Patch 1.02 or 1.03 improved the framerate and draw distance, but its still far from perfect. Weird thing that PSO2 at the time of Episode 2 improved the framerate a lot.
The weird thing is the draw distance was hardly and issue considering its not like you ever needed to really see that far away as not like you used weapons that would be super long range. Game had more of an issue with properly displaying enemy drops from bosses when they were all dumped in the same place, so you would be running around seeing stuff flicker in / out and hearing the pick up noise as you ran over nothing lol.
The framerate though, that was something which by all right should have failed the submission as I had mentioned before. The overall framerate outside of that one section isnt really that much of an issue, but that one particular boss, the long connecting / disconnecting bug one was literally the worst issue Ive seen in regards to framerate dropping to slideshow levels on a Vita title. As out of all the games Ive played here none have done something that bad. As that is build failure level bad, since its not like you are even doing much more than just being close to the boss while its moving when it does that.
I had never noticed it for a long time as mostly played as a ranged character. Way easier to break parts that way without taking stupid amounts of damage due to being too close / trying to aim melee attacks. So when I started to level up the melee related stuff is when I had first noticed the issue then saw how bad it got. Thankfully I didnt need to bother with that boss all that much outside of my own amusement with seeing how many parts I could break on it. Though it was a good boss to farm just to get a ton of random resources.
Overall its still a good game, but most def people would freak out about those performance issues. Seeing how everyone is obsessed with framerate these days.
Natural Doctrine I struggled with, which is a shame as it looks exactly the kind of stuff I would like, with it's interlocking systems and micromanaging an adventuring party. In the end, despite loving the concept, it reminded me of how I felt playing Knights in the Nightmare- the obtuse and obstructive interface gets in the way of some great new ideas for a strategy game that could have been really elegant. However, I know at least one other gaffer who loves their strategy games really enjoyed it too. I'll go back and give it another go at some point.
All of those odd looking lines and whatnots are actually pretty important. Just that the game overall does not really have the best tutorial system.
While the game looks like shit, overall it has a solid gameplay system.
Though one large issue is how some levels are literally designed to kill the player the first time around. So you wind up wasting a good amount of time when that happens. Plus the AI is able to perform some actions that the user is unable to. Which is another issue, when it comes to thought process of what is safe / what isnt with character placement. Which also is very important, due to single character dying = gameover as am sure you already are familiar with.
Game most def would have done better with more time in the oven. As it did not exactly feel finished overall.
Overall its not a title Id suggest to the average random. Unless I actually knew exactly what type of games said person liked / their threshold for bullshit / learning ability. Be wary of those who blindly suggest the game to others.
Though one irritating thing is the patch they added when I was still playing made it so that the goddamned golem could only be healed by the girl controlling it, instead of using Nebula? the casters healing ability also. Which turned the golem into a giant fucking paperweight. As the golem functions by either controlling the golem or girl. Healing the golem with the girl = golem doesnt move therefore takes more damage so you are stuck constantly healing it, depending on how bad the situation is. They had changed something else also, but dont remember what it was. Must not have been that bad if I dont remember as by far the change to how the golem can be healed was the worst.
