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[Schmendrick]

edit: nah pointless replying to obvious trolls.

 

[GymWolf]

lol if it makes you feel any better, i was level 20 before i figured it out.

Expand on this because i'm only like 90 min in and the whole picto\lumina stuff seems more complicated than i expected (playing with italian subs probably doesn't help).

 

[Schmendrick]

Expand on this because i'm only like 90 min in and the whole picto\lumina stuff seems more complicated than i expected (playing with italian subs probably doesn't help).

Pictos are equippable items that grant buffs like f.e. "xy% more damage with a counter", or "heal yourself when damaging burning enemies".
Every equipped Picto is effective immediately but will also automatically be learned after a few fights at which point it becomes available in the general skill pool from which every character can choose what to equip, and the equip limit for active learned pictos is your Lumina level.
There are a lot of unique pictos that allow for quite specialized builds.
It´s actually quite well explained in the tutorial logs.

 

[balls of snow]

Think of lumina like the materia system in Vii remake/ Rebirth. Except you can slot everyone with the same Lumina so long as you 1) 'Learn' by equiping it in battle for awhile
2) Have Lumina points to spent if its not equiped on a character.


Its a really flexible system that encourage experimentation. I have Lune set up so that she never runs out of AP or Stains. Getting her Agility and Luck up and she is just a 1 woman show sometimes.

 

[GymWolf]

Pictos are equippable items that grant buffs like f.e. "xy% more damage with a counter", or "heal yourself when damaging burning enemies".
Every equipped Picto is effective immediately but will also automatically be learned after a few fights at which point it becomes available in the general skill pool from which every character can choose what to equip, and the equip limit is your Lumina level.
There are a lot of unique pictos that allow for quite specialized builds.

This remind me of a jrpg from the past but i can't quite put my finger on what it was...

So when people said that they had a lot of lumina points to spend it means that they forgot to use them to upgrade how many picto they can equip right?

So lumina is not a stat like attack, speed etc. That get automaticaloy improved when you level up but it is a resource to spend in another menu and that's why people didn't even know they had it, right?

I guess they used this method so you can use more lumina on the member you use instead of givjng any character a set amount of lumina upgrade after they level up, right?

This sound like a lot of switching picto between characters to make them learn all the abilities, or do some pictos can only be learned by certain characters? If every character can use every picto doesn't end with all characters having the same exact passive buffs?
I guess that some picto are more useful to certain characters so you don't have to learn every single picto with every single character i guess...


Thanks.

Edit: ff9 had this, every weapon had an ability to learn and you equipped the loot to learn the ability, and pretty sure many other games had this system in some way or another.

 

[jshackles]

It took me WAY too long to realize that you need to have pictos equipped for four battles to "learn" them. The icon on the picto itself is like a sideways square, and each side of the square will be highlighted as you progress through these battles, until they're fully highlighted (meaning you have learned it's ability as a passive).

I kept thinking that learning them was random.

 

[Schmendrick]

So when people said that they had a lot of lumina points to spend it means that they forgot to use them to upgrade how many picto they can equip right?

yes.

So lumina is not a stat like attack, speed etc. That get automaticaloy improved when you level up but it is a resource to spend in another menu and that's why people didn't even know they had it, right?

Lumina points are increased via found resources. They are a big reason you want to explore levels a bit more thoroughly.

I guess they used this method so you can use more lumina on the member you use instead of givjng any character a set amount of lumina upgrade after they level up, right?

Probably. I decided on certain members for my playstyle and pretty much put all my lumina points in them.


Edit: I actually thought the game did a good job explaining these things when they first popped up and the tutorial topics can always be re-read and are short and on point. How did so many people miss this? Especially since this system is pretty much the central one for all builds

 

[GymWolf]

yes.


Lumina points are increased via found resources. They are a big reason you want to explore levels a bit more thoroughly.


Probably. I decided on certain members for my playstyle and pretty much put all my lumina points in them.

So you don't get lumina to spend via level up but it is something you find during exploration, got it.

