Man, this was a journey and a half.
While I finished and revisited the previous games a couple of times, this is my first time beating EO5. I don't know what it was about my previous attempts, something always kept me from continuing; marathon burnout maybe. This time around though, I couldn't put it down, god damn is it good.
... For the most part. I'll start with the one thing I didn't like: The story.
It's not poorly written or poorly translated(depends on how you feel about the location change), it's just... almost non existent. It starts out as every other EO does: big tree is around, people want the big tree explored, round up your scrimblos and get to dungeon crawling. And then... Nothing. Until the third stratum, nothing really happens. Then you get a new objective around said stratum: Help out the other two adventurers you met while exploring. That gets resolved by the end of the dungeon, and until LITERALLY THE FINAL BOSS DOOR, nothing happens except for a couple of "I have something to tell you... Reach the apex of Yggdrasil and I'll reveal the truth" interactions with a mysterious NPC.
It's very minimal, much like the first game in the series(a decision that makes a lot of sense considering certain plot nuggets that I won't spoil). But this time around, it just left me wanting more, and honestly felt undercooked.
EO5 cranked a ton of series elements to 11: The combat system got a big revamp regarding stats, different races with their own stat growths and race skills are now a thing, subclassing is gone but in its place there's a specialization system that feels just as robust and opens up even more possibilities, the UI got a BIG overhaul that looks really good, character customization is greatly expanded with custom colors and voices, and it also has the best dungeon design in the series so far.
With all of those big improvements in mind, it's disappointing that the story didn't follow suit. Sure, EO was never really about the overarching narrative, instead relying on simple storylines with effective twists near the end, but on the other hand, this is the 5th mainline game in the series. It'd be ok if it kept the same level of narrative detail as EO4, but stepping back just feels odd.
That's about my only gripe with the game though. Everything else? Absolutely stellar. An absolute must play if you enjoyed your time with any of the other games.
Considering Nexus is a crossover/anniversary game, I probably won't get too upset if the story ends up being a bit basic. I've been waiting for a long while to play it; time for one last rodeo on the 3DS.
... Until I play the Untold remakes and the Persona Q games that is >_>
While I finished and revisited the previous games a couple of times, this is my first time beating EO5. I don't know what it was about my previous attempts, something always kept me from continuing; marathon burnout maybe. This time around though, I couldn't put it down, god damn is it good.
... For the most part. I'll start with the one thing I didn't like: The story.
It's not poorly written or poorly translated(depends on how you feel about the location change), it's just... almost non existent. It starts out as every other EO does: big tree is around, people want the big tree explored, round up your scrimblos and get to dungeon crawling. And then... Nothing. Until the third stratum, nothing really happens. Then you get a new objective around said stratum: Help out the other two adventurers you met while exploring. That gets resolved by the end of the dungeon, and until LITERALLY THE FINAL BOSS DOOR, nothing happens except for a couple of "I have something to tell you... Reach the apex of Yggdrasil and I'll reveal the truth" interactions with a mysterious NPC.
It's very minimal, much like the first game in the series(a decision that makes a lot of sense considering certain plot nuggets that I won't spoil). But this time around, it just left me wanting more, and honestly felt undercooked.
EO5 cranked a ton of series elements to 11: The combat system got a big revamp regarding stats, different races with their own stat growths and race skills are now a thing, subclassing is gone but in its place there's a specialization system that feels just as robust and opens up even more possibilities, the UI got a BIG overhaul that looks really good, character customization is greatly expanded with custom colors and voices, and it also has the best dungeon design in the series so far.
With all of those big improvements in mind, it's disappointing that the story didn't follow suit. Sure, EO was never really about the overarching narrative, instead relying on simple storylines with effective twists near the end, but on the other hand, this is the 5th mainline game in the series. It'd be ok if it kept the same level of narrative detail as EO4, but stepping back just feels odd.
That's about my only gripe with the game though. Everything else? Absolutely stellar. An absolute must play if you enjoyed your time with any of the other games.
Considering Nexus is a crossover/anniversary game, I probably won't get too upset if the story ends up being a bit basic. I've been waiting for a long while to play it; time for one last rodeo on the 3DS.
... Until I play the Untold remakes and the Persona Q games that is >_>