This game is odd.
I first played this game when it was released because I was quite hyped for this release but for the wrong reasons. Like most people I was expecting this game to be a "So bad it's good" type of game but it ended up being so "So mid it's ok".
After my first release playthrough I was somewhat disappointed, I thought the game was frustrating and too hard at times, thought that the story was weird and not as funny as I'd expected it to be, and just not having as much fun as I thought I would.
Now about 10 months after the release I finally thought it was time for a second playthrough and this time with the DLCs since the last DLC finally released on January 27th.
My thoughts have changed for the better mostly, I think that this game has a decent gameplay loop once you figure out what you are doing and how the game works, though the post-game of the game will tell you otherwise and you'll have to pretty much forget everything you know up till the credit of the game because the post-game is something else (I'll get to it later).
This game is supposedly like NIOH though I have never played that game, in this game you mostly just kill enemies by staggering them and finishing them off with execution-style cutscenes and get rewarded with new equipment pieces every 2 seconds. Honestly, the game barely tells you about anything when it comes to hidden functions of the game so during the main story missions you will be clueless and just do the same thing and just press the "optimize equipment" button while using whatever random class you decided to main for the entire game.
This is where the post-game come into place and pretty much filtered me out of the DLCs. The post-game at launch was pretty miserable if I'm being honest, it's mostly just doing the same missions again but with a new difficulty setting to get better armor pieces to do the same mission again but it's easier, that's a damn waste of time if I'm being honest you literally have no drive to continue playing or grinding because it's useless! Jack keeps talking about having a drive to keep on going, having a goal or someone to kill well this game doesn't really do it for us, no new goals, bosses, or literally any type of content.
Thankfully the first DLC somewhat fix this by adding two boss battles and some monetary system to grind for new weapons and more levels for each job to keep being stronger. If I'm being honest this should've been a free update to fix the lack of content in the launch version but it's better than nothing I guess. My main issue with this is the instant spike in difficulty since the game pretty much except you to have to grind the hell out of the game at launch with still barely any explanation and anything to help you figure out how the game works, but at least more challenge means more game time right? All I see is somewhat cheap content though.
The second DLC is finally high-quality content, though at the price of being even harder than the last and very unforgiving. This is where I finally called it quits and stopped playing the game. The main gimmick of the DLC is an endless tower with each floor making you do somewhat short missions with
gimmicks, It's honestly a good idea but the main problem with it is that it's gatekept with its difficulty and I just find it unfun since I'm lost and the game isn't trying to help me.
Though any grind freaks are welcome as the post-game is very grindy and tough from now on.
And unfortunately, as of the time of this review, I have not touched the third DLC and I'm guessing it might be good but tough content. Hope one day I'll get the drive to continue this game and invest some time in it but at the moment I'm more frustrated by it than anything.
Overall this game was released somewhat barebone but as time went on they finally added what the game was missing in the most awkward way possible. Nomura said that if the third DLC made enough money they would consider making a sequel of the game, I'd love to see more of jack in a full fledge sequel but I fear the third DLC might filter people as it did for me and not produce enough sales.
What I'd like to see in the sequel is more of what the DLC did but without the insane filtering difficulty.
I first played this game when it was released because I was quite hyped for this release but for the wrong reasons. Like most people I was expecting this game to be a "So bad it's good" type of game but it ended up being so "So mid it's ok".
After my first release playthrough I was somewhat disappointed, I thought the game was frustrating and too hard at times, thought that the story was weird and not as funny as I'd expected it to be, and just not having as much fun as I thought I would.
Now about 10 months after the release I finally thought it was time for a second playthrough and this time with the DLCs since the last DLC finally released on January 27th.
My thoughts have changed for the better mostly, I think that this game has a decent gameplay loop once you figure out what you are doing and how the game works, though the post-game of the game will tell you otherwise and you'll have to pretty much forget everything you know up till the credit of the game because the post-game is something else (I'll get to it later).
This game is supposedly like NIOH though I have never played that game, in this game you mostly just kill enemies by staggering them and finishing them off with execution-style cutscenes and get rewarded with new equipment pieces every 2 seconds. Honestly, the game barely tells you about anything when it comes to hidden functions of the game so during the main story missions you will be clueless and just do the same thing and just press the "optimize equipment" button while using whatever random class you decided to main for the entire game.
This is where the post-game come into place and pretty much filtered me out of the DLCs. The post-game at launch was pretty miserable if I'm being honest, it's mostly just doing the same missions again but with a new difficulty setting to get better armor pieces to do the same mission again but it's easier, that's a damn waste of time if I'm being honest you literally have no drive to continue playing or grinding because it's useless! Jack keeps talking about having a drive to keep on going, having a goal or someone to kill well this game doesn't really do it for us, no new goals, bosses, or literally any type of content.
Thankfully the first DLC somewhat fix this by adding two boss battles and some monetary system to grind for new weapons and more levels for each job to keep being stronger. If I'm being honest this should've been a free update to fix the lack of content in the launch version but it's better than nothing I guess. My main issue with this is the instant spike in difficulty since the game pretty much except you to have to grind the hell out of the game at launch with still barely any explanation and anything to help you figure out how the game works, but at least more challenge means more game time right? All I see is somewhat cheap content though.
The second DLC is finally high-quality content, though at the price of being even harder than the last and very unforgiving. This is where I finally called it quits and stopped playing the game. The main gimmick of the DLC is an endless tower with each floor making you do somewhat short missions with
gimmicks, It's honestly a good idea but the main problem with it is that it's gatekept with its difficulty and I just find it unfun since I'm lost and the game isn't trying to help me.
Though any grind freaks are welcome as the post-game is very grindy and tough from now on.
And unfortunately, as of the time of this review, I have not touched the third DLC and I'm guessing it might be good but tough content. Hope one day I'll get the drive to continue this game and invest some time in it but at the moment I'm more frustrated by it than anything.
Overall this game was released somewhat barebone but as time went on they finally added what the game was missing in the most awkward way possible. Nomura said that if the third DLC made enough money they would consider making a sequel of the game, I'd love to see more of jack in a full fledge sequel but I fear the third DLC might filter people as it did for me and not produce enough sales.
What I'd like to see in the sequel is more of what the DLC did but without the insane filtering difficulty.