I think i already have 1-2 pieces from the sidequest in the city before you leave.

 

[GymWolf]

It took me WAY too long to realize that you need to have pictos equipped for four battles to "learn" them. The icon on the picto itself is like a sideways square, and each side of the square will be highlighted as you progress through these battles, until they're fully highlighted (meaning you have learned it's ability as a passive).

I kept thinking that learning them was random.

The tutorial say that if i remember well, it was the only clear thing i learned before i stopped playing

 

[Yoshichan]

Think of lumina like the materia system in Vii remake/ Rebirth. Except you can slot everyone with the same Lumina so long as you 1) 'Learn' by equiping it in battle for awhile
2) Have Lumina points to spent if its not equiped on a character.


Its a really flexible system that encourage experimentation. I have Lune set up so that she never runs out of AP or Stains. Getting her Agility and Luck up and she is just a 1 woman show sometimes.

Or just think of the system like it's the system in FFIX. Because they're literally identical

 

[owandeseis]

- You can try and set up flowcharts to win battles marginally faster, but it's really irrelevant. You just learn the attack animations and then parry and win.
Who cares what kind of damage I'm dealing this turn? On the opponent's turn there is going to be a parry that is going to matter way more anyway, might as well just mash attack and get to it faster instead of needlessly planning out a flowchart.

This can work for the campaign (maybe not on harder difficulties tho) but yeah for optional bosses with several millions of HP you need to optimize your builds/combos

- Why doesn't the game just automate the picto system? Obviously whenever you get a new one you are just going to replace any learned ones, what is even the point of making the player go through the motions in the menu over and over again?

It really doesn't work this way, there's a big amount of pictos not worth ever equiping due to their passives not fitting the build you are trying to go for, and once you learn the passive skill, you'll want to equip the pictos with the best stats (normally HP)

- Is there ever a time when you get a new weapon that you wouldn't want to just immediately use it? I guess depending on your stats your scaling could make it do less damage then the one you currently have, but that hasn't happened for me yet. They may as well have just made each character have one weapon that gets upgraded as you go on. Why make the player go through and equip the newest weapon each time if there is no reason to not use the newest one?

Once again it doesn't work like this, you don't have to look at a weapon's level or damage when you find it, the most important stats from a weapon are the lvl 4-10-20 passives it gives, you can have a level 15 weapon that deals 1500 damage and find a level 5 weapon that deals 300 damage but it's just much better due to the passives, then you have to use the level up items you find in the game to level that up.

If you are on a burn focused build and you have a weapon that deals burn on hit for example, you'll probably ignore every other weapon drop you get, even if it's way higher level or deals more damage.

I really think a lot of the hype for this game just comes from people who haven't played a lot of JRPGs being drawn in by the lack of anime art style. What's funny though is that the cutscenes are somehow even more dramatic than many Japanese RPGs

I don't play nearly as many JRPG's as i did 15-25 years ago, but still Rebirth was probably the second best game i played last year (weak ass year tho) and Persona would also be on a top 15-20 of the games i played since 2020, but it's story wasn't that appealing to me, and some characters/dialogues feel dumb.

In Rebirth's case, the story is more attractive obviously, but yea there's many dialogues that are as cringe as they can get, not to mention the game has serious pacing issues, it should have been way shorter and more focused, as some user said up there, you can feel these games treat us as dumb kids, maybe that's their target.

I think the hype around this game comes from people who loved JRPG, but as an user said a few days ago here, feel like JRPG developers are creating more and more immature story/dialogue/characters, and that's where Expedition 33 delivers best, at creating a great story, with great characters, with a great evolution and great dialogues, and i'd bet their target was these people who loved the sames JRPG's the developers did, but now wants experiences not aimed at young teenagers.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Here's something which isn't immediately made clear to you:

You have to equip the Picto to gain the stat bonus. The part that says "386 Health" or "10% Critical" only applies when equipped as a Picto

As a Lumina, you only get the situational bonus. "Heal 3% on Parry" is an example of an equipped Lumina's bonus

 

[GymWolf]

Here's something which isn't immediately made clear to you:

You have to equip the Picto to gain the stat bonus. The part that says "386 Health" or "10% Critical" only applies when equipped as a Picto

As a Lumina, you only get the situational bonus. "Heal 3% on Parry" is an example of an equipped Lumina's bonus

Umm so even after you learn the ability from the picto, you still want to equip some of them because they add raw stats like hp etc.

