I enjoy this game. It's extremely flawed mind you. There's a lot of grinding and there's no bonus EXP to share with reserve party members, meaning you have to prepare for the long haul if you wanna complete every story. I also think the Job system is limiting since only one character can have one secondary job and you have to do some musical chairs to make sure your party is aligned correctly. Same with equipping armor for that matter. The journey to the final boss is also really time consuming
Despite this, I pretty much love everything else about this game. I enjoy the break system and the strategies that come with it, making you feel like a genius when you exploit an enemy's weak point. Each character's unique talent really do help with how you strategize each battle. The boss fights are also exciting when you figure them out, and this game can be pretty hard if you don't play it right.
Also being the first game with the HD-2D pixel art aesthetig of 2D sprites in 3D backgrounds and worlds I think it's a pretty killer style. It's definitely pretty flat compared to the games that came after (Octopath II isn't out yet as I type this), but I really do enjoy how the desert, snow, ocean, and forest area look the most as they really show what you can do with this art style. And the music for each of these areas are my favorite. The music during battle is also full of variety depending on the encounter. Being Yasunori Nishiki's first gig in fully composing his own soundtrack and he knocked it out of the park, and I can only hope he does more from here on out.
If you want to know my favorite character stories it's Alfyn > Therion > Primrose > Cyrus > Olberic > Ophilia > Tressa > H'aanit. I think every character has a good story though I definitely have my preferences. Alfyn's surprised me the most hence why I put him on top
So yeah, not a perfect game at all but I really love what this game set out to do. I disagree with the criticism regarding actual character interactions within the story because this game is about their stories in a vacuum; its like Live A Live in that sense, which is probably why we got a remake.
Despite this, I pretty much love everything else about this game. I enjoy the break system and the strategies that come with it, making you feel like a genius when you exploit an enemy's weak point. Each character's unique talent really do help with how you strategize each battle. The boss fights are also exciting when you figure them out, and this game can be pretty hard if you don't play it right.
Also being the first game with the HD-2D pixel art aesthetig of 2D sprites in 3D backgrounds and worlds I think it's a pretty killer style. It's definitely pretty flat compared to the games that came after (Octopath II isn't out yet as I type this), but I really do enjoy how the desert, snow, ocean, and forest area look the most as they really show what you can do with this art style. And the music for each of these areas are my favorite. The music during battle is also full of variety depending on the encounter. Being Yasunori Nishiki's first gig in fully composing his own soundtrack and he knocked it out of the park, and I can only hope he does more from here on out.
If you want to know my favorite character stories it's Alfyn > Therion > Primrose > Cyrus > Olberic > Ophilia > Tressa > H'aanit. I think every character has a good story though I definitely have my preferences. Alfyn's surprised me the most hence why I put him on top
So yeah, not a perfect game at all but I really love what this game set out to do. I disagree with the criticism regarding actual character interactions within the story because this game is about their stories in a vacuum; its like Live A Live in that sense, which is probably why we got a remake.