely to the narrative.
When it comes to visuals and music, there wasn't much to improve, but they still managed to do it. I like how all of the bosses have animations now and that all the weapons look different when they are equipped.
When it comes to gameplay, the additions the game makes improve the options and strategy you have. The addition of latent skills and the day/night abilities are generally cool. I like the new classes they added and the changes they made to the existing ones. I like the guilds to get new classes, rather than the shrines.
The real biggest improvement is the ending. In the first game, it was frustrating from a gameplay standpoint and poorly structured and written from a narrative standpoint. It overall just seemed very rushed. The ending in the second game obviously had a lot more time put into it, and it is much better written, witch much better designed bosses and I pretty cool conclusion.
Now to the negatives. The biggest flaw with this game in my eyes, carried over from the first one, is the lack of interconnectivity between the stories and characters. It is vastly improved from the first, but still not enough in my opinion. The addition of a few crossed path chapters, additional travel banter, and a more robust engame improves things, but throughout most of the game, the stories still feel very separate. There has obviously been a lot of thought into this issue, but it kinda seems inevitable with the way the game is structured.
The one aspect of the game that I feel wasn't imrpoved from the first was difficulty. The game seems a bit too easy for my liking. The only fights I ever found challenging were a couple I was 8-10 levels under the recommended, Hikari's final chapter, and the final boss. I feel like they overcorrected the amount of health on bosses. This first game had fights taking a long time. In this games, most chapter bosses went down in 1 or 2 break cycles. I feel like they usually ended just as they were getting interesting. I had a lot of second phases of boss fights that I completely skipped due to overkilling the boss before triggering the phase change. There were quite a few bosses that I came in around the recommended level and left without taking a hit. It's kind of a downer when you're preparing to use all of the tools the game gives you only to kill the boss before you can use all of them.
Overall this game is amazing, but it's flaws just barely pull it down from 5 stars. I appreciate all of the effort that went into this game.