 

[balls of snow]

Or just think of the system like it's the system in FFIX. Because they're literally identical

Lol I never played an FF below X.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Umm so even after you learn the ability from the picto, you still want to equip some of them because they add raw stats like hp etc.

Yes. Also it's smart to equip the Pictos which cost the most points as Luminas

 

[GymWolf]

Yes. Also it's smart to equip the Pictos which cost the most points as Luminas

Losing me a bit here.

Why would i prioritize pictos that cost more lumina so i have to equip less of them because the lumina pool is limited?!

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

As much as a like this games story.. it's just way to obvious and chatty. It could learn a lot and be much better with some David Lynch-esque restraint.

 

[Yoshichan]

Lol I never played an FF below X.

Well lo and behold!

See the 1/48? That's your total "Lumina" left to spend

And the list of skills below? That's your pictos (called accessories in FFIX) that you've activated with said lumina. Identical. 1:1

 

[Nonehxc]

Well lo and behold!

See the 1/48? That's your total "Lumina" left to spend

And the list of skills below? That's your pictos (called accessories in FFIX) that you've activated with said lumina. Identical. 1:1

Locomotion 4

Mug 3

Clear-headed 5

Yep, that's a Zidane OP build.

 

[Gaelyon]

I wished they kept a similar interface than FFIX for Lumina, because it's unnecessary confusing. UI patch maybe ? Great game anyway.

 

[GymWolf]

Locomotion 4

Mug 3

Clear-headed 5

Yep, that's a Zidane OP build.

As an italian i find the third gif hilarious, fuck materazzi

 

[Nonehxc]

As an italian i find the third gif hilarious, fuck materazzi

Technically he did fuck Materazzi...after he told him he fucked Zidane's sister.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Well lo and behold!

See the 1/48? That's your total "Lumina" left to spend

And the list of skills below? That's your pictos (called accessories in FFIX) that you've activated with said lumina. Identical. 1:1

I've tried 9 several times, but the 'chibi' aspect just throws me off every single time

 

[Unknown Soldier]

LMAO MOTHER FUCKERS

The end of Act I tho......

They really were making their magnum opus here, and supposedly for many of the devs it was their first finished title

Don't wanna peak too early or you become the next Peter Jackson

 

[poppabk]

Well lo and behold!

See the 1/48? That's your total "Lumina" left to spend

And the list of skills below? That's your pictos (called accessories in FFIX) that you've activated with said lumina. Identical. 1:1

Do you have another way of equiping those skills but also with stat bonuses? What is interesting about the picto/lumina is the trade-off between the two (once I realized that I could equip lumina, definitely the worst explained mechanic in the game). Stats versus no stats, points versus slots, specific vs generic.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Do you have another way of equiping those skills but also with stat bonuses? What is interesting about the picto/lumina is the trade-off between the two (once I realized that I could equip lumina, definitely the worst explained mechanic in the game). Stats versus no stats, points versus slots, specific vs generic.

Yeah, I'm not sure what he's talking about. The only similarity between the FFIX system and this game is there's a numerical point count

The system in this game is sort of an amalgamation of FFVII's Materia system and FFIX's skill equips, except also not really because Materias don't grant stat bonuses

This game having two "tiers" of equips, with the Pictos having only 3 available slots and granting stat bonus plus secondary bonus, and then unlocking Luminas by taking the Pictos into battles 4 times, and then they are available as Luminas which only grant the secondary bonus, is a system which is completely unique to me and I've played plenty of JRPG's the last 30 years

 

[Unknown Soldier]

LMAO MOTHER FUCKERS

The end of Act I tho......

