the combat, enemy encounters and boss encounters carry this game for me. the positional elements and combo system in general is really satisfying. the character kits are balanced well, and are functionally varied between each of the party members. normal encounters are rote as they are in most RPGs. but I felt they were balanced enough to where making smart decisions i.e. killing enemies off with certain combos and moves and saving MP did feel rewarding area-by-area. mini bosses and bosses definitely fared pretty well for a turn-based RPG, I did feel I had to put some effort into figuring a handful of them out. I'm very glad I played on Hard because I could see myself falling asleep a lot of the time if I played on a lower difficulty. like even Hard wasn't really Megaten Hard or anything, and I kinda wish it was. if Atlus didn't put the effort they did into all this, and the combat system and enemy encounters were just another boring "throw the same moves/strategy at the enemy till you win" fanfare most turn-based RPGs come off to me as, I would've thought far less of this game honestly.
the weakest link in RH's gameplay sadly is just how absurdly slow it is for underlevelled party members to catch up. one on hand it is rather cool how much exp you get is based on your ability to perform long, satisfying combos; however the balancing and numbers behind this system feels so utterly unsatisfying. while I was grinding a bit in the final dungeon I was pulling off 25+ hit combos and party members in the lvl.40s were levelling up so slow (for reference endgame range is ~lvl.55-60). there could've been some really satisfying gameplay loop of getting HUGE amounts of rewards/money/exp/something for performing difficulty and long combos but sadly that just isn't there. I really just focused on mainly using Stocke/Raynie/Marco and got by the whole game. though I did use Gafka and Aht now and then. Rosch and Eruca I barely touched. also none of the side quests or optional objectives really push you that hard with the combo system either unfortunately.
the story has its powerful moments but ultimately the overall thing came off as a very standard fantasy trope-ridden RPG story to me. the worldbuilding, politics and tackling of human themes are pretty surface level. the clear winner of this game's writing, and the main selling point for most people probably is Stocke. he has a very satisfying, well-paced journey correcting the many varied accidents and disastrous climaxes throughout the narrative. the true ending conclusion was pretty well done as well, it hit hard and wrapped up Stocke's journey pretty satisfyingly. Stocke is very likeable as a whole and while I wish the game explored more of his flaws more, I would easily consider him to be one of my favourite RPG MCs. The cast otherwise is just solid but nothing amazing. Rosch has some powerful scenes in the first half, and Eruca in the second half, but overall everyone other than Stocke wasn't that compelling or entertaining to me. none of the antagonists either, even if the final one was well developed for what they were going for, I just wasn't that impressed by them sadly. they were just okay.
the music is consistently solid but frankly few songs knocked me on my ass that much. Mechanical Kingdom is easily my favourite song but otherwise the OST is sadly some of Shimomura's safest work honestly. there's a lot more breadth and depth to her output in Kingdom Hearts and Mario RPG OSTs. there's also unfortunately not many songs for a 30-40hr journey - you'll be hearing several of the same themes a LOT. it's a similar problem older lengthy RPGs like Xenogears and Xenosaga ep.1 had, but it really stings more because this game is from like 2010. if Square developed this they'd probably be more willing to pay Shimomura to do at least a few more area themes which would've gone a long way; and I guess Atlus and/or Shimomura thought it was just fine enough as is. idk I don't want to think too hard on it. I just really didn't want to hear that boring desert town theme so much in the 2nd half at least.
the other element of the game's presentation that underwhelmed me is every town, field and area/dungeon just looks really stock. as good as the colour usage and art style is, I was really hoping for some gorgeous floating islands and the like but yeah - dooon't expect any of that here. perhaps the typical grounded environments are a boon to the game's overall consistency and classic feel, but I can't get rid of the part of me that really wanted some more crazy environments and more in-depth worldbuilding, so I'll just say it doesn't work for me. the areas and dungeon design themselves are also small, basic and there's basically only one type of puzzle with the barrel bombs - but I mean I expect most turn-based RPGs to barely put much effort in that department as is. you also repeat some areas and dungeons a few times but that's a given with the time travelling structure of the game.
cool Atlus take on a medieval time travel story, I ultimately liked it.
the weakest link in RH's gameplay sadly is just how absurdly slow it is for underlevelled party members to catch up. one on hand it is rather cool how much exp you get is based on your ability to perform long, satisfying combos; however the balancing and numbers behind this system feels so utterly unsatisfying. while I was grinding a bit in the final dungeon I was pulling off 25+ hit combos and party members in the lvl.40s were levelling up so slow (for reference endgame range is ~lvl.55-60). there could've been some really satisfying gameplay loop of getting HUGE amounts of rewards/money/exp/something for performing difficulty and long combos but sadly that just isn't there. I really just focused on mainly using Stocke/Raynie/Marco and got by the whole game. though I did use Gafka and Aht now and then. Rosch and Eruca I barely touched. also none of the side quests or optional objectives really push you that hard with the combo system either unfortunately.
the story has its powerful moments but ultimately the overall thing came off as a very standard fantasy trope-ridden RPG story to me. the worldbuilding, politics and tackling of human themes are pretty surface level. the clear winner of this game's writing, and the main selling point for most people probably is Stocke. he has a very satisfying, well-paced journey correcting the many varied accidents and disastrous climaxes throughout the narrative. the true ending conclusion was pretty well done as well, it hit hard and wrapped up Stocke's journey pretty satisfyingly. Stocke is very likeable as a whole and while I wish the game explored more of his flaws more, I would easily consider him to be one of my favourite RPG MCs. The cast otherwise is just solid but nothing amazing. Rosch has some powerful scenes in the first half, and Eruca in the second half, but overall everyone other than Stocke wasn't that compelling or entertaining to me. none of the antagonists either, even if the final one was well developed for what they were going for, I just wasn't that impressed by them sadly. they were just okay.
the music is consistently solid but frankly few songs knocked me on my ass that much. Mechanical Kingdom is easily my favourite song but otherwise the OST is sadly some of Shimomura's safest work honestly. there's a lot more breadth and depth to her output in Kingdom Hearts and Mario RPG OSTs. there's also unfortunately not many songs for a 30-40hr journey - you'll be hearing several of the same themes a LOT. it's a similar problem older lengthy RPGs like Xenogears and Xenosaga ep.1 had, but it really stings more because this game is from like 2010. if Square developed this they'd probably be more willing to pay Shimomura to do at least a few more area themes which would've gone a long way; and I guess Atlus and/or Shimomura thought it was just fine enough as is. idk I don't want to think too hard on it. I just really didn't want to hear that boring desert town theme so much in the 2nd half at least.
the other element of the game's presentation that underwhelmed me is every town, field and area/dungeon just looks really stock. as good as the colour usage and art style is, I was really hoping for some gorgeous floating islands and the like but yeah - dooon't expect any of that here. perhaps the typical grounded environments are a boon to the game's overall consistency and classic feel, but I can't get rid of the part of me that really wanted some more crazy environments and more in-depth worldbuilding, so I'll just say it doesn't work for me. the areas and dungeon design themselves are also small, basic and there's basically only one type of puzzle with the barrel bombs - but I mean I expect most turn-based RPGs to barely put much effort in that department as is. you also repeat some areas and dungeons a few times but that's a given with the time travelling structure of the game.
cool Atlus take on a medieval time travel story, I ultimately liked it.