Alright, so it should first be said that I'm loving this game; the story, the characters, and, my god, those graphics, are all top notch, but I'm getting very frustrated with the combat.
The typical combat experience is actually pretty enjoyable. I like the semi-RT feel and all, and switching between familiars, figuring out which is best against your enemy, etc, but the bosses are where the issues really come to light. Having entered the fourth city, I've noticed that Oliver has soloed the last 4 bosses (at least). I'll be the first to admit that it could be my problem, but I've tried different tactics, switched familiars between characters, read for some tips, and nothing seems to help. From much of what I've read, I'm actually a few levels (2-4) higher than many are when they're traversing the same areas.
I know that none of this information is new, but I feel the need to vent. When going through the tutorials, I felt that it was explained that general combat worked something like this:
Oliver casts spells. Different familiars can fill different roles: defense, physical attacks, magical attacks, etc. (I know it's more involved than this, but for the sake of simplicity...) During combat, as I understood it, you should be switching from familiar to familiar to character for attacks, support, and defense; however, if you see a big attack coming, I've found that you have barely enough time to switch familiars, let alone switch and go defensive. On top of that, your companions don't defend either, so are you expected to manage all of them in a pseudo-RT combat system?
Speaking of companions, the AI is atrocious. Again, I've tried different tactics, swapping familiars, and a few other tips I've found online, and the companions continue to do the same thing: blow their mana pool and then run up to melee range of the boss. Like I said, at least the last 4 bosses have been beaten by Oliver/Mitey with Mitey punching and defending, and Oliver healing. These make for slow fights.
I know there are things I've not tried, but the fact is, it shouldn't be such a pain. I'm either overlooking something painfully obvious, or the combat system is, frankly, terrible. I love this game- It's an early contender for my GotY, but this is starting to ruin it. I can only imagine it getting harder as levels go up.