They really were making their magnum opus here, and supposedly for many of the devs it was their first finished title

Don't wanna peak too early or you become the next Peter Jackson

This is an actual spoiler, I'm not spoiler tagging this next part for funsies

I just realized how clever it was the way the devs hid the fact that they were going to kill Gustave off, unlike the notorious FFVII where Aeris just mysteriously and suspiciously had a really small skill tree, they disguised Gustave's skill tree with a bunch of lock icons and for some reason you just couldn't access them so you just assumed they unlocked when you progressed to a certain point in the story. This is some fucking devious shit, well done devs

 

[struggler_guts]

This game has actually made me laugh out loud a few times, did not expect it to have the funnies I thought it'd be super serious the whole time

 

[Yoshichan]

Yeah, I'm not sure what he's talking about. The only similarity between the FFIX system and this game is there's a numerical point count

The system in this game is sort of an amalgamation of FFVII's Materia system and FFIX's skill equips, except also not really because Materias don't grant stat bonuses

This game having two "tiers" of equips, with the Pictos having only 3 available slots and granting stat bonus plus secondary bonus, and then unlocking Luminas by taking the Pictos into battles 4 times, and then they are available as Luminas which only grant the secondary bonus, is a system which is completely unique to me and I've played plenty of JRPG's the last 30 years

You buy an accessory
You go out and fight battles that give AP to said accessory
Accessory gets maxed out
When accessory gets maxed out, you can equip said accessory without having the accessory equipped

??? It's identical, what's there not to understand? On the other hand, I don't see ANY resemblence to materia system and I've played and beaten FFVII over 200 times and it's my absolute favorite game of all time.

 

[calistan]

Losing me a bit here.

Why would i prioritize pictos that cost more lumina so i have to equip less of them because the lumina pool is limited?!

It's such a confusing system, and it doesn't help that the menus are poorly designed, so you can't see all of your equipped luminas on the main screen.

Pictos and lumina do exactly the same thing. You have to spend points to equip luminas, whereas you can equip three pictos for no cost. So if a skill costs 10 points as a lumina, you might want to equip it as a picto and use the points for luminas instead.

The difference is that only one character can equip the skill as a picto, but all of them can use it at the same time as a lumina.

 

[Klayzer]

That stone face boss was interesting. You are not suppose to beat it, you just suppose to survive until 12 turns.

When first fought him I thought. he just doesn't stop!

Make sure a certain party member is in the line up, when you fight him.

 

[GymWolf]

It's such a confusing system, and it doesn't help that the menus are poorly designed, so you can't see all of your equipped luminas on the main screen.

Pictos and lumina do exactly the same thing. You have to spend points to equip luminas, whereas you can equip three pictos for no cost. So if a skill costs 10 points as a lumina, you might want to equip it as a picto and use the points for luminas instead.

The difference is that only one character can equip the skill as a picto, but all of them can use it at the same time as a lumina.

I think i'm gonna understand more when i'm gonna continue the game tonight, i literally stopped when you get lune and the game explain her shitstain mechanics.
I got the first picto that gave me 1AP when you perfectly dodge and then i had to turn off.

 

[Signalis]

Lol I never played an FF below X.

Don't know if I should envy you, or pity you

 

[Jinxed]

Can't use the item that grants +1 lumina in fear of wasting them. I feel like if I use it on a character I'll stop using eventually, it's wasted.

I hate this, it's always the same in every game. I hold onto everything until the end of the game

 

[Lokaum D+]

Swen Vincke speech was on point, this game ll be a head contender for goty this year.

 

[TintoConCasera]

So far my only complaint with the game is how much fog there is in almost every area. Don't know if it's an UE5 thing or what but I hate having so much volumetric effects everywhere.

 

[Arsic]

Which one?

Without major spoilers

Spoiler

Third Axon. Also, Clea.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Losing me a bit here.

Why would i prioritize pictos that cost more lumina so i have to equip less of them because the lumina pool is limited?!

there is a ton of pictos that you ll convert in lumina that can change game play dramatically, idk how high is the lumina cap but as you level up you ll get more and more lumina point to spend on abilities.

Pictos ll give you some stats bonus like +500Hp and 10% crit change

Luminas ll only give you the picto abilitie without the stats, so for "Dodger" you ll get the +1 ap on perfect dodge but ll not get the Hp bonus ( or wahtever bonus Dodger has )

The system at the start imo is all about using Pictos to cover some weak status and Luminas to build up your character.

For example, i have one character that is build to play solo, so his 3 Pictos ll cover for HP and defense, his luminas ll cover abilities that increase damage and defense when playing solo.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Can't use the item that grants +1 lumina in fear of wasting them. I feel like if I use it on a character I'll stop using eventually, it's wasted.

I hate this, it's always the same in every game. I hold onto everything unfilghee end of the game

vendors sell this item ( colour of lumina ) , so you can aways buy some if needed, there is a cap on how much they ll sell, but at least it ll help on this fear of "wasting" what you found.

 

[Fbh]

Played through the Yellow Harvest area yesterday.
I always like it when RPGs have optional areas that actually look unique and cool and have unique bosses and loot.
The second boss in the area beat my ass though (the one that's 3 enemies, not sure if I should try to take him down now or come back later

This game has actually made me laugh out loud a few times, did not expect it to have the funnies I thought it'd be super serious the whole time

Yeah that has been a pleasant surprise. One of my few worries after watching some of the trailers was that the game was going to be overly serious and melodramatic all the time.
But they actually do a great job balancing the more serious and dramatic moments with some genuinely funny and lighthearted ones.

I got to the the part where you meet Esquie for the first time yesterday, and found that whole bit hilarious

 

[dorkimoe]

Imgggg there's another parry in act 2 ahhhh

 

[R6Rider]

My copy arrives sometime May lol

 

[Jinxed]

vendors sell this item ( colour of lumina ) , so you can aways buy some if needed, there is a cap on how much they ll sell, but at least it ll help on this fear of "wasting" what you found.

Thanks. I'm gonna give some to Lune and Maelle since I love these 2 characters. Don't think I'll ever switch them.

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

I think I'm still early in the game but every time I play I am more and more amazed. I really hope they get all the awards and that Geoff Keighley can give them an extra spotlight at this year's Game Awards.

 

[GymWolf]

I think I'm still early in the game but every time I play I am more and more amazed. I really hope they get all the awards and that Geoff Keighley can give them an extra spotlight at this year's Game Awards.

Lmao Dorito boy is gonna cream his pants for death stranding 2 that is out in june, i expect kojima to cringe his way toward most story related awards this year, mark my words.

 

[Arsic]

My copy arrives sometime May lol

wtf. You live on the moon?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Just started act 2 and damn this game is something else. The OST and combat are legit 10/10 to me. This is gonna be very hard to top for GOTY. Maybe even game of the gen next to Elden Ring for me if it keeps up like this through the end. Is there a NG+? The animation is so good too.

 

[Saint Boot Gaming]

Man, that plot twist. I hate being negative about anything, so I will limit myself and say that game was a 10/10 until that plot twist and epilogue/endings.

 

[Arsic]

Just started act 2 and damn this game is something else. The OST and combat are legit 10/10 to me. This is gonna be very hard to top for GOTY. Maybe even game of the gen next to Elden Ring for me if it keeps up like this through the end. Is there a NG+? The animation is so good too.

Yes there is a NG plus. There is an entire end game of dungeons, bosses, cut scenes to explain far more about characters etc as well.

You can roll credits around the 40ish hour mark but get plenty more with how much end game there is to do.

One boss in particular is level 90+ recommended. The giga chad boss.

 

[Ovek]

Esquire is one of my favourite video game characters of all time and I want to give him a hug. That is all.